During festive times, many Americans are reaching for their packages of Rolaids, Tums, Prilosec, or similar OTC medications. Before you follow this course, let’s think about what these medications actually do. They reduce stomach acidity, assuming that many of us are for some reason churning out excess amounts of it. The truth is, the production of stomach acid is more often decreased, by factors such as stress, nutrient deficiency, and age. What happens when we produce too little acid? Food is delayed in the stomach as it takes longer to break down in a less acidic environment. When food is in the stomach for longer than usual, it creates fullness and pushes an acidic mixture back up the esophagus, resulting in heartburn. So we take antacids to reduce the acidity, which in actuality compounds the problem.
Most people need a little boost in acid production, something easily accomplished by taking a Betaine Hydrochloride supplement to boost acidity. We can do a safe test, called the Hydrochloride Challenge, to find out whether one is truly overproducing stomach acid or one is deficient.
Deficiency in stomach acidity not only results in heartburn, but also to an inability to digest protein properly, which affects everything from muscle function to neurotransmitter (such as serotonin, the entity boosted artificially by drugs such as Prozac and Zoloft) production.
Before you reach for any antacid, give us a call to discuss whether your problem may be better treated by a digestive aid.