Almost everything you have been told about heartburn, indigestion, and common stomach ailments is wrong. Indigestion is not caused by excess acid in the stomach, nor is acid reflux. In fact, the worst treatment for these problems is taking an antacid, whether prescribed or not.
Being acidic is the natural state of the stomach, so there is no such thing as an excess of acid or acid buildup regarding the stomach. It is like claiming that the lungs suffer from excess oxygen, or the blood has an excess of red cells. Attempting to neutralize stomach acid to treat an uneasy stomach is as wise as treating an excess of blood cells with leeches. Both cases are demonstrations of using poor medicine to treat only the symptoms of non-existent medical conditions, of which the establishment either cannot accurately diagnose, or it is too unprofitable to do so.
The truth about most stomach disorders is that they are caused by not having enough acid, so the pharmaceutical industry has made fools out of most of us. The true reason behind acid reflux and indigestion is that when the stomach is lacking in acid, it must churn violently to make the best use of its limited acid. This in-turn causes pressure and back flows of the existing acid. The combination of the back-flows into the esophagus and the stomach's cramping action is what causes pain.
Antacids seem to work because they render the acid being spewed by the churning stomach as even less potent, and therefore, less painful. In the rare cases when acid is actually being overproduced by the stomach, it is virtually always a body attempting to compensate for antacids having been routinely administered. The effects of taking antacids eventually snowball, preventing proper digestion, temporarily eliminating only the symptoms, and eventually causing the very excess acid problem that they had been meant to stop. To recreate acids which have been neutralized, the body must carry out a set of complex chemical reactions that stress the body and cause it to develop an acidic pH. The process is quite unhealthy.
Why Stomach Acid Deficiency Happens
The end result of our accumulated toxicity from the factors mentioned throughout this book, is that our body chemistry has been artificially altered to become acidic. The relationship between an acidic body and illness has long been established, and the medical term for this condition is "acidosis". Acidosis ironically leads to an acid deficiency in the only organ requiring acid: the stomach. The toxicity of the majority of foods in a typical diet causes the body to become more acidic during digestion, and this includes the water. A body which is acidic (which is most) destroys its own cells, has a crippled immune system, ages rapidly, experiences skin and hair problems, has metabolic and weight regulation problems, is disease prone, is prone to allergies, cannot effectively absorb nutrients, cannot effectively flush toxins, cannot properly cope with cholesterol, cannot properly regulate minerals such as calcium, and most importantly, cannot maintain high levels of oxygen.
The Aftermath of Weak Stomach Acid, Antacids, or Baking Soda
Donna Gates explained the problems with low stomach pH better than we could. Readers are notified that this is not a blanket endorsement of her work, because she sells health frauds, such as pond scum (algae) as a healthy food item for human beings. Nevertheless, Donna actually did very well in understanding and explaining the issues of this particular topic, so she is quoted below.
"There are two main consequences of low stomach acid: 1. You become protein malnourished. When your stomach acid is low, you are not able to digest protein. Improper digestion of protein creates toxins in your intestines that can set the stage for illness and disease. Improper digestion of protein also creates acidic blood, since protein is by nature acidic. 2. You become mineral deficient. As your blood becomes more acidic, it will look for minerals from anywhere in your body, in order to get your blood to its more ideal alkaline state. Acidic blood robs your body of minerals, even taking minerals from your bones (which is important to know if you want to prevent osteoporosis).
"Low stomach acid eventually creates a vicious cycle: low stomach acid = low minerals = acidic blood. This cycle continues because acidic blood further creates low minerals and low stomach acid. Once this vicious cycle has started, there is a cascade of consequences:
"You could eat plenty of protein and still be protein malnourished. This raises cortisol levels (stress or death hormone), thereby raising your blood glucose (blood sugar levels). Elevated cortisol adversely affects your behavior and temperment.
"Eventually, your adrenals become depleted (adrenal fatigue) and DHEA, the youth hormone, is suppressed, leading to premature aging.
"Low DHEA and high cortisol affect your brain and behavior, but that's not all. The vicious cycle of low stomach acid affects your inner ecosystem too. Low stomach acid can lead to more bad guys (pathogenic bacteria, candida and viruses) than good guys (healthy microflora), thus lowering your immunity.
"Here are some of the common symptoms and disorders caused by low stomach acid: Bloating, belching, and flatulence immediately after meals, heartburn (often thought to be caused by too much stomach acid), Indigestion, diarrhea, or constipation, undigested food in stools, acne, rectal itching, chronic candida, hair loss in women, multiple food allergies, iron deficiency, weak, peeling, or cracked fingernails, chronic fatigue, adrenal fatigue, dry skin, various autoimmune diseases."
A Natural Remedy
The next time that you have indigestion problems, try an experiment that gives your stomach the acid that it needs. Take a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar, and chase it with a glass of water. We recommend only purchasing apple cider vinegar in glass containers, or the vinegar will contain chemical contaminants that have leached out of the plastic. All stomach churning and pain should subside within minutes, unless the problem is ulcers. The results are amazing.
No pharmaceutical company will make billions from this, and none of them will ever be able to become the gate keeper of this remedy by getting a patent to monopolize apple cider vinegar. Regulatory agencies will not be able to profit from this either. Therefore, do not expect to read about this in any of the medical journals, or to ever hear it reported in the mainstream media.
Those having trouble digesting high-protein foods should find digestive enzymes to be helpful. Previously known as "pancreatic enzymes", these compounds are created in the pancreas to aid in the breakdown of foods. High-fat and high-protein foods are the most difficult to digest, and digestive enzymes alleviate much of the burden. Taking digestive enzymes alongside meals allows the pancreas to perform its other tasks more efficiently, and gives it the opportunity to heal itself. Whenever a pancreas is malfunctioning, the body cannot properly digest its food, so people subsequently become malnourished, which slowly causes subsequent disease states throughout a body over time. Those with chronic and severe digestive problems are likely to benefit from digestive enzymes. Digestive enzymes can greatly alleviate the pain of an impaired pancreas, in some cases altogether.
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