One out of five people suffer from indigestion (dyspepsia) in the United States.
Five years ago, I was one of those people.
It seemed that I couldn't barely eat anything without experiencing bloating, belching, and heartburn.
At one point, I thought that I would have to succumb to eating lettuce and bread the rest of my life.
Well, things changed.
I began to do some research and came to realize what my problem was.
My body was not producing enough digestive enzymes to adequately and efficiently break down my food.
Pretty simple.
But my problem was not some rare disorder.
Millions of Americans today have the same deficiency.
It is typically experienced when high amounts of fats, protein and carbohydrates are consumed all at once (not a good idea to begin with).
Our liver, pancreas, stomach and oral cavity are enzyme factories.
They produce a massive amount of various types of enzymes with different functions.
These metabolic enzymes are responsible for breaking down our food into smaller parts to facilitate assimilation of nutrients.
Different enzymes have different functions.
For example, amylase (produced in the salivary glands) breaks down carbohydrates into glucose.
Lipase breaks down fats into smaller fatty acids (e.
g.
lauric acid, palmitic acid, stearic acid, etc.
) Protease breaks down proteins into smaller amino acids (e.
g.
tryptophan, glutamine, creatine, proline, lysine, etc.
)There are many others, but we won't spend the time delving into more technical information that right now.
Having understood my problem, my next step was simple: supplement my diet with digestive enzymes to aid in the digestion process.
Pretty simple.
And ever since, I have been totally free from any sort of indigestion.
I can eat pizza, burritos or fries and don't have to worry about suffering negative consequences.
One little capsule does the trick.
(No, I don't make a habit of eating junk food; I'm using is as an example because these are the foods that most commonly cause digestive problems anyway.
) Five years ago, any typical doctor would have diagnosed me with chronic acid reflux disease and prescribed me a proton-pump inhibitor drug to take the rest of my life.
The problem with these type of drugs is that they have now been proven to prevent calcium absorption and cause osteoporosis in the long run.
Many of them (e.
g.
Aciphex) have been linked to cancer and God knows what else.
Hmmm...
an expensive drug with lots of side effects or a supplement that supports the natural function of the body.
It doesn't seem like rocket science.
It does leaves us to wonder: seeing that general indigestion is such an easy thing to fix, why haven't doctors figured this one out yet? Some people just like to reach for over-the-counter Maalox or Pepsid AC.
But why? Why would anybody put potentially harmful chemicals in their body rather than giving it what it needs? Why mask the symptoms when a person can resolve the cause? Did you know that the active ingredient in many of these medications is aluminum bicarbonate? What doctors don't tell you is this: aluminum is a toxic heavy metal that is able to pass the blood-brain barrier and cause a host of neurological issues.
Instead of Mylanta, buy a cheap bottle of digestive enzymes to put in your cupboard, even if you don't regularly suffer from dyspepsia.
But when you do, just pop a few capsules and you will be thankful that you did.
For more natural health reports, information, news, and research go to http://www.
healthquestusa.
blogspot.
com