I am continually amazed by how important one's gastrointestinal functioning can impact their overall health. Unfortunately, I am also continually amazed by the mismanagement of gastrointestinal concerns, which tends to create even more health problems somewhere down the line.
More specifically, it almost seems as though antacid medications are being dispensed like it were candy and this may likely be creating more problems than it is treating. If someone is having symptoms of reflux or burning in their stomach/esophagus, it is immediately assumed that they are over-producing stomach acid. It is possible to over-produce stomach acid, but it is actually quite a rare occurrence. In fact, it is much more common to find that these concerns may be a result of under-production of stomach acid and/or poor timing of stomach acid production.
If your reflux/indigestion is resulting from under-production of stomach acid, then antacid medications (designed to shut down stomach acid production) will cause you to be severely deficient in stomach acid, and this is where further health complications can arise. Adequate stomach acid is very important for you to digest your food and to allow you to absorb key nutrients, especially iron, calcium, and B-vitamins. Adequate stomach acid also prevents infectious organisms from colonizing the entirety of our gastrointestinal tract, because these organisms cannot survive in such an acidic environment.
Therefore, inadequate stomach acid levels can directly lead to both colonization ("dysbiosis") of the gastrointestinal tract with pathogenic bacteria, parasites, and fungi...as well as deficiencies of vitamins and minerals that are crucial for optimum cellular and physiological functioning. In many cases, antacid medications may provide short-term relief, but will commonly make a problem much worse. If you are using antacid medications, our Newmarket Naturopathic Clinic can assess your level of stomach acid production, help heal and repair any damage to gastric lining and also assess mineral and vitamin deficiencies and/or dysbiosis resulting from these medications.
Yours in health,
Dr. Michael Morsillo, B.Sc., N.D.
Doctor of Naturopathic Medicine
Nature's Emporium
16655 Yonge St.
Newmarket, Ontario
905-898-1844
www.drmorsillo.com
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