WELLBEING

Using a quick fix antacid for indigestion and heartburn could be compounding the problem. TRUDY KITHER explains the cause of low stomach acid and how to find a better solution.

One of the best indicators that you have low stomach acid is getting indigestion as soon as you eat something. You may feel full and perhaps even nauseated.

Food may not be breaking down because you don’t have enough stomach acid. You may have intestinal wind or gas after you’ve eaten. This is not because you’ve eaten something with sugar alcohols in it such as fruit or beans, but because you’ve eaten something else and a little later it develops into wind and gas.

Another symptom is heartburn, which often feels like a burning in the middle of the chest. As we age, we naturally lose the production of hydrochloric acid in the stomach. The hydrochloric acid breaks down the bonds in the amino acids from protein. The protein and amino acids don’t completely break down, only enough to allow digestive enzymes to try to finish breaking down protein.

Hydrochloric acid also kills any pathogens and bacteria in food consumed and helps absorb minerals from the proteins.

Vitamin B12 is absorbed lower down in the digestive tract. A process in the stomach called the Intrinsic Factor helps absorb vitamin B12. One of the most dangerous things about not having enough stomach acid is that the Intrinsic Factor that allows absorption of vitamin B12 is not released, and you can start to develop pernicious anaemia.

Pernicious means gradual, in a subtle way, and this type of anaemia can be serious. Not having enough vitamin B12 can create serious neurological side effects that can become permanent. These can be stabbing pain, neurological pain, peripheral neuropathies, tingling, numbness, or burning pain. Also, you may feel your balance or gait is not quite right when you are standing – all because you don’t have enough stomach acid.

GERD (Gastrointestinal Reflux Disease) happens when the valve between your stomach and oesophagus doesn’t close and creates indigestion, and this is also caused by not enough acid production.

The problem is that when you have indigestion, heartburn, or GERD, most often you will be prescribed an antacid (which makes you feel better temporarily). Unfortunately, one of the side effects of taking an antacid is that it gives the exact symptoms you are trying to lose. The next day, when you eat, it will happen again.

A simple solution to start with is to drink two tablespoons of apple cider vinegar mixed in a glass of water before you eat. Start doing that regularly but never drink fluids while eating your meals as it dilutes the hydrochloric acid in your stomach, which then stops the breakdown of protein, carbohydrates, fibres, and fats.

Also, take a digestive enzyme with betaine hydrochloride in a capsule form. Over time the chloride will begin building up the hydrochloric acid in your stomach.

You will also need to eat healthily. Other nutrients, especially sodium, also create stomach acid so don’t avoid sodium entirely. Consuming a good quality Himalayan Salt daily is a benefit. It will take a little while to build up, but as it does, symptoms start to reduce and can eventually disappear.

By taking natural supplements you can help build up your stomach acid but never consume straight hydrochloric acid.

If you go the opposite way and start taking antacids, you will have less protein breakdown, more gas and wind, and ultimately more microbes that create SIBO (Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth).

SIBO occurs when the microbes in your large bowel have moved into your small intestine where they don’t belong. Then, when you eat, you will get more wind and gas and more health problems. Trudy Kither is a naturopath and owner of Nature’s Temple. Visit naturestemple.net VALVULAR heart disease, which can include aortic stenosis and mitral regurgitation, is a common cause of death or disability in seniors.

The heart’s job is to pump oxygen-rich blood through the body. The aortic valve controls the flow of blood as it is pumped from the heart to the rest of the body.

When an aortic valve becomes narrowed with age, usually due to a build-up of calcium, the valve is unable to fully open. Mitral regurgitation occurs when the heart valves do not close properly. The blood leaks back and puts more pressure on the heart as it struggles to pump the blood through the body.

Symptoms of valvular heart disease can include breathlessness, chest tightness, fatigue and dizziness.

These symptoms are often mistaken for “getting older” but should be checked.

If you experience these symptoms, consult your GP who can advise if a cardiologist review is needed to help diagnose the problem. Sunshine Coast residents have access to a leading provider of world-class cardiac care locally.

Heart HQ, formerly Sunshine Coast Heart Specialists, is the only truly multidisciplinary, comprehensive heart team on the Coast. Cardiologists collaborate to provide integrated, From left, Dr Stuart Butterly, Prof Tony Stanton, Dr Peter Larsen, Dr Mark Johnson, Dr Matthew Tung and Dr KK Lim

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It also has been integral to the establishment of a multidisciplinary heart team at Sunshine Coast University Private Hospital which brings together a range of heart specialists to thoroughly assess local cardiac cases and ensure patients receive appropriate and timely treatment.

Heart HQ operates from a purposebuilt Heart Centre in Sippy Downs where it has created the Sunshine Coast’s first and only CT Clinic and Murmur Clinic.

There are also cardiac care clinics in Buderim, Noosa-Tewantin, Gympie, Nambour and Caboolture. Visit hearthq.com.au

is a false alarm.

If you are unable to communicate, the text from your Mate will alert friends and emergency services to your exact location, accurate to within 5m.

As the lifetime of the Mate is normally about three years, the cost is less than one coffee a week, a small price for peace of mind for user and carer.

Quoll Medical is a Queensland-based company. Visit quollmedical.com.au call 1300 727 906 or email info@quollmedical.com.au

Sunshine Coast Neurosurgery is the specialist practice of Dr Stephen Byrne, where we apply cutting-edge technology and the latest techniques to deliver world-class healthcare and personalised medicine.

Sunshine Coast Neurosurgery have a specialist interest in minimally invasive brain & spine surgery and use their extensive experience to treat many common conditions such as: Cervical and Lumbar degenerative conditions, Brain, Spine & Pituitary tumours, and Chiari malformations.

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Sunshine Coast University Private Hospital Suite 17, 3 Doherty Street, Birtinya Q 4575 T 07 5437 7256 E info@scneuro.com.au