15. The Stomach… and Acid Reflux

<p>Episode 15 - The Stomach… and Acid Reflux</p> <p>The first thing you should know about the stomach is that it MUST be acidic for digestion to take place.</p> <p>To ensure its acidity, Hydrochloric Acid (HCl) is secreted into the stomach whenever the presence of food is detected.</p> <p>This strong acid serves two important purposes:</p> <p>1) Destroy any harmful bacteria, viruses and parasites that may be in the food.</p> <p>2) Activate Pepsin… a digestive enzyme that plays a major role in the breakdown of protein.</p> <p>When all is well, digestion in the stomach works like a charm.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> However, when things aren’t working well, symptoms appear.</p> <p>Bloating, gas, indigestion and heartburn are all signs of improper stomach digestion. <span class= "Apple-converted-space"> </span></p> <p>Possible causes are:</p> <p>1) Poor food choices<span class= "Apple-converted-space"> </span></p> <p>2) Insufficient Digestive Enzymes</p> <p>3) Diluted Digestive Enzymes</p> <p>Undigested food in the stomach can cause additional problems.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p> <p>Specifically, undigested food can begin to “rot”.<span class= "Apple-converted-space"> </span> This rotting food can then produce MORE acid.</p> <p>Excess acid can begin to move up into the esophagus causing heartburn.</p> <p>What’s the solution?</p> <p>We DON’T recommend medications like Prilosec, Pepcin, or Nexium.</p> <p>Why not? <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p> <p>Because they only mask the symptoms… they DON’T correct the underlying problem.</p> <p>Plus they are linked with increase chance of stomach cancer, bone fractures and kidney disease.</p> <p>Instead, we recommend a few simple, common sense tactics that are not only easy to employ… they’re safe and effective at CORRECTING the problem.</p> <p>You can find out all about them by listening to this episode!<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p>