It boggles my mind how intelligent, educated people can
ignore common sense.
I'm talking about the medical community and their
treatment regimen for acid reflux.
Here's what a typical acid reflux sufferer can look
forward to:
Treatment usually starts with antacids and avoidance of
alleged "trigger foods" like chocolate, peppermint,
tomatoes, citrus juice and spicy foods.
========
Antacids
========
Antacids do just what their name says--they neutralize the
acid in the stomach. But the stomach NEEDS acid to digest
proteins, so when an antacid is taken, it thwarts digestion.
Sure, it might mask the heartburn for a little while, but
when food is poorly digested, the nutrients are destroyed,
it causes gas, results in stools that don't pass through
the colon easily and get built up, poisoning you and
causing you to put on pounds.
And since the real cause of the acid reflux is being
ignored (more on that later), the antacids eventually
aren't enough to mask the problem.
Better known names are Tagamet, Pepcid, Axid and Zantac.
Histamine is the chemical that sends a signal to your
stomach to produce acid. H2 antagonists "work" by stopping
the histamine from doing its job, and voila--acid
production is suppressed in the stomach.
Prevent the acid from being secreted and you hide the
heartburn, but you still get the same problem of ruined
digestion and all its effects (see antacids above).
Plus H2 antagonists do nothing to heal the inflammation in
the esophagus (food tube) that comes along with acid reflux-
-called esophagitis.
Their list of side effects (they are really DIRECT
effects) is about a foot long and include headaches,
irregular heart beats, constipation, diarrhea and abdominal
pain (since digestion is stopped), blurred vision,
depression and hepatitis.
They're meant to be taken on a short-term basis...and no
clinical trials even exist for periods longer than a year.
So if you've been taking Tagamet, Pepcid, Axid or Zantac
longer than a year...
...You've just become a lab rat.
And just like with antacids above, if you continue to
ignore the root cause of acid reflux long enough (more on
that below), the H2 antagonists won't hide the problem
adequately enough.
Then it's time to graduate to the granddaddy of them all...
Also known as: Prilosec, Prevacid, Nexium, Protonix and
Aciphex. "Purple pills."
PPIs "work" by blocking the secretion of acid into the
stomach in the acid-secreting cells. Their effects just
last a little longer than an H2 antagonist.
These pills simply mask the problem and do NOTHING about
the cause.
The side effects are similar to H2 antagonists because,
again, digestion has been completely halted--constipation,
diarrhea, abdominal pain and gas.
There's another HUGE list of side effects and adverse
reactions way too long to list here, but if you do a search
on "Nexium side effects", you'll see what I mean.
Like H2 antagonists, PPIs are only meant to be used for a
very short time, and no clinical trials even exist for more
than 6 months.
All I can say is there are a lot of lab rats walking
around.
And know this--heartburn isn't your only worry with acid
reflux.
If you continue to mask symptoms and do nothing to address
the cause of acid reflux and acid keeps rising up in your
throat long enough, the inflammation it causes in your
esophagus (esophagitis) can lead to: ulcers (holes in the
lining of the esophagus), bleeding, coughing and asthma,
Barrett's esophagus (pre-cancerous cells) and eventually
esophageal cancer.
Taking pills to stop the stomach from doing its job is not
the answer to acid reflux. It's the OVER-production of
acid that's the problem.
Overproduction of acid comes from two thing: eating acid-
creating foods and eating foods that don't digest well
together. Too much acid is created, it slides on up the
food tube and there goes that three-alarm fire in your
chest. Simple common sense.
If you've got acid reflux, do yourself a favor (and
possibly save your life). Use something that actually
works to address a root cause of acid reflux.
Great Taste No Pain is the answer to the acid reflux
sufferer's prayers. It teaches you what foods to eat
together for nice, normal acid production and good
digestion. And the recipe book has over 100 positively
delicious dishes--many that you probably would have thought
you couldn't eat before! But you can. You just have to
know how to eat them. I will show you.
Like so many of our former pill popping clients, you too
can say sayonara to acid reflux.
I have had your system for about two weeks. This really
works!
I am not taking Aciphex any more!
I recently read an article about people who take PPIs
being diagnosed with Alzheimer's. The problem is not
Alzheimer's but is caused by the lack of the body's ability
to create stomach acid. Our bodies need acid in order to
absorb vitamin B-12; when it cannot, dementia often
occurs. My doctor confirms this.
So, not only do I feel much better, now I am not worried
about getting dementia because of lack of vitamin B-12.
