Dr Hagmeyer Natural IBS Relief Program
10 keys to Defeating IBS and GI Related Issues.
Reason Number Two: Acid Levels and Enzymes
If you suffer with IBS then the symptoms of gas, bloating, indigestion, heartburn, reflux, GERD, intestinal spasms is all too familiar in your daily struggles with this disease. The good news is that 90% of the time IBS has it’s root causes in one or more of variables that you see in the model below.
Our Approach incorporates functional Testing and a Natural Holistic approach to IBS relief and Recovery. Over the next several articles, we will be discussing this approach and why we are very successful at helping IBS, SIBO, GERD, and other GI ailments.
Today’s article, we are going to add what we talked about last week. If you missed last week’s article on how antibiotics cause IBS and other GI diseases you can go back and read that article here
Many of the symptoms of IBS can be improved upon if you work with a health care practitioner who can identify your individual foods intolerances and sensitivities. Once these foods Have been identified nutritional support coupled with digestive enzymes, such as hydrochloric acid (stomach acid) and pancreatic enzymes such as amylase, protease and lipase will be extremely helpful. You Can read another one of my article How Digestive Enzymes Help With Bloating, Gas, Indigestion, and IBS?
But wait just a minute, you might be thinking or you might have “been told” that your IBS is caused by bacteria or it’s caused by having too much stomach acid and that’s why you’re taking Tums, Rolaids, Pepcid AC, Tagamet, Prilosec or Nexium.
In reality, there are very few people that produce sufficient amounts of acid in the stomach, another words the vast majority of people can’t produce enough stomach acid.
O.K. Doc, but why do I feel so much acid, it burns and hurts, and it comes up into my throat? Here is the part of the equation you have never heard.
If you ask a physician or nurse: What are the symptoms of a person who is producing too much stomach acid?
They will easily list the symptoms I have mentioned above. But if you ask: What are the symptoms of a person producing too little stomach acid? You get silence. It’s because they have never thought about it in this way. The symptoms are the same.
How do you know which category you fall into? Have you diagnosed yourself? Do the 3 or 4 commercials you see every night during the network evening news have you convinced that you need antacids for your symptoms? Yeah, but Doc, when I take antacids, I feel better.
Well, some of you do. Some of you get temporary relief and then it stops working. But one thing you all have in common, it never cures your problem. Many of you have taken antacids and antibiotics for years or even decades. You have a bottle in your kitchen, bathroom, office, in you care and next to your bed stand.
It is not a cure; it merely suppresses your symptoms. But wait, it gets worse.
Antacids buffer (meaning decreases) the amount of acid (PH) you are producing, ultimately impairing digestion.
As if that were not bad enough, lowered acidity in the stomach inhibits minerals such as calcium, magnesium, Iron and potassium from being properly broken down, keep reading there’s more….. And if that’s not bad enough, the acid your stomach should be producing is a potent weapon that fights and kills any parasites, and bacteria in the food you eat.
As you continue to alkalize your stomach, it just becomes a matter of time before you develop a bacterial, parasitic or H.Pylori explosion. Remember, you stomach was designed to be acidic for many reasons, and by changing the environment with antacids, antibiotics and steroids, you will continue to erode the environment.
If you read our last post I explained why doctors often prescribe antibiotics for IBS,SIBO and Crohn’s sufferers and how they contribute over the long term to IBS. Remember taking an antibiotic is like dropping an atomic bomb on million of good, productive bacteria.
A recent systematic review of gastric acid-suppressive drugs suggested that they do in fact increase susceptibility to infections (PDF). The author found evidence that using acid stopping drugs can increase your chances of contracting the following nasty bacteria:
- Salmonella
- E.Coli
- Campylobacter
- Cholera
- Listeria
- Giardia
- C. Difficile
Other studies have found that acid stopping drugs also increase the risk for:
Not only do acid stopping drugs increase our susceptibility to infection, they weaken our immune system’s ability to fight off infections once we have them. In vitro studies have shown that PPIs impair neutrophil function, decrease adhesion to endothelial cells, reduce bactericidal killing of microbes, and inhibit neutrophil phagocytosis and phagolysosome acidification.
Dr Hagmeyer’s Final Thoughts and what you should remember about this article.
- The vast majority of people have IBS symptoms because they have low acid production not too much acid production.
- Many people are taking an antacid because they think they are producing too much acid and they think the problem is solved (which it isn’t). In reality, the process of digestion is impaired and minerals cannot be properly absorbed.
- Taking Tums, Rolaids, Pepcid AC, Tagamet, Prilosec or Nexium will in many cases make your IBS worse. It may relieve some of the symptoms, but the cause continues and over the long run you will end up with more problems.
- Changing the environment of your Gastrointestinal system by use of antibiotics, antacids and steroids can lead to a Leaky Gut and autoimmune conditions.
- Antibiotics disrupt normal micro biota or environment of the digestive system. This can lead to many other disease processes.
- Each person suffering with IBS, Celiac, Crohn’s or any other GI problem has a different set of mechanisms or causes. Our office will customize a GI Restoration Program that is tailored to your individual needs based on advanced 21st Century testing.
- All of these “DEAL BREAKERS” must be checked and addressed at the same time or treatmentand Success will FAIL!
- Imagine how different your life COULD be if you were Free from the Embarrassment, Anxiety and Stress that your IBS causes you?
Other Articles You May Find Interesting
1. 7 Things about Acid Reflux, IBS and Gluten You Don’t know
2. Why A Leaky Gut Must be Repaired if you have IBS or other GI Problem
3.Leaky Gut Syndrome: How Leaky Gut May Be Contributing To IBS.
