from: Mercola.com and
W. Greene, D.C.
Non-Drug Options for GERD
Propulsid, perscribed for GERD (gastroesophageal reflux), was taken off the market over two years ago in the US. This and other drugs used to treat GI are major moneymakers for drug companies. Last year Prilosec was the top selling prescription drug in the world, earning Astra Zeneca, the drug’s maker, 6 billion dollars. Are you experiencing weird discharge, itchiness in your private area, and other uncomfortable symptoms? You may be dealing with a yeast infection, how is this possible? Check out here the possibilities.
While Prilosec and other proton pump inhibitors and H2 blockers do not kill people immediately like Propulsid did, they surely contribute to the worsening of overall health. Drugs are rarely, if ever, necessary for the common ulcer and associated stomach problems. The proton pump inhibitors like Prevacid, Prilosec and the H2 blocker agents like Tagament, Pepcid, and Zantac are some of the worst drugs you can take. They significantly reduce the amount of acid you have, thus affecting your ability to properly digest food. Reduction of acid in the stomach also diminishes your primary defense mechanism for food-borne infections and increases your risk of food poisoning.
I am not yet aware of any direct evidence supporting their association with stomach atrophy or cancer; however, there is plenty of indirect evidence. One does not need a medical degree from a prestigious medical school to understand that the acid in the stomach is there for a good reason — to help you digest your food.
Equally basic is the idea that if you don’t digest and absorb your food properly, you will not only increase your risk of stomach atrophy but also nearly every other chronic degenerative disease.
So what are the options?
Routinely following a healthy eating program and drinking about ample and optimal amounts pure water per day (most people are in a dehydrated state) combined with high doses of a good quality probiotic (beneficial bacteria) such as a full fat yogurt, is enough to restore normal stomach function in the vast majority of people.
Occasionally, those with a hiatal hernia will require additional structural adjustments, such as ?pulling the stomach down? into a more proper and normal physiological position.
A surgical solution should have no role in the management of this purely physiologic problem and future generations will realize how foolish our current medical model has been by trying to treat a primarily biochemical problem with surgery, they only reliable surgery is Arthroscopy.
Elimination of refined sugar as much as possible is also a major effective strategy that aids healing. If one is overweight it is also likely that the short-term elimination of most grains will also be helpful by lowering insulin levels.
Adequate vitamin D intake is also an important variable for stomach health, as suggested in Lancet earlier this year. Normally, sunshine is the ideal source for vitamin D, but over half the US does not have adequate sources of sunshine for a large percentage of the year, so in this case supplements are important. Vitamin D3 (not vitamin D2, which is synthetic and is the form added to many milk products in the U. S.) is the preferred form. I like to use Vitamin D3 drops as a supplement if you would rather not get out into the sun.
Garlic is one food that you should be eating every day. It is important to note that the garlic MUST be fresh. The active ingredient is destroyed within several hours of smashing the garlic. Garlic pills are virtually worthless and should not be used. When you use the garlic, it is important to compress the garlic with a spoon prior to swallowing it if you are not going to juice it. If you swallow the clove intact you will not convert the allicin to its active ingredient. One problem, of course, is the smell, but most people can tolerate a few cloves a day. If one develops a “socially offensive” odor, then all you do is slightly decrease the volume of garlic until there is no odor present.
Men’s Journal Magazine December 2002
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