How to Combat GERD

As Dr. Elie Metchnikoff said over 100 years ago, “Death begins in the digestive system.”

Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is the name of the condition where acid from the stomach churns up into the esophagus and causes a burning sensation – the heartburn of acid indigestion. This warning sign is telling us that our digestive system is imbalanced and we need to act immediately if we want to avoid Dr. Metchnikoff’s dire prediction.

Healthy digestion

Digestion of our foods really begins in our mind. As we anticipate eating, our mouth begins to water. The saliva we are producing is full of an enzyme called amylase. This enzyme digests starch. Our saliva is basically neutral pH – a balance between acid and alkaline that creates stability in our food. After physically grinding our food into liquid (thorough chewing is very important to good digestion), we swallow. Meanwhile, our stomach has been preparing an acid bath to break down the food into microscopic particles.

The neutral pH food hits all that acid and explodes! If we don’t thoroughly chew our food or if we eat things we are allergic to, indigestion develops and this explosion erupts like a volcano into our esophagus and we get acid indigestion, a key sign of GERD.

Healthy digestion fully saturates our food in stomach acid. Next, the food is sent into an extremely alkaline environment in the small intestines. The acid food hits the alkaline small intestines and, once again, explodes! (Think of the reaction that occurs when baking soda is added to vinegar.)

During each of these stages of digestion, three basic enzymes (lipase, protease and amylase) and six of their relatives separate each component of food into useful packets. These components are delivered to our liver and circulatory system for distribution to every cell in our body.

Elements of healthy digestion

Probiotics

An important feature in our digestive system (DS) is the presence of probiotics. These are strains of “good bacteria” that have a two-fold purpose: digestion and defense (assimilation and protection). Probiotics protect us from “bad” bacteria, fungus, mold, yeast, parasites and even spoiled food and toxic metals like mercury. They also fuel our body and brain by taking nutrients we can’t use and converting them into nutrients we can use. A good example of this is iron. Elemental iron is toxic. Probiotics in the DS convert iron to ferritin and bind it to transferrin, thus nourishing humans and starving unwanted microbes.

Prebiotics

Prebiotics lay the groundwork for probiotics, as prebiotic fibers help probiotic bacteria establish colonies by providing a food source. Probiotics also have a marvelous impact on the rest of the body and brain as they coordinate the immune system of the DS. Prebiotics and probiotics work together to improve digestion and elimination.

Enzymes

Enzymes begin the healing process because they remove toxic proteins and discourage bad bacteria, yeast and parasites from breeding. And they help digest your food for more energy. Dandelion root works with the lipase enzyme as it thins the bile from the liver and gallbladder. Bile helps lipase to digest fat. Bile also discourages bad bacteria, yeast and parasites from breeding. Milk thistle helps reduce the autoimmune impact from an imbalanced DS, and helps reduce cramps, pain and bloating.

Conclusion
To have a healthy body and brain, we must have a healthy DS. It provides us with digestion and defense. TriVita’s FloraVita™ helps support these processes by supplying our probiotics the food they need – called prebiotics – and by replanting healthy colony-forming units of probiotics. Also, FloraVita helps support digestion and defense with a wide array of digestive enzymes and immune-modulating botanicals.