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If you are having...
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Pain in chest
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Hoarseness in the morning
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Trouble swallowing
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Bad breath
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Dry cough
Then you might be suffering from chronic acid reflux or heartburn.
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You are not alone, 1 in 5 people suffer from acid reflux and heartburn.
50% of infants suffer from reflux in the first 6 months.
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Hospitals recorded almost 2 million emergency room visits and four hundred seventy thousand hospitalizations.
Acid Reflux?
Heartburn?
gerd?
Natural Solutions
Nutrition Response Testing Practitioners have been able to help thousands of people suffering from GERD symptoms through specific testing to find the root cause of your symptoms.
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Most chronic illnesses are caused by lifestyle choices, poor diet, and stressors. These stressors can be food intolerances, immune system deficiencies, exposure to metal or chemical toxicities, as well as scars.
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Find our solution guide below for quick tips to learn how to help your digestive system.
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What is heartburn?
Heartburn is one of the most common side effects of acid reflux, a condition that occurs when stomach acid rises into the esophagus. The symptoms of heartburn include chest pain, stomach pain, and a burning sensation in the chest.
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Heartburn can occur as a result of hiatal hernia, overeating, triggers (such as spicy foods), obesity, pregnancy, inadequate acid levels in the stomach, and some prescription drugs. Heartburn occurs as a result of failure to digest food properly. This is usually due to poor food choices, eating too much at one sitting and eating late at night before going to bed.
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The damage caused by heartburn can be severe if it is left untreated. It can affect your quality of life and even lead to cancer if not treated properly. Chronic heartburn is known as GERD. GERD can lead to esophagitis (inflammation of lining of the esophagus), Barrett's esophagus (change in the cells that line your esophagus), and even some types of cancer.
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I'll just take antacids or PPI (Proton Pump Inhibitors) ...
Before we can get into why we should be avoiding antacids or PPI, we need to go back to some basics on the bodies pH levels.
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A healthy stomach acid level should be between a pH of 0.8-2.5.
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When the pH increases, we cannot properly digest our foods. This inability to digest foods cause other gut biome disorders such as constipation, diarrhea, malabsorption, leaky gut, etc.
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A study found that when the stomach acid was above a 4, the body's ability to defend itself was reduced. This reduction allows harmful organisms, such as bacteria and viruses, to flourish in the gut. This reduces the beneficial bacteria in our G.I. system used for digestion and breakdown of your food. So you're left with undigested food that puts more strain on the rest of your digestive system to be able to absorb the nutrients.
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Want to do your own science experiment in your body? Just kidding, sorta. You might have a high pH level if you ever get gas, belching, or indigestion after having a beer on an empty stomach.
If you have a high pH level, then when you ingest foods that have yeast (beer, bread, etc.), they can start creating the yeast foam inside of your stomach - if you've ever fermented or made your own beer or wine, you know what that yeast foam does. It causes gas to be produced that puts pressure on your stomach and forces the valve between your stomach and esophagus to open. That's not it; that same action coats the valve in the foamy yeast bacteria that paralyzes it. That paralyzing effect and pressure over time can develop into a hiatal hernia.
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So we need our stomach acid to be low on the pH scale, which means we are high in stomach acid, which keeps the stomach in a healthy and digestive range. When we add in antacids, it raises the pH to 6 or above. A pH above 6 decreases the body's ability to digest food by now allowing enzymes to function. This lack of enzymes increases yeast and the risk of undigested food sitting in the stomach, causing bad breath. The antacid will help "solve" the acid from damaging the esophagus. Still, it is not solving the reason for the lack of stomach acid causing increased gas which can lead to heartburn.
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PPI, or proton pump inhibitors, reduce how much acid your stomach can produce. Omeprazole (Prilosec), Esomeprazole (Nexium), Lansoprazole (Prevacid), Rabeprazole (AcipHex), Pantoprazole (Protonix), Dexlansoprazole (Dexilant), or Zegerid (omeprazole with sodium bicarbonate) are common PPI's.
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Short-term effects of Proton Pump Inhibitors (PPI) are:
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Abdominal pain
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Constipation
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Diarrhea
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Dizziness
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Fever
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Flatulence
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Headache
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Nausea
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Rash
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Stomach pain
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Vomiting
Long-term effects can be life-threatening. Prolonged use can cause:
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Kidney disease, injury or failure, or CKD (Chronic Kidney Disease)
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Heart attacks (increases your risk from 5.45% to 14.65%)
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Cancer
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Bone fractures
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Vitamin B12 deficiency
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Low magnesium levels
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Pneumonia
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Lupus erythematosus events
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Recently the F.D.A. required manufacturers to add a CKD warning label on Proton Pump Inhibitors. A 2017 study in the journal Kidney International found long-term use to cause "silent" kidney damage. A 2016 study found that long-term users of PPIs were 28% more likely to suffer from CKD, and of those, 95% had to have kidney failure, or end-stage renal disease (ESRD).
If that wasn't enough, PPI also lowers gastric acid levels so low that C. Diff (Clostridium Difficile) and pneumonia are more common. C. diff is a highly contagious infection and can cause life-threatening diarrhea and inflammation of the large intestine. Only using a PPI for a year increases your risk for pneumonia by 82%.
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Heartburn can be a real pain. It's not just the burning sensation in your chest that's upsetting—it's the fact that you're worried it's going to damage your esophagus.
But don't worry, we're here to help.
We want you to know that there are a few things you can do to help prevent or lessen your heartburn symptoms. We've put together a list of lifestyle modifications that will help you feel better and keep those pesky little problems in check.
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Avoid smoking! Smoking relaxes the valve between your stomach and esophagus allowing more stomach acid to enter your esophagus causing irritation of the lining of this organ which results in pain for you.
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Eat while relaxed
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Eat small frequent meals - Don't eat large meals at one time as it takes longer for food to digest which increases pressure on your stomach causing it to release more acid into your esophagus causing irritation that leads to pain for you. Instead eat small meals every 3 hours or so throughout the day
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Avoid foods that increase acidity such as coffee or alcohol;
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Chew foods thoroughly before swallowing them
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Avoid chewing gum or sucking on hard candies because they increase saliva production which causes more acid production
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Avoid overeating at restaurants because food portions tend to be larger than what we need at home
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Stop eating three hours before bedtime since digestion takes place during sleep so eating too late will cause more problems than good
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Eat more alkaline foods like broccoli, spinach, cabbage and other greens like kale or bok choy (if you have GERD)
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Elevate your head of the bed while sleeping
What foods can trigger heartburn, GERD, indigestion?
Everyone has different triggers and some people find that specific foods will cause or irritate their heartburn more than others. You can start by eliminating each item and slowly reintroducing them back to see the effects. ​
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Onions
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Spicy foods
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Citrus fruits
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High-fat foods
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Tomatoes
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Tomato-based products
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Alcohol
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Citrus juices
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Caffeinated beverages
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Carbonated beverages
How we support your body
Through our advanced form of muscle testing including Nutrition Response Testing, we are able to pinpoint the reason for your heartburn. Just as you don't enjoy the same foods as everyone around you, your health isn't a one-size fits all - that is why we use designed clinical nutrition.
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“Designed Clinical Nutrition” is exactly that: designed (especially prepared based on a specific plan), clinical (pertaining to the results gotten in clinical use or actual practice on huge numbers of patients over many years), nutrition (real food, designed by nature to enable the body to repair itself and grow healthfully).
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Ready to take your next step? Schedule your complimentary Health Discovery Call below: