This Little Harmless Drug That Makes You Sicker Over Time

• pain behind the sternum or under the ribs after eating
• burning pain in the stomach
• chronic annoying cough
• burning pain that rises up the esophagus
• waterbrash or sour risings from the stomach
• belching
• discomfort and gas after eating
• aggravation from lying down

       Pharmaceutical sales of antacids are highly profitable both prescription and over the counter varieties. People are led to believe that these medications are safe to take long term. If one watches any of these heartburn drug commercials, they would think they can get away scott free eating chinese food, pizza, burgers and  topping it all with hot sauce just by popping a little antacid pill. However this is not the case. Consider this: your body has mechanisms to tell you how you are doing. If you suppress those signals without addressing the underlying cause what happens to those signals? They symptoms are driven deeper into the body and further harm is done, not to mention the side effects from the drugs (see the next column for some of the long term effects of these medications).

      What are the causes of heartburn? Here is a basic and not complete list:

• Poor food choices such as eating too many fried foods, red meat, high saturated fats, spices, sugar, refined foods such as white flour and rice, a lack of fresh fruits and vegetables. Also drinking too much coffee, tea or alcoholic beverages increase your acidity.
• High acid production in the stomach
• Low production of stomach acid called hydrochloric acid (HCL). Low HCL actually causes the same symptoms as high HCL.
• An overgrowth of bad bacteria such as candida, and h. pylori.
• Common food sensitivities that cause heartburn are dairy products, eggs, citrus, soya, wheat, sugar, citrus, chocolate and corn.
• A lack the right types of mineral and vitamins that help the stomach to protect itself such as vitamin A, B, C, E and zinc.
• A lack of good flora namely bifidobacteria and lactobacillus acidophilus found in fermented products like miso, kefir and yogurt.
• Certain medications are triggers for heartburn such as pain killers such as NSAIDs, arthrotec and celebrex, antiobiotics, asthma medications, calcium channel blockers, anti-anxiety and anti-depressant medications. Talk to your doctor if you are suffering from heartburn and take any of the mentioned medications.  

     What can you do to help yourself? There are a few things that work and are simple enough such as:

• Improve your diet by eating foods in their original state, such as fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains like brown rice, rye or whole wheat bread and avoiding pre-packaged foods that contain sugar. Eat a diet that contains lean protein such as fish, chicken, turkey or legumes. Limit high fat dairy products and add in yogurt to your diet to get some beneficial flora. Avoid eating out.
• Take a good quality probiotic that contains over 5 billion cells of acidophilus and bifidobacteria
• Take a good quality multi vitamin with vitamin A, B, C, E and zinc in it. Have your practitioner ascertain any further deficiencies in vitamins and minerals.
• Do a home test for acid levels. The next time you have heartburn try taking a tbsp or two of apple cider vinegar. If your heartburn dissapates, you are low acid. If it gets worse you are high acid. Drink a large glass of water once the test is done. Ask your practitioner what is your next course of action. If you are already a patient of the clinic, please contact us to do this test. 519 827 9237
• Have your health practitioner test you for food sensitivities to figure out what you are allergic to. We have two methods to test for these, one is electrodermal (EAV) screening that is done in the office, and the other is a lab test, that screens for IgG reactions in the blood to certain foods. For sample report of the blood testing click here.

     There are many different ways to treat chronic heartburn naturally. This reflects the individual nature of each person and unique needs. A healthy diet is the first and most important step in treating the stomach. As Hippocrates said, "Let Food Be Your Medicine".

     In the clinic we have a multi faceted approach that treats the individual's specific needs to combat heartburn. The person's case is analyzed and certain tests may be recommended depending on what symptoms are appearing. For example, one person may be asked to do a digestive panel test to see if there are digestive enzyme insufficiencies, a lack of beneficial flora such as acidophilus and bifidobactera or an excess of bad bacteria such as candida, klebsiella or streptococcus. For a sample report, click here. For more information please contact us at 519-827-9237.

November and December Coupon For

New Practice Members Only

Book an initial appointment with a live cell test and receive a complimentary food sensitivity testing using EAV.

Please  bring this coupon to your appointment.

Offer expires

December 31, 2011

Side Effects of Common Heartburn Medications

• Long term use of heartburn medication can lead to malabsorption of certain vitamins and minerals such as iron, B12, folic acid, calcium and magnesium
• Suppression of the body's symptoms telling one their food choices are poor which may lead to other consequences such as heart disease, chronic stomach issues, irritable bowel syndrome.
• Studies have shown those who use these medications long-term may suffer from an increased incidence of osteoporosis and subsequent bone fractures
• High aluminum levels due to certain aluminum containing antacids may contribute to the development of the neurological disorder alzheimer's disease.
• Small bowel bacteria overgrowth due to the lack of stomach acid. This allows pathogens to enter the intestinal tract unharmed.
• Poor digestion of protein and other foods, leading to dry hair, nails and skin. Also adequate protein digestion is required to piggyback the mineral iodine up to the thyroid for proper thyroid function and conversion of T4 to T3.
• H2 blockers (tagamet or mylanta (aka cimetidine), zantac (aka ranitidine), pepcid(famotidine) blocks stomach acid. These impede the body's detoxification reaction which magnify side effects from other medications or environmental chemicals and cause hypertension, headaches, liver malfunction, hair loss anemia, arthritis, gynecomastia (breast enlargement in men)*
• Proton pump inhibitors prilosec (omeprazole) and prevacid (lansoprazole) cause diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, heartburn, tumors, liver death, pancreatitis, headaches, back pain, anemia, vitamin and mineral deficiencies.*

*Source Dr. Sherry A Rogers M.D., "No More Heartburn", Kensington books, 2000

Are Your Friends or Family Feeling as Well as They Should?

We know you want your friends and family to be healthy and some of them just don't feel as well as they should. For the month of November and December, if you refer a friend to the clinic for an initial appointment, you will receive a free live cell test with your next visit (coupon value of 70.00). We will email or mail you a coupon after your referral has had their appointment.

Packages for Regular Clients

For a few months we have offered coupons for live cell tests and visits. We now have new packages that save you even more money on your visits, live cell tests and your supplements. For more information click here

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