Ever have any of these symptoms? How about all of them at some point in life? Weekly? Daily? What is your go to medicine for relief? Pepto Bismol, TUMs, pickle juice?

What if I were to tell you reflux, heartburn or upset stomach, are actually symptoms of not having enough stomach acid to digest your food! Yes you actually don’t have enough acid. We are made to believe it is more common to have too much stomach acid. Which makes you believe you need to pop a TUM’s or drink Pepto Bismol to get relief.

If you don’t have enough acid to digest your food and you take something that decreases acid into your stomach, it will decrease acid even more causing it to become  a vicious cycle. (Also if you have a food allergy that is unknown, it will cause stomach issues and heartburn!)

Do you take Prilosec? Pepcid? Zantac? Nexium?

Did you know you are not suppose to take any of those medications for more then 2 weeks at a time?! Three of the four medicines I listed are proton pump inhibitors. Proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) reduced the production of acid by the stomach wall. PPIs are now associated with a increased death risk, along with kidney problems, dementia and bone fractures! Look it up. All for an upset stomach or heartburn?!!

Recently I sat in a continuing education seminar who was taught by a chiropractic neurologist. (Talk about a lot of schooling!) He told us that every single person should be taking a digestive enzyme. Everyone! At every meal.

Our food we consume today is completely different from the food that was consumed even 100 years ago. Food is more mass produced by bigger farms, rather than small farms. Big Pharma controls everything and makes sure only their seed is used. All seeds used today are genetically modified and most crops are highly sprayed with pesticides (hence the buy organic movement). Everything we put into our body will have a reaction.

So what is a digestive enzyme? A digestive enzyme is designed to break down fats, carbohydrates and proteins. This allows the body to use the food more efficiently. It also helps with the “low acid” in your stomach which will decrease the feeling of heartburn, upset stomach, headaches (most often caused by a food allergy), as well as decreasing gas and bloating and help with regularity of bowel movements. Also, a bonus it will help decrease your cholesterol!

In my office we use Heprotase. I have many patients who swear by it. A lot of people notice a huge difference after consuming spicy food.

My Story

While pregnant with my son (my first child), I was very lucky in the fact that I only had heartburn 2-3 times. Old wives tale says, if you have heartburn, the child will have hair. At that point, I was totally fine with him being completely bald! Anyone who has heartburn will understand.

I’ve always had a bottle of Heprotase at my house, but like everyone else I got lazy on taking it. I had never had heartburn before being pregnant, so I didn’t understand how much it helps.

I tried sleeping sitting up, I tried TUMs, pickle juice, milk. So with my second child, I took a Heprotase with lunch and dinner religiously. The one SINGLE time I didn’t take it, guess what….. I got heartburn! Ugh.

Chiropractic side of stomach issues

Nerves that exit the spine which connect to the stomach, come from T6. T6 is between your shoulder blades. Stomach issues can arise because of a problem to do with your spine, example being scoliosis or fixation, as well as, your stomach can cause you to have pain between your shoulder blades. They go hand in hand, if you have one, you will have the other.

Not saying it will be a major issue with your spine, but on palpation you will be notably tender. You can also have tenderness between your shoulder blades but deny having any issues with your stomach. Rest assured you most likely have some form of stomach issue. Gas, constipation, diarrhea, heart burn, ect. Sometimes it’s been so “normal” that you don’t even realize what symptoms you have. (And it all stems back to the food we are eating and if you have any food allergies!!)

Start paying attention to what your body is telling you! Come in to get your spine checked! While your at it grab a bottle of Heprotase! Your stomach (and cholesterol) will thank you! If you can’t stop by our office, you can pick up a bottle in our online store.

~Dr. Lacey~
Carder Chiropractic Clinic, Inc.
El Reno, OK 73036