Natural Alternatives for Heartburn and Acid Reflux Medications

Natural Alternatives for Heartburn and Acid Reflux Medications

Proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) like Nexium, Prilosec and Prevacid are taken daily by 20 million Americans for heartburn symptoms. These drugs have been linked to a heightened risk for a number of serious health problems that are much scarier than heartburn, including: chronic kidney disease, pneumonia, osteoporosis, hip fractures, dementia, heart disease, and heart attacks.
There are many ways to eliminate heartburn or acid reflux without drugs, starting with eating real food and probiotic-rich fermented foods like Kefir. There are also supplements available to help treat the underlying cause without the nasty side-effects.

The theory that heartburn symptoms is caused by too much stomach acid has been disproven. Most cases of heartburn are actually caused by one or more of the following scenarios:

• Insufficient amounts of stomach acid: That burning sensation is not caused by too much acid, but instead by the rotting food that is sitting in your digestive track because it is not being properly broken down due to lack of stomach acids. Swap out your processed table salt for an unprocessed Himalayan salt. Take a tablespoon of raw, unfiltered apple cider vinegar before meals and/or take a hydrochloric acid supplement with meals. (Order a supplement here and enter code: BaltuskaChiropractic)
• Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) imbalance: While H. pylori can be part of your normal healthy microbiome, it can cause problems, including symptoms of acid reflux and heartburn if there’s an overgrowth of it. This typically occurs over time as a result of poor food choices. Avoid processed, high sugar “food-like” substances.
• Hiatal hernia: Some people actually have anatomical abnormalities in which part of the stomach actually slides up through the ring that the esophagus descends. See a Chiropractor to have your stomach adjusted into proper position.
• Food allergies: Hypersensitivity to foods often contribute to acid reflux.  Eliminate common culprits such as wheat, dairy, sugar, caffeine, alcohol, and nicotine.

The uncomfortable symptoms that your body is signaling to you is a cry for help to correct an imbalance before it becomes a larger problem. When you mask this signal with prescription drugs, it only allows for the imbalance to fester into something far worse that is harder to correct. If you have become dependent on medication to control your acid reflux and heartburn symptoms for some time, do not stop taking them “cold turkey”.  Instead, as you ease into some of the natural alternatives, slowly wean your dependency over time. It will be worth the hassle and effort to avoid the disasters of long term use.