反酸的真正原因: 不是胃酸太多,而是胃酸太少

The True Cause of Acid Reflux

 

 

消化能力差(酸度低)会导致食物在胃里停留太久。症状包括腹胀、打嗝、口臭和大便中未消化的食物。这种消化不良的食物会膨胀、发酵并释放气体,给食管下括约肌(LES)施加压力,食管下括约肌这是一种使胃与食管分离的瓣膜。随着时间的推移,LES会通过持续增加的压力而减弱,并将胃里的酸性物质推回到食道,食道会灼伤内壁(或者根据新的研究,可能会引起炎症反应)。

这并不是说低胃酸总是胃酸倒流的原因。可能有很多原因,包括由裂孔疝引起的结构变化,当然还有怀孕。

但对于数百万经常与胃酸倒流作斗争的人来说,改变饮食是有希望的!

 

如果更多的科学研究研究食物对我们消化系统的影响,提供真正的食物解决方案,而不是更多的药物治疗,岂不是更好?

也许是因为自然疗法无利可图。

为什么低度胃酸是一种炎症

虽然食道组织的炎症并不是胃酸倒流的真正原因,但在很多方面,胃酸过低都是全身炎症的症状。

越来越多的医生认为全身炎症是许多常见病的根源。

因为胃酸是分解食物所必需的,短期内的缺乏会导致胃胀、打嗝、恶心、口臭、胀气、胃炎,当然还有胃酸倒流。

过度使用PPIs(质子泵抑制剂)导致的长期、慢性胃酸过低会导致感染(来源)、营养缺乏(来源)、骨质流失(来源)和髋部骨折(来源)等风险增加。

那么,引起低度胃酸的真正原因是什么呢?

和所有事情一样,很少有简单的答案。压力、环境毒素、感染和甲状腺功能减退都可能是其中一个原因。

 

但作为一名营养治疗师,我认为不良的饮食习惯是最普遍的因素,因为我看到了很多饮食改变后的改善。

如何用食物自然治疗低度胃酸

首先,你必须去除所有促炎症的加工食品。

因为加工食品已经融入了我们的文化,数以百万计的人不再知道真正的食品和加工食品的区别。

今天大多数人都知道,高精炼糖的食物是经过高度加工的。但大多数人并不知道,大多数以谷物为基础的食物也存在严重的问题。这与“多吃粗粮”的传统饮食建议背道而驰,但现代谷物与传统谷物之间存在着巨大的差异。现代谷物没有为最佳消化做好充分准备,而传统谷物为最佳消化做好了准备。

传统上,发酵、发芽和浸泡的谷物可以中和它们的一些诱发炎症和难以消化的特性。但现在很少有公司这么做了。

委婉地说,美国人吃很多以谷物为基础的食物。

如果这个话题对你来说是新的,Sally Fallon在这篇文章中很好地解释了现代谷物和传统谷物的区别。

这就是为什么在我的书中,我的方案的第一步是30天不吃谷物。

这有点像一箭双雕。因为许多以谷物为基础的食物在30天完全不含谷物的情况下也是高糖的,你会限制现代饮食中最具煽动性的两种食物。

当然,还有更多。但这是一个好的开始。下面是一些常见的促炎食物:

坚果和籽油中的有害脂肪,特别是玉米、棉籽油、菜籽油和豆油

反式脂肪,如部分氢化油(加工食品中常见的,尤其是零食产品)

酱油(除了传统制作的味增、纳豆和酱油)

巴氏杀菌奶

食品添加剂和防腐剂,如味精、色素等。

恢复与真正的食物

一旦你消除了促炎症的食物,你也想要带一些能帮助恢复正常消化环境以防止胃酸倒流的内脏愈合食物。

最重要的三种是健康脂肪、骨汤和发酵食品。它们是地球上每一种传统文化的关键支柱,具有许多抗炎特性。

如果未经巴氏灭菌,乳制品可能对某些人有益,但对许多人有害。当然,新鲜的水果和蔬菜也很重要,但说真的,谁不知道呢?

在我的书中,我详细介绍了真正的饮食的许多支柱。所有这些都是抗炎的,对恢复正常的消化能力很有帮助,当然包括在胃中产生适当的酸。

如果你想更全面地解释为什么这些食物是如此有益的,看看我的书,30天胃灼热的解决方案30 DAYS HERATBURN SOLUTION,其中还包括饮食计划和食谱,如何制作像骨头汤

Poor digestive fire (low acidity) causes food to sit in the stomach too long. Symptoms include bloating, belching, bad breath and undigested food in your stools.  This maldigesting food can expand, ferment and give off gasses that put pressure on the lower esophageal sphincter (LES), the valve that keeps the stomach separate from the esophagus.  Over time, the LES can weaken through this continuous increased pressure and push the acidic contents of the stomach back into the esophagus which burns the lining (or in light of the new research perhaps causes an inflammatory reaction).

Now this is not to say that low stomach acid is always the reason for acid reflux. There can be many reasons including structural changes brought about by a hiatal hernia and of course, pregnancy.

But for millions of people who regularly struggle with acid reflux, there’s hope in dietary changes!

Wouldn’t it be nice if more scientific research studied the influence of food on our digestive system and offered real food solutions instead of more drug therapies?

Maybe because there’s no money in natural therapies.

WHY LOW STOMACH ACID IS A FORM OF INFLAMMATION

Though inflammation in the tissues of the esophagus is not the true cause of acid reflux, low stomach acid is in many ways a symptom of general inflammation in the body.

More and more doctors believe general inflammation in the body is the root of many common diseases.

Because stomach acid is required to break down our food, a deficiency in the short-term can lead to bloating in the stomach, belching, nausea, bad breath, gas, gastritis and yes, acid reflux.

Over the long-term, chronically low stomach acid from the overuse of PPIs can lead to a greater risk of infection (source), nutrient deficiencies (source), bone loss (source) and hip fractures (source), to name a few.

So what’s the true cause of low stomach acid?

As with all things, there’s rarely a simple answer.  Stress, environmental toxins, infections and hypothyroidism can play a role.

But as a Nutritional Therapist, I think poor diet is the most widespread factor because I’ve seen so many improvements when dietary changes are made.

HOW TO HEAL LOW STOMACH ACID NATURALLY WITH FOOD

First things first, you must remove all pro-inflammatory processed foods.

Because processed food is now so woven into the fabric of our culture, millions of people no longer know the difference between real food and processed food.

Most people today know that foods high in refined sugar are highly processed.  But most people don’t know that most grain-based foods are also highly problematic.  This flies in the face of conventional dietary advice to “eat more whole grains” but there’s a HUGE difference between modern grains, which are not properly prepared for optimal digestion and traditionally prepared grains, which are.

Traditionally, cultures fermented, sprouted and soaked grains to neutralize some of their inflammatory and hard-to-digest characteristics. But few companies do this anymore.

Americans eat A LOT of grain-based foods, to put it mildly.

If this topic is new to you, Sally Fallon does a nice job explaining the difference between modern and traditional grains in this article.

This is why in my book, step 1 of my protocol is to go grain-free for 30 days.

It’s kind of like killing two birds with one stone. Because so many grain-based foods also are high in sugar by going fully grain-free for 30 days, you’ll be restricting the two most inflammatory foods in the modern diet.

Of course, there’s more to it than that.  But that’s a good start.  Here’s a short list of other common pro-inflammatory foods:

Bad fats from nut and seed oils, especially corn, cottonseed, canola and soybean oils

trans fats such as partially hydrogenated oils (common in processed foods, especially snack products)

soy (with the exception of traditionally prepared version like miso, natto and soy sauce)

pasteurized dairy

food additives and preservatives such as MSG, food colorings, etc.

RESTORE WITH REAL FOOD

Once you’ve removed pro-inflammatory foods, you want to also bring in gut-healing foods which help restore the proper digestive environment to prevent acid reflux.

The three most important are healthy fats, bone broths and fermented foods.  These are key pillars in every traditional culture on the planet and have many anti-inflammatory properties.

Dairy can be helpful for some, if unpasteurized, but harmful for many. And of course, fresh fruits and vegetables are important too but seriously, who doesn’t know that?

In my book, I detail the many pillars of a real food diet.  All of these are anti-inflammatory and very helpful to restore proper digestive capacity which of course includes proper acid production in the stomach.

If you’d like a more thorough explanation for WHY these foods are so beneficial check out my book, The 30-Day Heartburn Solution, which also includes meal plans and recipes for how to make things like bone broths and fermented foods.

Finally, though this food approach works wonders for most, many who have been on acid blockers for extended periods will often have a very difficult time stopping PPI therapy due to the long-term suppression of stomach acid, which causes the vicious rebound effect explained above.  If that describes you, here’s an approach for how to wean off acid blockers.

A recent study about the real cause of GERD suggested that acid reflux is NOT the true culprit. While it is certainly a factor in the symptoms of acid reflux, there is a deeper cause for WHY acid refluxes into the esophagus.

https://fearlesseating.net/real-cause-of-gerd/