GERD, Acid Indigestion, and other stomach woes!

It's a safe bet that you know someone that has been diagnosed with or takes a prescription for GERD (Gastro-esophageal reflux disease), or acid reflux. You may even be one of the millions of people worldwide that takes a little purple pill to avoid burning in your chest and stomach. One in four people in Western societies are affected by upper gastrointestinal disorders. Few people know or understand the side effects that these pills can cause a normally healthy person.

Most of the time when someone complains of acidy stomach issues, or heartburn they are prescribed a proton pump inhibitor. Proton pump inhibitors such as Nexium or Prilosec, actually slow down the acid production in your stomach to reduce the amount of acid available for digestion. Other over the counter remedies, such as Tums and Rolaids, kill stomach acid. While this may reduce the symptoms of what seems like too much acid in your stomach, it leaves your body open to attack by bacteria and viruses that would normally be killed by stomach acid, and can reduce the ability to break down foods and nutrients for absorption. If your stomach does not have the proper amount of acid, it can reduce iron absorption and calcium absorption. Furthermore, you could end up with pneumonia or other illnesses due to the stomach's inability to kill the bacteria that causes them.

Health begins at the cellular level. Optimum health begins with adequate nutrition, proper digestion & oxygenation, and the blocking of toxins from outside sources. Without these things your body becomes mal-nourished at the cellular level. If the food you eat is not digested properly and the nutrients from the food are unable to be absorbed, you are in a state of mal-nutrition. The old adage "we are what we eat" should be taken one step further to say "we are what we absorb from what we eat!" Eating a healthy nutritious diet is fantastic, if your body has the ability to use the nutrients. If you are not absorbing the nutrients, then your body can not build complete, new, healthy cells. Our body is constantly replacing cells, your intestines completely renew themselves every 10 days. The concern is if they are replacing the old cells with new, weak, mal-nourished cells, how can they do the job they are created to do?

The body's inability to absorb the elements that it needs to rebuild itself can be corrected. Most people find that once they get their internal organs working properly, acid indigestion is no longer an issue. Our bodies have ways of telling us when something is not working properly. If we cover up and ignore these "red flags" we are placing our bodies in danger of further degeneration and developing disease. Don't settle for a cover-up, find out why your body is telling you something is wrong, and repair the imbalance.