How To Fight Heartburn Without Using PPI's

In my early 20’s my gastroenterologist put me on a Proton Pump Inhibitor (PPI) to help with my indigestion/ reflux. I remember sitting in the waiting room at 21 being the YOUNGEST person in the room and feeling so out of place. Any who, I took these PPIS for a good 2 years I would say, then quit cold turkey. I started to learn what foods to avoid so that I didn’t have to worry about taking them. My days of drinking margaritas and spicy hot wings were for sure out the window.

Once I was diagnosed with SIBO, which is often times caused by too much PPI use, my indigestion/reflux came back with a vengeance. It was on a mission to ruin anything I ate. Well, in came my saving grace, digestive enzymes. See, what I didn’t know, and I don’t think most people do either, is that MOST indigestion and reflux comes from your stomach having TOO LITTLE stomach acid not TOO MUCH. Crazy thought right? Well not really, so what we normally think is that acid reflux is caused when there is too much acid in the stomach right? Imagine what happens to our food when we have TOO LITTLE stomach acid. We don’t have enough acid to break down our food therefore it sits there undigested causing indigestion and reflux.  

Digestive enzymes basically mimic our stomach acid and provides our stomach with the acid it needs to properly break down food. There are very reputable brands of digestive enzymes out there, but get the ones that have ox bile in it. I find those work the best!

OrthoMolecular Digestive Enzymes

When starting digestive enzymes, take them 5-10 mins before your meal. You can start by taking one, and work your way up if you find that you need more. Trust me, you will know when it is too many because your stomach will start to burn.

Don’t feel bad about not having enough stomach acid. As we get older, we naturally start to have less stomach acid production. But there are ways around it, and this is a great tool to help combat the indigestion and acid reflux! So, if you are on a PPI, don’t stop taking them automatically, but give digestive enzymes a try and see how they work for you!

Let me know how it goes!