Alex came to see me after seeing two gastrointestinal specialists, two immunologists, an infectious disease specialist, and a psychiatrist. For the past seven years, she felt tired and had an assortment of nerve and muscle problems. She had poor bowel and bladder control, a poor sense of balance, and although she was only 46, she felt crippled by fatigue. But none of these doctors had been able to help her.

What these specialists had missed was that Alex had symptoms of an extreme B12 deficiency. She’d been using over-the-counter antacids for nine years. These antacids and the acid blockers she was taking (Tums, Tagamet, and Zantac) had created this deficiency.

These proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) enjoy over $9.5 billion in sales every year in the U.S. In 2012, the top-selling PPI, Nexium, made $6 billion. But they weren’t helping Alex — they were making her far sicker. I had her stop taking all of these and instead gave her a vitamin B supplement, a probiotic and a digestive aid, but focused on vitamin B12. She felt 50% better within three months, and was back to normal within six months.

If you’re among the 40% of the American population that self-medicates indigestion with over-the-counter antacids such as TUMS, you need to read this carefully. But even if you’ve never taken TUMS for indigestion, you may have fallen prey to the claim that it can act as a calcium supplement with an added “stomach soothing” benefit. These antacids, along with the overprescribed PPIs, can be dangerous. Let me tell you another story to illustrate just how problematic they can be.

Ria, a high-powered CEO, first came to see me because she was having difficulty getting pregnant. Like Alex, she’d been to a number of specialists without result. She’d also been hospitalized twice for the pain that accompanied her period, which her doctors believed was due to large ovarian cysts. Her doctors told her that the cysts weren’t responding to medication, and they didn’t want to pursue any fertility procedures that would make the cysts worse.

In addition to fertility issues, Ria was suffering from gastric reflux (common among CEOs). I found that Ria’s abdomen was bloated. “Oh,” she said, “I can remember being bloated since I was a teenager. And, of course, it gets worse before my period.” I explained to Ria that we needed to address her digestive issues before we addressed her fertility issues in order that she and her baby could both enjoy comfortable and good nutrition.

Ria had been treating her gastric reflux (also known as gastroesophageal reflux disease, or GERD) with PPIs. GERD (you may know it as heartburn) occurs when strong stomach acid leaks back up into the esophagus. When you swallow, a circular band of muscle around the bottom part of the esophagus relaxes to allow food and liquid to enter the stomach. When you’re healthy, this valve, called the lower esophageal sphincter (LES), closes and keeps the digestive acid and food in the stomach where it belongs. But if the LES becomes dysfunctional and opens when it shouldn’t, hydrochloric acid and other digestive juices reflux back up through
the esophagus. You can taste this when it happens.

Ria was experiencing this constantly. She had Rolaids and Tums stashed everywhere. She was tired and bloated and dreaded eating. When I told her I wanted her to stop taking PPIs, she was willing to try anything.

We replaced the PPIs with apple cider vinegar with meals and a probiotic between meals. Apple cider vinegar helps the body digest protein and can also help slowly resolve yeast infections. Within three weeks, Ria described herself as “a new woman.” Not only did she feel better, she was thrilled that getting off the PPIs meant that she didn’t have to worry any longer about their associated risk of osteoporosis, which her mother had suffered from. In fact, a recent study even linked PPIs to bone fractures in young adults. Ria definitely didn’t want to take on that additional risk.

Three months later, something even better happened: Ria menstruated with NO pain. I explained to her that Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) suggests that the more comfortable the abdominal environment is, the easier menstruation becomes. I continued to treat Ria with TCM for another three months, and by month seven, she was pregnant. Ria’s healthy baby boy is now nine years old, and Ria has stuck with her apple cider vinegar with protein meals and probiotic between meals regimen instead of going back to PPIs.

Millions of Americans suffer from GERD, and far too many of them are trying to treat it with PPIs. But PPIs only mask the problem; they don’t resolve it. We talked about the valve dysfunction that can contribute to heartburn. Heartburn also can be caused by food sensitivities or a condition called hypochlorhydria, in which the stomach actually doesn’t produce enough acid. You need stomach acid for digestion and to kill off pathogens. When you don’t have enough, you have trouble digesting food and can become sick. Stomach acid also helps you absorb iron, zinc, copper, folic acid, B vitamins, and calcium. This was Alex’s problem — she didn’t have enough stomach acid to absorb the vitamins her body desperately needed. And all the over-the-counter remedies she was trying only masked the pain. In fact, some PPIs actually inhibit stomach acid, making the problem even worse.

Some signs that you aren’t producing enough stomach acid, in addition to heartburn, are brittle hair and fingernails, feeling excessively full even when you don’t eat much, belching or bloating, constipation, and diarrhea after heavy meals.

To resolve the issues contributing to GERD and heartburn, you have to turn to your diet. First, stop taking the over-the-counter remedies that are actually making the problem worse. If you’re on a prescription-strength PPI, talk to your doctor about discontinuing it as soon as possible.

Next, I recommend you try apple cider vinegar mixed with water and a little therapeutic honey (such as Manuka) with meals. You should also consider taking a probiotic to help restore balance in your gut bacteria. Pathogens that have survived in the low-acid environment can wreak havoc on your system.

Food sensitivities can certainly contribute, so avoid foods you’ve identified as triggers. For many people, these include spicy foods, acidic foods (such as citrus fruits and tomatoes), chocolate, fatty foods, fried foods, coffee, and sweet, carbonated beverages. You also can try giving up gluten. Right now, there isn’t significant research supporting a connection between gluten and GERD. But almost all of my patients report feeling better when they avoid gluten.

When you do eat, eat smaller meals. Large meals can fill the stomach up and create upward pressure. Try eating foods that will provide natural digestive enzymes, such as yogurt, ginger, peppermint, wheat grass, unsweetened aloe vera juice (talk to your doctor about this one, as it can interfere with medications and should not be taken by children or pregnant or breastfeeding women), papaya, or pineapple. Then go for a walk. Staying upright will enlist the help of gravity in moving your food the right direction. Try to wait at least three hours after eating before going to bed.

A few other medications can also make GERD worse. If you’re taking any of the below, talk to your doctor about what you can do to avoid GERD reactions or whether you can try a different approach:

• NSAIDs (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs)
• Calcium channel blockers (primarily used to treat hypertension)
• Iron tablets
• Some sedatives
• Bisphosphonates (used for bone density)
• Some asthma medications (such as beta agonists like albuterol)

If you follow the above steps but continue to have stomach issues, please talk to your doctor, especially if you took PPIs for a long time. You may have an undiagnosed infection, such as a Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection. You may not see results from these steps until you treat the infection, which will typically require antibiotics. Most doctors use clarithromycin, amoxicillin, or metronidazole.

If you or your doctor feels that the cells of your stomach or small intestine have been compromised, he or she may prescribe a cytoprotective drug as well. A common over-the-counter cytoprotective drug is Pepto Bismol. This drug will help protect your stomach lining and ease reactive diarrhea, as you get your digestive system back to normal.

When you have a health problem like GERD, covering it up with more drugs isn’t the answer. Alex and Ria are proof that you could be doing your body far more harm by letting the problem continue. You must address the source of the problem in order to enjoy optimal health.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26196021
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25835348
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26061035
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26108134
http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=204783
http://www.naturalnews.com/036336_PPIs_acid_reflux_side_effects.html#

Can This Unique Butter Reverse Metabolic Syndrome and Prevent Diabetes?

A couple months ago, a trend started that involved mixing coffee with grass-fed butter. Many of my patients gave it a try. Some used far too much butter and ended up with digestive issues. But those who blended a teaspoon into black coffee typically had great results. They said the drink kept them full for several hours and helped them feel considerably more alert in the mornings.

The dietary guidelines surrounding saturated fat have eased up recently. And if adding a teaspoon of butter to their coffee keeps my patients from snacking mindlessly throughout the morning or feeling foggy, I’m all for it. However, new research suggests that may not be all butter can do for us.

You’ve heard the saying that what’s good for the goose is good for the gander. Well, researchers are hoping that what’s good for the — believe it or not — dolphin is good for the human! That’s because a study led by the National Marine Mammal Foundation (NMMF) and recently published in PLOS ONE suggests that a certain type of fat can actually reverse metabolic syndrome in dolphins.

This saturated fat is called heptadecanoic acid (HA). It’s found in some types of fish as well as in butter. Interestingly, dolphins can develop metabolic syndrome, which we also refer to as pre-diabetes.

Dolphins’ diets consist primarily of fish. The researchers hoped to identify not only factors that reversed the metabolic syndrome in dolphins, but that may have human applications as well. Since many people take omega-3 fatty acid supplements, which are derived from fish, the research team decided to start by looking at the fatty acid blood levels of 49 dolphins and the fish they were eating. They studied 55 different fatty acids and found that HA helped dolphin metabolism more than any other type. Dolphins with higher blood levels of HA had lower levels of insulin and triglycerides.

What’s also interesting about HA is that its levels vary in the types of fish dolphins eat. Some have high levels.

Some don’t have any at all. This was an important clue to unraveling why some dolphins develop metabolic syndrome and others don’t.

In order to test whether HA truly was an important factor, the researchers identified six dolphins with low blood levels of this substance. They fed them fish high in HA for six months. Sure enough, the dolphins’ insulin, glucose, and triglyceride levels began moving into a normal range. Notably, their ferritin levels, which are an important precursor to metabolic syndrome, dropped within three weeks.

HA is found in dairy fat, rye, and some fish, but it’s not in nonfat dairy products, and there’s very little in low-fat products. Study author Dr. Stephanie Venn-Watson says, “We hypothesize that widespread movement away from whole fat dairy products in human populations may have created unanticipated heptadecanoic acid deficiencies, and, in turn, this dietary deficiency may be playing a role in the global diabetes pandemic.” Since the CDC estimates that one in three adults in the U.S. is suffering from metabolic syndrome, Dr. Venn-Watson could be on to something tremendously significant.

However, this isn’t the only study to provide some interesting information about our saturated fat consumption. A recent study using mice, published last year in Nature Medicine, found that giving asthmatic mice diets higher in fat made their asthma worse and caused them to gain weight. But when the researchers increased not just the fat in their diets but the fiber as well, the opposite happened. The researchers found that the fiber activated certain types of helpful bacteria in the gut. These bacteria reduced the inflammation that was causing the asthma to flare up.

It appears that consuming a diet high only in animal products, including saturated fat, can throw the bacteria in our guts out of balance. But consuming only plant products may do the same thing. Keeping the two in balance, however, seems to offer benefits to the overall microbial community, which allows our bodies to manage inflammation effectively and helps support a healthy immune system.

None of this research has been carried out definitively in humans yet. But I’m certainly intrigued, especially by the dolphin study. The parallel increases in our consumption of nonfat and low-fat foods and the prevalence of metabolic syndrome seems to be a coincidence too big to be ignored, particularly in light of the NMMF’s findings. And, of course, I always recommend you get plenty of fiber in your diet, particularly by consuming fruits and vegetables.

Further research needs to be done in these areas, but it’s a good idea to go ahead and include some grass-fed butter in your diet. I like the brands Kerrygold, Algau, and Health Valley, which are organic.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/07/150722144627.htm?utm_source=
feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily%2Fhealth_
medicine+%28Health+%26+Medicine+News+—+ScienceDaily%29

Before You Begin Any GERD Program, Do This…

Before you begin any GERD program, it’s important to rule out the gastrointestinal infection H. pylori. This is the infection that causes many ulcers. And sometimes you can’t resolve GERD until you identify and treat this chronic infection. Here’s what you need to do to eliminate it.

First, reduce any negative bacterial overgrowth. This means avoid white sugar and concentrated simple starches. Both fructose and artificial sweeteners increase negative bacterial overgrowth. You’ll also need to take a good quality probiotic, such as Advanced Probiotic Formula (800-791-3395), to replace the good bacteria in your gut.

Then consider taking a digestive enzyme, such as Integrative Digestive Formula (800-791-3395), to aid in better, more thorough digestion.

Once you’ve done these basic steps, there are three herbals that will help knock it out. First, try bitters. Throughout Europe, bitter herbs are commonly prescribed with meals to improve stomach, liver and gallbladder digestive function. Herbs such as gentian root, dandelion root, yellow dock, and barberry bark are well-known bitters. You can get these herbs in capsules or liquid and try with your meals.

Another herbal you can try is ginger tea. It also will stimulate and strengthen your digestion.

Finally, peppermint tea is common and easily found and speeds the emptying time of the stomach. If you eat and your meal feels stuck, drink some warm peppermint tea and speed up your digestion.

Nutrition Detective

Beat Urinary Tract Infections – Even Antibiotic Resistant Strains – With This Natural Antibiotic

If you have recurring urinary tract infections (UTIs) or your infection isn’t responding to antibiotics, new research has found that there may be a natural way to beat it. UTIs are very common. In fact, they’re the second-most common infectious disease doctors see, with about 150 million people being diagnosed every year. Doctors typically prescribe antibiotics to clear these infections up.

But as you may know, our overuse of antibiotics is becoming a problem, with more and more strains of bacteria becoming resistant to this usual treatment. This includes some of the bacteria that cause UTIs.

In fact, for this study, researchers at the Birla Institute of Technology and Sciences in India found that of the 166 bacteria strains they identified from the urine of people with UTIs, 56% were highly antibiotic-resistant. That’s the bad news.

The good news is that they identified something that could fight 82% of these resistant bacteria strains: an extract of Allium sativum. That doesn’t sound very natural. But it’s actually just garlic extract! Garlic has been traditionally used in fighting infections, and with antibiotic resistance on the rise, the team of researchers felt that traditional remedies were worth investigating. This one certainly paid off.

The team said, “Even crude extracts of [garlic] showed good activity against multidrug resistant strains where antibiotic therapy had limited or no effect. This provides hope for developing alternative drugs which may be of help in fighting the menace of growing antibacterial resistance.”

Garlic has a number of benefits and is a great way to add flavor to your diet. If you don’t like the taste or need to consume it in large enough quantities to help kick an infection, you can try it in supplement form. I like Kyolic, but there are other good brands on the market.

Another remedy that’s very useful with chronic UTI is cranberry extract combined with D-Mannose. I’ll have more on this remedy in a future issue.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/07/150710101332.

htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+
sciencedaily%2Ftop_news%2Ftop_ health+%28ScienceDaily%3A+Top+Health+News%29

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19878318

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25410372

LETTERS

Q: How do I treat toenail fungus to eliminate it? – Josie D., via email

A: Toe fungus is obstinate and difficult to resolve with conventional and natural medicine. Please know that you are not alone, Onychomycosis, or finger and toe fungal infections, affect between 2-8% of the world’s population. Topical remedies, both prescription and natural, don’t always work because the fungus is usually local and systemic. Try soaking in apple cider vinegar – 20 minutes twice a day for five days and then applying Colloidal Silver twice daily for at least two weeks and then try a topical herbal remedy, such as Tea Tree Oil twice daily for two months.

It is best to rotate the remedies, as the fungus ultimately accommodates to the ingredient applied. Unfortunately, even after the fungus has been eliminated, nail regrowth can sometimes take a year or even longer. During this time, consider continuing your healthy diet and make an effort to avoid simple sugars.

Q: Ever since I had food poisoning a year ago, I’m having very hard time with digestion. Initially, I had diarrhea and would throw up almost every three to four days. Now I have the diarrhea occasionally. But the biggest problem I have is terrible burping. I can’t go to sleep at night for more than an hour – for some reason it starts when I lie down. It’s so explosive, it hurts! And lately, I have it throughout the day as well. However, I don’t have any heartburn. I saw two different gastroenterologists, had three MRIs done, and all kinds of blood tests. But they can’t figure out what the problem is. One suggestion was to start taking Prilosec. But for me, that’s not a solution. I want to know what to do to heal it. Will greatly appreciate if you have any suggestions. – Erna G., via email

A: Thank you for your note. As you have discovered, food poisoning can be insidious. It sounds like you went through quite a bit of testing. Please make sure that your doctors tested you for H. pylori infection. It’s important to make certain you don’t have this infection. If you do, please discuss with your doctor and let him prescribe the appropriate treatment.

If H. pylori has been ruled out, you can consider the following remedies. You can find both of these online at drugstore.com or amazon.com.

(1) Homeopathic Nux Vomica 15c or 30x. Take one dose three times daily for five days. Stop for five days and repeat.

(2) Florastor. Take one capsule twice daily. Take for one week; stop for three days and repeat if necessary. This probiotic is remarkable for the aftermath of food poisoning. I have seen it help many of my patients in similar situations as yourself. Once you finish the Florastor, you may use any probiotic you like. But remember it’s important to keep a probiotic as part of your routine for at least a month after finishing the Florastor.

http://www.drugstore.com/products/prod.asp?pid=208801&catid=341429&aid=
338666&aparam=208801&kpid=208801&CAWELAID=120142990000013223&CAGPSPN=
pla&kpid=208801.

http://www.drugstore.com/hylands-indigestion-and-nausea-nux-vomica-
30x-tablets/qxp31253?tab=1#TblTabStrip.