Transcript Of Today's Episode
Announcer: You're listening to the Doctor Is In podcast, brought to you by martinclinic.com. During the episode, the doctors share a lot of information. As awesome as the info may be, it is not intended to diagnose, cure, treat, or prevent any disease. It's strictly for informational purposes.
Dr. Martin: Well, good morning, everyone. We're going to ... Yesterday we did everything Alzheimer's and dementia and we talked about the number one problem, [00:00:30] insulin, because Alzheimer's in over 50% of the cases is called type three diabetes. If you're a diabetic and if you're a pre-diabetic, you got a big chance of getting Alzheimer's or dementia. And we talked about that yesterday, but there's a new study out that ties into this and that's what we're going to talk about today, and that is acid reflux. Now I'm going to talk about acid reflux, but the cure for [00:01:00] acid reflux, according to medicine, it's not really the cure but it's the management of acid reflux. The treatment may be worse than the actual disease. Now GERD, G-E-R-D, GERD, gastro esophageal reflux disease, okay. Gastro, your stomach. Esophageal, the esophagus. [00:01:30] Reflux, right? Acid reflux.
Now let me just say this before we go into some detail here. Never any fun having acid reflux, right? I think most people at one time or another have experienced acid reflux. It's not fun. You know, maybe you ate too much or whatever, but some people struggle with acid reflux every day and it can sure affect [00:02:00] your quality of life. So we're not minimizing. And acid reflux over a period of time can give you what they call Barrett's disease, which is where the lining of the esophagus is changed and it's precancerous. So it can be very, very serious, acid reflux. Now at the Martin Clinic, we've said this for years and years and years and [00:02:30] years, acid reflux is a sign. It's your body giving you a wake up call Because acid reflux, first of all, is because you don't have enough acid in the stomach.
You have little pumps in your stomach. They're called proton pumps. And when the body acidity in the stomach ... Now, remember you want to be alkaline. We talked about this I think on Friday, [00:03:00] your pH, in the question and answer. Your body has an amazing ability to keep your total body's pH in slightly alkaline territory, in your blood. It's very important that your blood be alkaline. Not highly alkaline, but slightly alkaline, between 7.3 and 7.4 to 5, nothing higher than that. And certainly not lower than that. But in your stomach, [00:03:30] you want to have about a 1 for your pH, very acidic. Why? Because your stomach is a furnace. It's the only placing your body you want it to be very acidic. Why? Because it's going to burn your food down. And a lot of people don't have enough acidity in their stomach.
The body has a mechanism to sense that, and it increases the acidity [00:04:00] by secreting much more. The problem with that is when the proton pumps start secreting extra acid, instead of staying in the stomach, it goes beyond the stomach and up the esophagus. That's what acid reflux is. No fun. The number one cause of acid reflux, it's your body screaming at you, get [00:04:30] your insulin down. If you have acid reflux, over 90% of the problem is you're using your insulin too much. Now, medicine years ago discovered what we call proton pump inhibitors, PPIs, proton pump inhibitors. The list is Nexium, Prevacid, [00:05:00] Protonix, Tagamet, Pepcid and then you have some ... Well, I think Nexium is over the counter now, at least in the United States. I can't remember if it is here. You can take the purple pill Nexium or Prevacid, and they're PPIs, they'll lower your acidity.
But, and this is a big but, but now and for a while, but this is new ... The one thing [00:05:30] I'm going to mention is new. I'll talk to you about the other side effects of PPIs. PPIs, proton pump inhibitors, come with a multitude of side effects. But a new relationship between taking an over-the-counter medication or a prescription medication to lower your acid is dementia. Alzheimer's. And I'm going to you why this happens in a moment. [00:06:00] So that's the headline this morning. The cure, it's not really a cure, it's the management, because proton pump inhibitors do not fix the problem. They don't fix it. They manage it. It's like, you're a diabetic and you're on diabetic medication, well you're not fixing the problem. You're managing it. Okay? Because if you take Metformin or insulin or whatever, you're not fixing the problem of diabetes, you're managing [00:06:30] it.
And management of acid reflux, the management of it, is now showing to be quite serious. Because the management of it can lead to many other things, but one of the major things now, because they've had enough time to study it, is dementia. Now I'm going to tell you why that happens, but here are some of the other longterm ... You see, I remember [00:07:00] when antidepressants came out. I was in school and just after that, and I remember because it was big news in the health field. Antidepressants, don't use past six months. It was a warning. Don't use it past six months. Not meant to be. But that all got sort of poo-pooed and hidden because there was a huge warning. These are addictive. It's [00:07:30] like sleeping pills. They're addictive. Somebody was asking me about marijuana the other day. Well, for some people it's addictive. They're drugs, they can be addictive, and sleeping pills we talked about that.
Acid reflux. They were meant to be temporary, not to be used longterm. And it really bothers me. Here's what bothers me. It's not even doctors giving [00:08:00] it out for a long time. Although that does bother me to some extent, because they're not talking about ever fixing the problem. They're just talking about let's manage it. You've got acid reflux? Stay on these. Here's another prescription. Here's another prescription. Here's another prescription. Not thinking past their nose. Because these things can cause major issues down the road. I call out pharmacists. I've done this before, but I'm going to do it again. [00:08:30] These are professional people, have a lot of education and yet prescription after prescription after prescription, and I know they're not ... the doctor is the one that writes the prescription, but the pharmacist fills it out and they're supposed to look at your list and say, "Well, you know what? You've been on this for quite a while. Maybe I should give your doctor a phone call."
But they don't do that. They're supposed to, do you know that? That's part of their training [00:09:00] and they've gotten away from it. Acid reflux, the treatment can be worse. The treatment of it can be worse than the actual disease or disorder. That's a headline today. Because I'm going to talk to you about the other things that they know for sure, and I'm going to tell you why you can get dementia. When you take an acid suppression medication, it doesn't fix the problem. It manages [00:09:30] the problem. Oh doc, I can't live without my acid reflux medication. Well, you've got to try and change your diet and do everything you can to get off that medication and fix the problem.
Over the years, and I mean several thousand, people have fixed the problem. I didn't fix it. They fixed it. I always tell my patients, "I can't go home with you, but you're going to have to have some lifestyle changes." "Oh doc, I [00:10:00] thought you were going to give me a pill." Well, I can give you a pill, but you've got to change your lifestyle. Now, why is it, why is it that when you take a proton pump inhibitor, and I'm sure everyone listening today know someone that is taking that medication. Last year $11 billion in revenue to the pharmaceutical industry. 11 billion. Not [00:10:30] million, a B, in the United States, $11 billion revenue. That's why you see so much advertisement in the States. "The purple pill." Well, I understand that. If you have acid reflux, you want relief, but is the relief worse than the disorder? Well, there's a lot of research now showing that it's exactly that. It's worse than the disorder.
So, let's talk about that. Let's talk about that. Why dementia? [00:11:00] Well, in my opinion, two things, two things. One of the things you do when you lower your acidity in your stomach. you need that acidity to break down food. You become nutrient deficient when you suppress that acidity. Remember, the problem with acid reflux is not that you have enough acidity. It's your body's overcompensating for [00:11:30] low acidity. We'll talk about that in a minute. Coming back to dementia, what vitamin is classic? We touched on this just a bit yesterday, because we spent most of our time yesterday on dementia and Alzheimer's with insulin. And remember, one of the problems with acid reflux, it's a symptom or a sign of insulin resistance. Your body's screaming. Now, what [00:12:00] vitamin? B12. Yes, vitamin D too, D2, D3, but B12. You see, B12 is a brain vitamin.
Why do you think I talk about vitamin S all the time? Because it's the only food that you can get B12 is in red meat. Why on God's earth, why God's earth would anybody tell anyone not [00:12:30] to eat red meat? When the only way to get B12 is in red meat and oysters. There's not enough B12 in the plant kingdom to feed mice. A mouse would not get enough B12 from plants. It's not in there. Now why would anyone ... "Oh, Dr. Martin, I read that red meat is no good for you. I read it online." And [00:13:00] doctors are saying, yeah, but they're not right. Because you only have to take nutrition 101 to know where B12 is found. B12 is essential for your brain. Now, yesterday we talked about fat. Someone calls you fat head, take it as a compliment. Fat. And we've had a fat-free era since the 1960s. And look what's happened. Alzheimer's, number one in the United Kingdom, the third [00:13:30] cause of death in North America. Crazy.
I never thought I would see this in my lifetime. When you take a PPI and even over the counter Tums, Rolaids, you do not absorb B12. B12 is a large structure vitamin. Molecularly, it's a large structure. It is hard on the best of days to absorb the vitamin [00:14:00] B12, and doctors back in the 50s and a little bit in the 60s used to love giving B12. Now, you've got to bring a doctor to a dentist and drill their teeth without anesthetic for them to give you B12. But anyways, you can get B12 now sublingually. It wasn't available to many years ago, but now it's available, and make sure you're taking the right B12, methylcobalamin.
You know, most people need B12. Most people. [00:14:30] In my practice, I found about 80, 90% of people were low levels of B12. I test them right on the spot in the office because I was looking for deficiency, and I used to see it every day, every day, every day, every day. And one of the biggest reasons is digestion. Now, one of the side effects of medication is dementia caused by the lack of absorption of vitamin B12. "Oh, [00:15:00] Dr. Martin, my B12 is within normal limits." Meh, the B12 test, first of all, is about a hundred years old. It's time to change the numbers. "Oh, it's 200. Oh, it's 400. My doctor said that's too high." It's not too high. It's actually extremely low. You need high B12. You want your brain to work. You need B12.
Your brain doesn't work. [00:15:30] B12 is brain vitamin. B12 is a nerve vitamin. It's a factor in disorders like Parkinson's, MS, Lou Gehrig's disease. B12. People realize how important that is. B12 doesn't get enough ink. And when you have digestive issues, you are not absorbing B12. And when you take a PPI, you're not absorbing it. You better take it. Tell your friends and tell [00:16:00] your family because, and I get it to some extent, because it's amazing if you hear a commercial, because in Canada you're going to hear commercials on medications, because there's a law against it. But in the United States, they have commercials, ask your doctor if this pill is good for you. Well, first of all, why would you ask your doctor? Your doctor should know what pill is good for you.
[00:16:30] But it must work, because they keep doing it all the time. But what you should be asking your doctor is this question if you're on PPIs. "Doc, what are the side effects of me taking this medication for a period of time?" They often don't go over that. But I'll tell you what you should do is ask your pharmacist. Did they give you that list? And I'm not sure, even now, they've still caught up with the data that tells you it's a big factor [00:17:00] in dementia. The cause of acid reflux, 90% and over, is insulin. The effect of PPIs, which is to lower your acidity in your stomach is dementia. We talked about this in the past. Nevermind what it does to your bones because you're not absorbing, not only be 12, but you're not absorbing your nutrients properly. You're meant to have a furnace. Your stomach [00:17:30] is a furnace. You want to put into your stomach, you want to turn everything into a real mulch.
I've often laughed a little bit, okay, and I'm just teasing a little bit because we have this idea for example. You know flax seeds, well grind them up. Meh. If you've got a good stomach, your stomach will grind up flax seeds and take all the nutrients out of it. If you have a good stomach, you don't have to grind up anything. Kidney [00:18:00] disease, well-established, long period of time on PPIs very, very hard on the kidneys. Infections, pneumonia, C. difficile. You're on acid reflux medication, you are 10 times more likely to get pneumonia. Again, why? You're not absorbing even your fat soluble vitamins. We've talked about this through [00:18:30] COVID> Vitamin A. Vitamin A for your immune system. Vitamin D for your immune system. These are fat soluble vitamins. Vitamin K. You're much more susceptible to infections, especially C. difficile.
And here's another one that they rarely ever talk about, but I would see in my office thousands of time. They called it SIBO, small intestine bacterial infection. By the way, I never believed [00:19:00] it was SIBO, S-I-B-O. I always called it SIFO, S-I-F-O, fungal. It was yeast getting into that small intestine. It was an overgrowth of yeast. How do you get an overgrowth of yeast? Well, if you don't have a good stomach. You see that acidity in your stomach is stopping anything from going into the gut. It's so acidic. It's a furnace. It'll take care of bacteria. It'll take [00:19:30] care of fungus. It'll take care of viruses. In the stomach. You see viruses, bacteria and yeast, candida, can't get into the gut if you have a good stomach.
Good stomach, I mean very acidic furnace, equals a good immune system. It's part of it. It's a big part of it. There's a lot of factors to acid reflux. What it does longterm, especially if you're using [00:20:00] medications to suppress it. Change your diet. So we talked about it, SIFO. Here's another thing you don't absorb, and this is important even for your brain. Magnesium. Magnesium. Now, the body uses magnesium over 300 different ways. You need it, but you don't absorb it when you have acid reflux and you're using PPIs. Got it?
Dementia. Yeah, it doesn't happen overnight, [00:20:30] but I've known people that are taking that medication. A lot of people take that medication because they're on other medications. It's a side effect from taking ... They got acid reflux because they're taking medication, blood pressure pills. All sorts of pills to lower your cholesterol and stuff like that can give you acid reflux. Then they give you a pill to lower your acid reflux. Problem is you're not absorbing. You're not absorbing your nutrients. Okay. [00:21:00] I think I touched on almost all the side effects of PPIs.
So, let's talk for a few minutes here. "Okay, I got acid reflux. What do I do, doc? What can I do to regenerate, to fix the problem?" Well, obviously lower your insulin. 90% of acid reflux, GERD, is caused by elevated insulin. So lower [00:21:30] your insulin. Do the reset for 30 days. Start with that. Amazing how many people have given testimony that that fixed it. "Doc, I had acid reflux for years. Now I don't have it anymore." Okay, good for you. Here's a high five. Remember what insulin is guys. You know more than 99% of the doctors I know. Insulin is a food hormone. You only use insulin [00:22:00] when you eat.
So what do I tell my patients with digestive issues? All digestive issues, acid reflux, rope your diet in. "Oh, Dr. Martin, I love variety." No, you shouldn't. You have a problem with your digestive tract. Rope your diet in. "Oh, doc, I love this, that, this and that, and I like having variety every day. Variety, [00:22:30] Dr. Martin, is the spice of life." Not if you've got digestive issues it isn't. Because insulin is a food hormone. Limit the variety of foods. "I don't like that, Dr. Martin." I know you don't like it, but you want to fix it. Do you want to have dementia? Do you want to outlive your brain? Do you want to make yourself more susceptible [00:23:00] to infection? Do you want osteoporosis? Do you want kidney disease? Just because it doesn't happen in five minutes doesn't mean it won't happen. And all I'm saying is rope your diet in. Obviously limit the amount of food and especially the crappy carbohydrates because you'll lower insulin to limit your eating times. Eat within a shorter window.
This is one of the reasons why [00:23:30] at the Martin Clinic we love intermittent fasting. Now you don't have to fast all day long, but if you have trouble with your gut, it's amazing what happens to your gut when there's no food in it. The biggest problem usually, again usually, is when you're eating at night. "Oh, yeah, but Dr. Martin, I can't watch a movie without eating." You better learn to do it. Your gut will give you a big high five. You're making [00:24:00] it work too hard. Limit your window of eating. A lot of people I get them eating from noon till six o'clock and eat within that window and then they stop. Five o'clock would even be better if you've got acid reflux. Even doctors will tell you to elevate your pillow. What else do they tell you? Don't drink, elevate your pillow. Yeah, but that's not fixing the problem. I don't care if you do that. Yeah, you can do that.
But fix the problem. [00:24:30] Fix the problem. Food, time, shorten up the time you're eating. Digestive enzymes, don't leave home without them. So many people need digestive enzymes because they'll help with your acidity in your stomach. They help to fix the problem. They'll do the digesting for you so that you can pick up your B12 from your steak and your vitamin A from your steak. It'll help you with that, big time. Temporarily, you can use Aloe [00:25:00] Vera. I like Aloe Vera. Get some Aloe Vera juice or whatever, and take an ounce or two. Apple cider vinegar. I like balsamic even better. Take a little teaspoon of apple cider vinegar or whatever. That helps. It helps the acidity in your stomach. These are things we can do.
And the key is digestive. And probiotics. Probiotics. Do you know probiotics work in the gut too? In the stomach. Not only in your gut, but they do. They come up and leave [00:25:30] friendly bacteria all over the place, help you to digest. So, that's sort of my protocol. So remember, the cure can be worse than the disease itself. The cure can be worse. PPIs, proton pump inhibitors.
Okay. So that's the teaching for today. Much appreciate you guys staying on with me, listening to my rants. So prayerfully we'll be back tomorrow. If [00:26:00] you have any questions, send them in so that we can handle that on Friday. Question and answer Friday. Share this with your friends, anyone you know has got problem with acid reflux, are taking PPIs. Share this with them. Okay, talk to you soon. Love you guys.
Announcer: You've reached the end of another Doctor Is In podcast with your hosts, Dr. Martin, Jr. and Sr. Be sure to catch our next episode, and [00:26:30] thanks for listening.