The Stomach Acid Connection

Bloating, indigestion, heartburn. Are these things you experience frequently? Before you reach for your bedside stash of Tums, let's learn a little bit about a lesser known root cause of these digestive issues, known formally as hypochlorhydria.

Did you know that the vast majority of people who suffer from reflux and heartburn actually don't produce enough acid in their stomach, and in that way, antacids actually make the problem worse?! Believe it or not, but having too much stomach acid is actually a very rare condition. That burning feeling in your chest and the back of your throat, along with the post-meal bloating you may experience, are more often than not caused by the exact opposite - having too little stomach acid, a state known as hypochlorhydria.

Dr. Dicken Weatherby, a functional naturopathic physician, considers low stomach acid to be a pervasive issue in our society. Not only does the ability to secrete stomach acid decrease with age, but it is also negatively impacted by processed food intake, autoimmune conditions, drugs like antacids and oral contraceptives, and stress. Under these conditions, there are two mechanisms by which a low stomach acid condition can cause heartburn.

1) The esophageal sphincter: Think of it like the cap to your soda bottle. This sphincter sitting on the stomach of your stomach is instructed to open and close based on the amount of acid in your stomach. When you first put food into your mouth, this normally sends a signal to your stomach cells, more specifically your parietal cells, to start producing stomach acid in preparation for the food it will soon have to break down. Once the food makes its way to your stomach, this increased amount of acid serves as the signal to your "soda cap" to close, preventing any back flow into your esophagus. As you can imagine, without adequate stomach acid production, these cells never create enough stomach acid needed to send this signal to the sphincter - in turn, making it floppy. In this case, food can more easily leak back into your esophagus, almost as if you shook a soda bottle prior to opening. With just the most minimal amount of pressure, whether that be from a burp, lying down soon after eating, or exercise, your newly consumed food can make its way back into your throat, causing that burning sensation that so many come to hate.

2) Undigested food: Think back to your high school biology class - what is the main function of stomach acid? To break down our food so that we can absorb all of the life-affirming nutrients. That being said, with too little stomach acid, our stomachs do not break down food properly. Some food particles are left undigested as they travel to the next stop on the digestive highway, the small intestine. The small intestine also happens to be the home of our microbiome, the collection of bacteria that calls us home. When undigested food particles mistakenly make it this far into the digestive system, these microbes have a field day breaking it down, fermenting it - even causing some of it to putrefy. This creates a state that is too acidic for our small intestine. Unlike our stomachs, our small intestines are not as hearty when it comes to handling high acidity. Instead, the small intestine will "reject it", pushing these undigested food particles back up into our stomachs and ultimately our esophagus. Again, much like a floppy esophageal sphincter, this creates that burning feeling in our chest, gas, and bloating following meals.

Now that we've got the mechanisms covered, let's highlight some common signs and symptoms of low stomach acid. Keep in mind that if you experience heartburn, indigestion, gas, and/or bloating, this is more likely the cause than is too much stomach acid. In fact, this issue is so pervasive that I have only come across 3 individuals in my entire clinical experience thus far that have not shown any signs of hypochlorhydria...

Common Signs and Symptoms of Low Stomach Acid:

• Bloating, burping, and flatulence after meals. As I just mentioned, the #1 role of stomach acid is to break down our food. Without adequate levels of it, we will have more undigested food particles traveling through the rest of our digestive system. Improper digestion of foods, especially proteins, can putrefy in the digestive tract and cause gas and bloating.

• A sense of excess "fullness" after eating.

• Indigestion, diarrhea, or constipation.

• A distaste for protein. Proteins are some of the most complex food constituents that are stomachs are tasked with breaking down. In circumstances of low stomach acid, these are typically the foods that go undigested, causing us stomach issues. That being said, its actually quite common for individuals with low stomach acid to lose their taste for protein all together - almost as if the body is saying, "hey I can't break this down, so don't eat it".

• Food allergies, sensitivities, or intolerances. The catch-22 is that low stomach acid can make you more prone to develop a food allergy as undigested food particles can more easily trigger your gut-associated immune system, yet having a food allergy can also inhibit normal acid production.

• Weak, peeling, and cracked fingernails.

• Acne

• Iron deficiency

• Reddened skin, especially on the forehead and cheeks.

Now that we've covered some of the telltale signs and symptoms of low stomach acid, you may be asking yourself, "well, if it's so common in our society, how does someone get low stomach acid in the first place?!"...

Common Causes of Low Stomach Acid:

• Stress, anxiety and tension. The body needs to be in a parasympathetic, or "rest and digest" mode for optimal secretion of gastric acid. When in a stressed out or emotional state, your body will not devote much energy to producing stomach acid or the digestive enzymes needed to properly break down your food.

• Drugs like antacids and even oral contraceptives. Antacids or acid-blockers like Tums and Pepcid function to block stomach acid production, ultimately promoting a low stomach acid environment. Similarly, these drugs, along with oral contraceptives, deplete the body of the minerals that are needed for optimal acid production.

• Mineral deficiencies. Zinc and sodium are two minerals required for stomach acid production. While sodium deficiencies are not widespread in our society, zinc deficiencies are unfortunately very common.

• High sugar diets. Sugar inhibits parietal cells, those stomach cells responsible for producing stomach acid. This is a big factor as to why the Standard American Diet full of processed foods is highly correlated to a low stomach acid environment!

• A diet high in processed foods. The Standard American Diet that is full of fast and process foods greatly contributes to low stomach acid conditions. As it turns out, these foods are often devoid of the minerals - like zinc, calcium, and magnesium - that are needed to actually produce stomach acid in the first place.

So aside from perpetuating the uncomfortable and inconvenient symptoms of heartburn, gas, and bloating, why should we care about hypochlorhydria? The biggest ramification I want you to be aware of is that low stomach acid = less nutrient absorption. If we cannot properly break down our food, we cannot properly extract all of the nutrients that our bodies so desperately need to function optimally. In fact, there are certain vitamin and minerals that need adequate stomach acid levels to be absorbed. Vitamin B12, zinc, calcium, iron, and magnesium in particular require high levels of stomach acid for their absorption as they are more strongly bound to foods than other micronutrients. Think of it like pulling a weed out of the ground versus uprooting a tree. It require less work or strength to pluck a dandelion from your yard than what it does a tree from a forest. In this way, these specific micronutrients are like heavily rooted trees, they require the heavy duty strength of stomach acid to separate them from your food.

After reading this through, if you think you may be suffering from hypochlorhydria, but you would like to test your stomach acid levels first to be sure, click here for a step-by-step tutorial of stomach acid self-testing which can be done from the comfort of your own home using common kitchen essentials. Finally, on the premise of everything we just covered, if you are experiencing any of the manifestations of low stomach acid, its important to focus on aiding digestion rather than blocking the digestive process with antacids - the standard catch-all treatment. Reach out to me on Instagram or email me at thedecodeproject1@gmail.com and I can gladly give you some tips as to how you can target the root cause of these common digestive ailments, and support, rather than impede, your natural digestive process.