Why Stomach Acid Is Good for You: Natural Relief from Heartburn, Indigestion, Reflux and GERD by Jonathan Wright

Author:Jonathan Wright
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: National Book Network - A
Published: 2001-08-19T22:00:00+00:00

Over the years, reports have consistently appeared in the medical literature—especially in Europe—linking hypochlorhydria and achlorhydria not just with asthma but with a wide range of allergic reactions and skin disorders. From his vantage point at the Asthma Clinic at the Hospital for Sick Children in London, Dr. George Bray found that asthma was not the only problem in children with low stomach acid. Compared to children with normal stomach acid, they also seemed to have a disproportionate risk of conditions like hay fever, hives, eczema, and migraines.24 (Dr. Bray also reported that 50 percent of asthmatic parents of asthmatic children had “a definite deficiency of free acid secretion,” while the other 50 percent were normal.) Since then, others have also reported associations between low stomach acid and severe acne,25 chronic hives,26 dermatitis herpetiformis (a type of skin rash),27–29 gallbladder disease,30–31 and hay fever (allergic rhinitis).32

How can a deficiency in stomach acid cause us to sneeze, wheeze, or itch? No one knows for sure, but ever since Dr. Bray’s day, the answer has been thought to lie in food allergies and sensitivities.

Whether hypochlorhydria causes food allergies or food allergies cause hypochlorhydria is a chicken-and-egg issue. No matter which one sets off the process, a vicious circle soon ensues in which an allergic reaction to food inflames the gastric and intestinal linings, inhibiting HCl secretion and promoting allergic reactions all over the body, not just to foods, but to inhalants and microorganisms, as well.

It is well known that for some sensitive people, inhaling certain allergy-causing substances (allergens) like dust, molds, or chemicals can trigger an allergic inflammatory reaction in the airways—an asthmatic attack where the airways become inflamed, swollen, and constricted. Less well recognized is the fact that, for some children, wheezing can often begin with a glass of “Nature’s most perfect food,” the source of countless celebrity mustaches, good old cow’s milk. Thanks to myth, custom, advertising, and political influence, cow’s milk is right up there with motherhood and apple pie as an untouchable icon in U.S. society. But the fact is, for quite a large percentage of the population, cow’s milk is a poison that can make them very sick. In infants, an allergy to cow’s milk is a well-known cause of gastroesophageal reflux.33–40 There seems to be little doubt that drinking cow’s milk can also cause some infants to develop type I diabetes, which can leave them dependent on insulin injections for the rest of their lives.41–42 When people cannot tolerate cow’s milk* (or any other substance), consuming a glassful can cause an inflammatory reaction in the stomach, intestines, or both.

Inflaming the Stomach

When the stomach lining gets inflamed, parietal cells die, and HCl secretion falls off. Finnish investigators found severely impaired gastric acid secretion in eight out of eight cow’s milk-intolerant infants, including three who had virtually no HCl in their stomachs. An inflammatory reaction had seriously damaged the infants’ gastric mucosal lining, leading to atrophic gastritis (proven with stomach biopsies). After the infants were switched to human or soy milk, their gastric function eventually returned to normal.

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