The two root causes of reflux or GERD

Reflux or GERD are two of the most common digestive issues I help clients with. And there are two common root causes for this symptom. I cover them below.

I used to have this issue myself. And was given proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) by doctors. Luckily they did not help me at all. Other people are not so lucky. They get relief from PPIs and then develop new issues due to lowering stomach acid even more.

PPIs can cause bacterial overgrowth in the small intestine or let through other pathogens as stomach acid decreases. Strong stomach acid is extremely protective. PPIs can also cause nutritional deficiencies.

Most common cause of reflux

Low stomach acid is the most common cause for GERD or reflux. Often it is low stomach acid, rather than high stomach acid that drive symptoms.

The most common cause of low stomach acid is h. pylori.

H. pylori is a common bacterial infection of the stomach that can also lead to downstream bacterial and yeast overgrowth, parasitic infections and compromised digestion.

And unfortunately, it is very hard to test for h. pylori due to the biofilm that protects it, and the uneven shedding in the stool. Many tests produce false negative results, throwing people off of finding their root cause and fixing it.

The GI Map is a good test for h. pylori, but can often miss this infection also. There are a few clues that it is there (I go over this in detail in the guide) but it can often take three GI Map tests for h. pylori to finally show up.

H. pylori can cause symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome (bloating, gas, constipation, diarhea, gut pain) as well as anxiety, depression and fatigue.

It can lead to weight loss, skin issues like acne or hives, and most commonly, heartburn or silent reflux (called LPR) where the heart burn is experienced as mucus, coughing, need to clear your throat, hoarse voice or asthma/respiratory issues.

I wrote the h. pylori rescue guide to walk people through the process of identifying h pylori and eradicating it naturally, without any disruptions of their biome.

The guide covers the difference between the killing agents: mastic gum and matula tea.

Matula tea is stronger, and thus can cause a more pronounced die off reaction in the first 10 days. In a small percentage of people, it can increase bloating due to die off. Matula also has a small amount of garlic, so people who are very sensitive to garlic should avoid it.

This tea is taken on an empty stomach first thing in the morning and last thing at night. It is a mild tasting tea without any bitterness. Most people find the flavor pleasant. The protocol lasts 60 days.

Matula tea can also kill candida and other yeast. So if there is any type of yeast overgrowth, this tea does double duty in eradicating both h. pylori and yeast.

Mastic gum is easy to take with meals. 2 capsules per meal three times a day or 3000 milligram is the full dose to get rid of h pylori. Mastic gum protocol is also 2 months. It could be longer for people who have a severe infection.

Antibiotics are not a great option, in my opinion, because they can damage to the biome and are not always effective due to the protection of biofilms.

In the guide, I go over different options for biofilm busters, from NAC to biocidin to boswellia. Which to chose for what and how to take them.

H. pylori is getting tougher to eradicate due to antibiotic resistance. But because this is my speciality, I help even the toughest cases succeed.

When the first round does not do the job, I use one month of matula tea followed up by two months of mastic gum with a biofilm buster.

There are also foods that support eradication, like cranberry, green tea and broccoli sprouts. The guide provides a detailed list of beneficial foods to add, 10 h. pylori busting recipes and the most important beverage to avoid.

The second most common cause of reflux/heartburn/GERD

The other most common reason people experience heartburn is due to SIBO (small intestinal bacterial overgrowth).

Many times, h. pylori can cause SIBO by lowering stomach acid.

When SIBO is present but is not caused by h. pylori, it’s usually due to motility issues in the small intestine. Impaired motility prevents the proper clearing of bacteria. and causes bacterial overgrowth.

When undigested food particles enter the small intestine, particularly fermentable carbs (called FODMAPs), it causes a lot of fermentation and gas as the bacteria and sometimes yeast (this is called SIFO, or small intestinal fungal overgrowth) fead on the food.

This fermentation and gas pushes upward on the lower and upper esophageal sphincter and causes pressure that send acid upward into the esophagus.

Addressing SIBO requires a protocol of antimicrobial herbs. And a Low FODMAP diet to manage symptoms. The types of herbs taken depends on the type of gas present: hydrogen or methane or both.

Just like the GI Map is the best for identifying h. pylori, the gold standard for SIBO is the lactulose breath test. This is an at home test that I order for clients to rule out SIBO as a cause for symptoms.

Spacing your meals 3 to 4 hours apart is also an important component of managing SIBO and supporting healthy motility.

Often I see both h. pylori and SIBO driving heartburn/ reflux/GERD symptoms. Or one or the other.

The key to addressing both is regulating the stress response and nervous system. It’s hard to make progress with both conditions when chronic stress is present.

I know from personal experience how disturbing and painful reflux symptoms can be. It can cause fear of eating. Which can worsen symptoms as digestion diminished from stress.

I wrote the h. pylori rescue guide to teach people how to find and tackle this infection effectively, with the least amount of damage/ side effects and no relapses.

I work individually with people who have stubborn cases of SIBO and h. pylori. These are conditions that I personally recovered from. So I know it’s possible.

Get in touch if you need a second opinion consult or want to sign up for a SIBO breath test and GI Map testing package here.