Acid Reflux

Many people experience acid reflux or heartburn throughout their lives and don’t understand why they feel the burning sensation reach up through their chest and into their throat. Medical communities blame acid reflux on gastric acid and hydrochloric acid backing up into the esophagus. However, this theory of the cause is unfounded and limited in its understanding as I’ll explain in this article. The digestive system is such a mystery that most of the time when physicians treat patients for illnesses, their practices are based solely on theory. In truth, even the understanding of how enzymes, assimilation, digestion, and absorption work is all just theoretical. While all these functions exist on some level, all research and science can do at the moment is conjecture theory as to what they do and how they cooperate with the digestive process. Nobody actually understands enzymes. Nobody actually understands what happens when food enters the stomach. For example, it is possible to experience pain from gas in the intestinal tract all the way near the neck and by the top of the shoulders, which can seem baffling because you may wonder how gas can travel to that area of the body (find out more about this in my book Medical Medium where I discuss ammonia permeability.) There is so much left for science and research to discover in the area of digestion, which is one reason there is so little helpful information on understanding and truly healing acid reflux once and for all. 

What is Acid Reflux

Acid reflux, while it is in fact related to acids, is not due to gastric acids or hydrochloric acid from the stomach. If you or someone you know is experiencing acid reflux regularly, the acid is either coming from a bacteria or toxins in the liver and even the small intestinal tract, though the most common cause is bacterial. Medical communities have no idea that this is what is really behind this unpleasant condition. There are cases of acid reflux where there is an actual kink in the intestines or a hernia. However, if the cause is not a visible one, it is directly related to a weakened liver and bacterial growth. This bacteria produces an acid that mimics gastric acid and fools the physician into thinking that is what it is, when in fact it is not a stomach gland-produced acid at all.

When you have bacteria and toxin-based acid coming up and causing acid reflux or heartburn, it means you actually have a lack of hydrochloric acid in your stomach. Hydrochloric acid is the good kind of acid that actually destroys bacteria, which in turn prevents acid reflux. In other words, if you have the bad acids, it means you do not have enough of the good acids. 

Acid reflux is also connected to a weakened liver. Typically weak digestion is due to an overburdened liver that cannot produce strong enough bile, which then forces the stomach to overproduce hydrochloric acid to compensate. This is extremely taxing on both of the organs and can then result in acid reflux. Find out why the liver becomes overburdened and how to heal in my book,Liver Rescue.

Bacteria builds up, sometimes in the duodenum or sometimes in the bottom of the stomach pouch, and there is not enough hydrochloric acid to fight it off. The hydrochloric acid in the stomach is actually a complex blend of seven different acids, which are yet to be discovered. Medical communities currently believe, mistakenly, that hydrochloric acid is just one acid. I shared this in my book Medical Medium. If someone has a diminished amount of three of the seven acids in hydrochloric acid, a doctor or health practitioner will not be able to spot the problem because the truth is unknown in medical science and research. 

The Three Goals for Healing Acid Reflux

Healing acid reflux is not about taking a magic pill. Just as with the other conditions I have illuminated in my books, truly healing acid reflux takes a lifestyle shift in order to heal the true root issue. When healing acid reflux, there’s three goals: build up hydrochloric acid, kill off the unproductive bacteria like streptococcus, helicobacter pylori, or e. Coli, and strengthen the liver. As I will discuss below, all three of these things can be achieved with some dietary changes. There are some really helpful supplements to take, as well, that are powerful bacteria-fighters. However, the main shift will come with diet. 

Foods to Avoid

The four most important foods to avoid when healing acid reflux are gluten, dairy, and eggs, and it can also be very helpful to lower or eliminate animal protein while you are healing. Gluten, dairy (milk, butter, cheese, cream, yogurt, milk kefir), and eggs are the favorite food source for bacteria and it will be very challenging to heal acid reflux if you are still eating them. If you hold the belief that yogurt or milk kefir heal the digestive tract because of their probiotic nature, it’s important to understand that the rest of what yogurt and milk kefir are made of still feed all unhelpful varieties of bacteria. Pathogens fuel themselves by eating, and if you remove gluten, dairy, and eggs from your own diet, you are removing the bacteria’s food and preventing it from festering. Even if you get the highest quality organic, free-range egg from a backyard hen, that egg will still feed the bacteria you are trying to fight off. It is unfortunate that so many people and well-intentioned practitioners still consider eggs as nature’s perfect food. They are in truth fueling the pathogens that medical communities are unaware are behind so much of chronic illness today. To find out more about pathogens and how they create problems, you can refer to my books Life-Changing Foods and Thyroid Healing. 

Please don’t be confused, this is not a biased attack on eating animal protein, but it’s helpful to lower the amount of animal proteins you consume while healing because of their inherently high fat content. All animal meats are high in fat, even if it has no skin and is not fried. This may be surprising because you might have been told for so long that eating chicken breast without the skin or “lean” cuts of meat will help you lose weight due to it being made mostly of protein. However, that is simply not true. Fat is all throughout the chicken breast and other “lean” meats, even if you make it in the cleanest way possible. By lowering your fat content through reducing your animal protein, you will give your liver the break it deserves. Having to process a high-fat and high-protein diet all day is incredibly exhausting for the liver and forces the stomach to overproduce hydrochloric acid to compensate. This applies to any diet you follow and foods you consume, not just animal protein. If you’re eating a vegetarian or plant-based diet and are experiencing acid reflux, you’ll also want to lower your fat intake by reducing the amount of nuts, oils, and other high fat foods that you consume. Lowering your fat, no matter what diet you’re on, is an essential step when wanting to heal acid reflux. I discuss the true unknown impact of our fat intake on our health and how the liver operates and responds in my book Liver Rescue.

What to Eat

When healing from acid reflux, focus on eating plenty of healthy carbohydrates from fruit, potatoes, sweet potatoes, and winter squashes. You may have been told by professionals or family members or friends to avoid these foods, but fruits and potatoes are actually amazing disease fighters. Fruit is especially powerful in knocking down bacteria. If you’re concerned that fruit has too much sugar or you’re scared to eat it because you’ve been told it’s not good for you, I can’t stress enough how incorrect this myth is. Fruit sugar is not the same as processed sugars. It’s critical for your health and the health of your loved ones that you understand this. I know it can be hard to let go of what you may have been told before, but fruit has more to offer you and your health than you can possibly imagine. To find out more about why fruit is so critical and why fruit has been given such a bad rap, you can listen to my Fruit Fear radio show and read the Fruit Fear chapter in my book Medical Medium. 

It’s also helpful to consume plenty of salads with cucumbers and tomatoes. Tomatoes actually have their own special kind of vitamin C that can save someone’s immune system and give them extra support when fighting pathogens. Add spinach, mache, butter lettuce, or another leafy green of choice. Sprouts and microgreens are an especially amazing addition. Throw some raw onion and raw garlic into your salads for powerful bacterial-killers, and bring in as much fresh thyme, oregano, rosemary, and sage as you can for their incredible assistance in healing bacterial issues. If you enjoy avocado, you can add some slices of that too. You can read about the undiscovered physical, spiritual, and emotional healing benefits of each of this powerhouse foods in Life-Changing Foods, which also includes 50 wonderful healing recipes.

The most miraculous food to include when fighting acid reflux is celery juice, which you can learn more about and get the recipe for in Thyroid Healing. Drinking a 16oz glass of straight celery juice (don’t add anything else to it for best results) every morning on an empty stomach restores the glands in the stomach that produce the seven-blend hydrochloric acid. There are undiscovered subgroups of mineral salts in celery juice that contribute to this process and ensure the hydrochloric acid is produced. Even drinking four to eight ounces of celery juice every morning can do wonders in healing acid reflux and heartburn. If you are experiencing bad acid reflux, you can even do two 16oz glasses of straight celery juice a day, one in the morning and one in the afternoon or before dinner.

Antibacterials

Eating a diet full of fruits and vegetables will naturally support you in your fight against the bacteria causing acid reflux. In truth, fruit is the most amazing antibacterial and liver healing food available to us. However, there are additional things we can do to fight the pathogen, such as including the following supplements. Goldenseal, elderberry tea, cat’s claw, and oregano oil are all incredible antibacterials that can be included on a regular or semi-regular basis. You can also consider licorice root tincture or tea and olive leaf because these herbs fight bacteria and help eliminate the gas that the bacteria produces that medical communities are unaware of. Another wonderful antibacterial is aloe vera. You can make aloe vera water, which is the most powerful way to have aloe, or drink aloe vera juice, or you can even cut open an aloe vera leaf, scoop out the gel and eat that directly. 

Additionally, considering adding herbal teas like fresh thyme tea, peppermint, elderflower, and lemon balm to your daily regimen. These herbal teas are powerful antibacterials and should not be underestimated. As always, please consult your practitioner before beginning a supplement protocol to discuss dosages. And when finding the right supplement, please visit my supplement directory. I have spent many hours bringing these together on one page. These are the exact supplements I personally trust. Not all supplements are created with the same integrity and there are many supplement companies out there that do not provide their consumers with the high quality products they promise.

Moving Forward

Now that you know the truth about what’s behind acid reflux and heartburn, you can take the steps needed to reduce and heal these conditions. If you are able to do one thing to improve your health today, celebrate that success and look forward to tomorrow when you can take another step toward healing. Focus on lowering your fat intake and drink celery juice every morning as you can. Enjoy plenty of vibrant, healing fruits and delicious salads. I have helped so many people over the years heal from acid reflux and heartburn from these simple lifestyle changes, and you too can experience healing and relief from this condition. 

(Note: Some visitors may search for the spelling "catsclaw" or "cats claw" when searching for "Cat's Claw". These are local or regional variations on this beneficial herb.)

This item posted: 29-May-2018

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