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stomach acid

H Pylori and Stomach Acid

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IS THAT ULCER FROM TOO MUCH STOMACH ACID?

Most likely not.  It’s actually very, very rare for someone to make too much stomach acid.  Consider this.  As we get older we make less and less stomach acid (the region of the stomach that makes stomach acid begins to atrophy), so if you’re past maybe 50, it’s almost guaranteed that you make too little.

Then, consider that stress reduces stomach acid production.  That pretty much wipes out the rest of the population…

THEN, consider that H. pylori, the bacteria that contributes to ulcers, actually works very hard at keeping our stomach from producing acid.  This really raises the question of dealing with stomach problems and reflux by blocking acid production.

You don’t have enough to start with, and then we find, in this study, that the bug that contributes (H. pylori) doesn’t LIKE acid and shuts stomach acid production down, so why on Earth would we want to further shut down our body’s own production??  This is one class of drugs that I have serious problems with (with, of course, the exception of someone with a bleeding ulcer, in which case this class of drugs will save their lives), given that it doesn’t even make sense and that stomach acid production is absolutely essential to a long list of very, very important physiological processes.

I usually recommend the other way, supporting digestion to overcome the effect that age and stress have on our ability to digest.

Read study here

Oxidative stress is more important than acid in reflux oesophagitis – (08-23-01)

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Oxidative stress is more important than acid in reflux oesophagitis

What a wonderful concept!! I cannot remember how many times I have had to explain to a near hostile listener in a group I’m speaking to that he or she has a very, very low likelihood of making too much stomach acid; in reality almost all of us make too little as we grow older. This article (which is a rat study) suggests that acid does not play the major role; rather, increased oxidative stress is the major player. This would suggest vitamin C, E, CoQ10 and other antioxidants may be more effective than acid-blockers for treatment of GERD.

Gut — Abstracts: Oh et al. 49 (3): 364

Read entire article here

Double infection with H pylori and non-H pylori during acid-suppression – (07-30-01)

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Double infection with H pylori and non-H pylori during acid-suppression

The co-infection of H pylori along with other bacteria during acid suppressive therapy is believed to contribute to the progression of atrophic gastritis, a condition where the portion of the stomach that produces stomach acid is destroyed. This article suggests a cycle of stomach problems treated with acid suppression that encourages bacterial growth. This growth then produces an increased inflammatory reaction against the stomach in an attempt to destroy the bacteria. The attack ultimately wears away the gastric antrum. I cannot stress how important stomach acid is to our health, and the casual nature with which acid suppression is prescribed and bought over the counter is frustrating. Any doctor willing to give acid suppressive therapy (with a few severe cases warranting its use) does not understand the physiology of the GI tract.

Synergy : Alimentary Pharmacology & Therapeutics 15 (8), 1163-1175

Read entire article here

DRUGS PRESCRIBED TO FIGHT AGAINST BREAST CANCER – (12-15-04)

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Indole-3-Carbinol and Prostate Cancer

This same concept would benefit many cases of breast cancer as well (unbeknownst to the oncologist in the previous example…). But I have a question here. For I-3-C in foods to be activated to DIM, stomach acid is required. Are the physicians prescribing acid suppressive therapy informing their patients that the cancer protective effect of their foods will probably be reduced by this class of drugs??

Read entire article here

TEST BEFORE GOING ON ACID SUPPRESSIVE THERAPY – (02-17-03)

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Ratio between IL-8 and pepsinogen A/C: marker for atrophic gastritis

Atrophic gastritis is the wearing away of the portion of the stomach that contains the parietal cells–the cells that produce stomach acid.

This article finds that markers in the blood can identify patients with this condition. This makes things very, very interesting in a time with the “purple pill” that is advertised everywhere totally shuts down acid production (it wasn’t important anyway…). Next time a physician suggests you go on acid suppressive therapy, ask him/her for this test. Despite popular opinion (and contrary to medical research and clinical presentations) most people make less and less stomach acid as we get older, making acid suppressive therapy baseless.

Synergy Abstract –

Read entire article here

High Systolic Blood Pressure? Med Ups Blood Pressure Levels

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High systolic blood pressure is called the silent killer because there aren’t any early symptoms. Some meds will up blood pressure levels in unexpected ways.

I’m going to cover one of these strange ways that a class of medication can increase your blood pressure, and it starts, not in the cardiovascular system as you would expect, but rather in the digestive system.

I could argue that the human body does two things….Digest, and everything else.

The digestion and absorption of nutrients from the food and drink we put in our mouths is absolutely critical to good health. Disruption of that process in any way, shape or form can only harm us.

But stomach acid just helps us digest some proteins, right? And my doctor told me that I make too much so I need to take a drug that lowers it.

So what exactly does stomach acid do?

  1. Begins the process of digesting proteins
  2. Sterilizes bacteria so that they don’t begin to grow where they are not supposed to
  3. Turns on all the other inactive enzymes (they are deliberately made inactive to protect the glands and ducts they are made in)
  4. Turns on anti-cancer compounds like DIM from Indole 3 carbinol in cruciferous veggies
  5. Creates an acidic solution so that the pancreas can sense the acid and neutralize it (pH needs to be at least 3.5 for bicarbonate release from the pancreas). Otherwise, the contents of the stomach remain acidic and can damage the lining of the intestines
  6. Helps us absorb certain vitamins like B12
  7. Helps separate certain minerals so that they can be absorbed in elemental form

So, if your doctor handed you a prescription for something like Nexium, you should ask him or her what critical digestive processes are going to be negatively impacted. If he gives you a blank stare and just reiterates that you make too much acid, he or she has NO RIGHT giving you that drug.

If someone is going to give you a drug that blocks some essential process, they better damn well know the downstream consequences.

There is one other function of stomach acid that I didn’t mention…

It is coming to light that stomach acid may play a large role in helping foods that we eat to lower our blood pressure. Here’s how it works.

Nitrates naturally present in foods (vegetables, in general, are very high in nitrates), are converted by bacteria in our mouth to nitrite. (We have seen studies where antiseptic mouthwash actually stops this process and studies that suggest that stomach acid and nitrite protect the stomach lining)

The nitrite is then acted on by stomach acid to produce nitric oxide, which is a molecule well known to help lower blood pressure.

This means that anything that lowers stomach acid production can actually increase your blood pressure. This includes stress, age and acid blocking drugs like Nexium, Prilosec and antacids.

This particular study confirms this, finding that the use of omeprazole in rats stopped the ability of a solution of sodium nitrite to lower blood pressure.

Chalk up another benefit of hydrochloric acid in the stomach. Lowers blood pressure.

As to whether or not you actually make too much stomach acid…Consider this. Stress shuts down stomach acid production (via stimulation of the sympathetic nervous system) and, as we age, the region of the stomach that produces stomach acid wears away, leading to lower levels of stomach acid as we age.

So, unless you’re 25, stress free or have a tumor producing too much gastrin, I would pretty much put my license on the fact that you make too little stomach acid. This means that, for everything except a bleeding ulcer, supporting digestion rather than shutting it down is a much better idea for your symptoms.

So what changes did you make that helped with your reflux, heartburn or gastric pain?

BNEFITS OF STOMACH ACID FOR HEALTH – (02-13-06)

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Use of Gastric Acid Suppressive Agents and the Risk of Community-Acquired Clostridium difficile associated disease.

Let’s first say that C. difficile is not something you want to suffer through. The authors of this paper seemed a little surprised to find an almost tripling of the risk of acquiring this infection in patient on acid suppressive drugs.

Well, given that we are constantly exposed to an enormous amount of bacteria in our daily lives, and given that stomach acid acts as a very strong barrier to these bacteria, suppression of this protection will of course open up yet another Pandora’s box of health problems with acid suppression. Ah heck. What was Mother Nature thinking anyway? We don’t need stomach acid for health.

Read entire article here

IS STOMACH ACID ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL TO GOOD HEALTH? (08-24-09)

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First evidence of a possible association between gastric acid suppression during pregnancy and childhood asthma

I cannot begin to stress enough just how vitally important digestion is. Any attempt to block digestion with acid suppressive drugs (with the exception of those in the middle of a bleeding ulcer episode) is going to have long term, multiple, consequences on health. Stomach acid is absolutely essential to good health.

In this particular study we can see that these effects can even stretch to the unborn baby, increasing the risk for asthma.

Read entire article here