537. The Problem With Proton Pump Inhibitors

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Dr. Martin: Well, good morning everyone. And welcome again to another live this morning. I hope you’re having a great start to your day. I want to hit a headline here. [00:00:30] It’s sort of a two-fold on PPIs. Now, do you know what PPIs are? Proton-pump inhibitors. So Zantac, Prilosec, Nexium, Prevacid. These are drugs that are PPIs, proton-pump inhibitors. I read a statistic yesterday that said, that 15 million Americans are on these [00:01:00] medications, every day. And I never tell people to come off medications. I won’t do that. But my goal, when I was in practice was always to fix the problem because proton-pump inhibitors don’t fix the problem, they suppress acidity. In your stomach you have pumps and guess what they’re pumping out? They’re pumping out acid, [00:01:30] because we often talk about pH. People are asking me all the time about pH, “Doc, what about pH? What about pH? Are foods acidic or whatever? Do I want to have an acidic body or alkaline?” Well, you want to be slightly alkaline, but you want your stomach to be highly acidic. Very acidic. Why? It’s a furnace.

You want to break down that food. You want to mulch it down. The more acidity [00:02:00] you have in your stomach, the better it gets your nutrients and it crushes and breaks the food down so that you can get your nutrients from the food. Think of your stomach as a furnace, melting that food down, but it needs a lot of acidity to do that. And the problem is, and I know you guys know this, but I’ll just say it again. The problem with acid reflux, is [00:02:30] not that you have too much acidity in your stomach. It’s the fact that you don’t have enough and your body overreacts to it and you make more acidity and it happens to go up and then you get acid reflux. Very, very, very uncomfortable.

Now here’s the headlines on these PPIs like, Nexium and Prilosec, Zantac, [00:03:00] Prevacid. There’s a twofold problem with them generally in the headlines. And there are two headlines that came out this week. One, they actually pulled Zantac back in April of 2020, because they had to take it off the market, can you imagine? They had to pull it back, recall all of them because they test them for what they call NDMA. Here’s what the word is, nitrosodimethylamine. [00:03:30] Just call it in NDMA, NDMA. They recalled them because this is carcinogenic. So that was one issue. And I did a little bit of a deep dive to go, “What exactly, why?” It wouldn’t come out of the manufacturing plant. I’m sure they have to test these to see if that NDMA, they would check the levels [00:04:00] before even putting the drug out on the market and they do.

The problem is, twofold, because I went in and I did sort of a deep dive. Why would they pull Zantac? I mean, millions and millions of dollars worth and pull them off. The FDA said, “They’re all coming back.” Because what they did is they tested them and with storage not at the right temperature over a period of time. [00:04:30] And secondly, if you leave it in a hot car, for example. They started testing that kind of thing. And guess what? Now you have carcinogens that are showing up in the drugs, and then they tested … There are two other, migraine drugs, anti-histamines, common ones off the shelf and blood pressure drugs. So if you’re on these medications, make sure [00:05:00] you store them properly, store them properly and never in heat. Don’t leave them in heat at all. That was one of the factors.

But I wanted to spend some more time on the PPIs because I want you to fix the problem. Apparently last year again, when I was studying this, 15,000 lawsuits last year alone against PPIs [00:05:30] and the side effect. There was 15,000 lawsuits last year against these pharmaceutical companies who make Zantac, and Prevacid, and Nexium, the purple pill. No, but seriously. And the reason is because there are a lot of side effects of this. Here’s the side effects that they sued the pharmaceutical companies with. And I’m going to talk to you about something [00:06:00] else. Increase in stomach cancer, increase in kidney disease, increase in fractures, increase in heart attacks and heart failure by 25% on these meds. Nevermind the carcinogenics. People who take these and acids to suppress acid have a much greater risks of stomach cancer.

You suppress the acid, it gives you relief. [00:06:30] People have been on these things for years and years and years. They say, “Doc, if I don’t take them, I get heartburn.” You got to be careful though. You got to be careful. Fix the problem, fix the problem of low acidity and I will help you with that. I’m going to talk about that in a minute. But increased risk of stomach cancer, increased risk of kidney disease, increased risk of fractures, [00:07:00] increased risk of osteoporosis and heart attacks. Now, one of the things that PPIs do, when you suppress that acidity, you know one of the things that happens? I don’t think you’ll ever hear this anywhere else. It changes your microbiome. It’s one of the causes of leaky gut. We always think, in the gut, it happens in the [00:07:30] gut. Antibiotics, we talked about that in the past. We’ve talked about things that cause a bad diet and stress, cortisol can stress. You’re like this all the time. In your gut, you get permeability. You get leaky gut, but even antacids, if you go up in the upper GI and you suppress the acidity, that can cause leaky gut.

Here’s another thing [00:08:00] it causes, if you don’t have the right amount of acidity in your stomach, you are inviting yeast to flourish. Yeast flourishes. If you have good acidity in your stomach, your stomach will kill yeast. If you have good acidity, by the way, you will kill H pylori. Everybody has H pylori. It’s a bacteria [00:08:30] in your stomach, everybody has it. It’s just like using the example of everybody has herpes virus. You got the chicken pox, you got the virus. “No doc, I never get cold sores. I never got shingles. I never got anything like that.” I know. It’s just because it’s dormant. It’s like H pylori in the stomach. “Oh doc, I got H pylori.” Yeah, well you always had it. The problem is if your [00:09:00] acidity in your stomach, isn’t good, that bacteria will take over and multiply. It’ll have babies in your stomach. This is why acidity in the stomach is essential. You want to be very acidic in the stomach.

If you have acid reflux, you don’t have enough acidity, your body overcompensates. That’s how it works. Body is fearfully and wonderfully made. [00:09:30] Your body is smart. Oh, you don’t have enough acidity? Let me help. And the proton-pumps in your stomach start creating more. The problem with that is, it goes up the esophagus and then, “Oh, I got a heartburn. It’s no fun.” Nope. It’s no fun. Absolutely no fun. So guys, very, very, very, very important that you work on your stomach, if you’ve been having to take these meds, [00:10:00] forget that they can cause cancer. Forget, this is what the headline said. When you have all these side effects that the pharmaceutical companies have been sued for. From cancer, stomach cancer, imagine. And kidney disease and fractures, pretty serious.

Your body is meant to have high acidity right in that stomach. So what do you do if you have acid reflux? One [00:10:30] of the reasons, one of the reasons that I did the reset, because one of the ways your body reacts is when your insulin is too high, high circulating insulin. You’re a carboholic, that will affect the acidity in your stomach. And one of the side effects of insulin resistance, high circulating insulin. And that’s always food, [00:11:00] guys. It’s not fried food. “Oh doc, when I eat fried foods … ” Look, I’m not telling you to live on fried foods. All I’m saying to you is it stuck carbs, it’s insulin. Ninety percent of people that have trouble with acid reflux are really a pre-diabetic and they just don’t know it. Their insulin is too high. It’s amazing, when you get off the carbohydrates, it fixes [00:11:30] the problem.

Thousands and thousands over the years, I mean it. Lay off the carbs. Okay. Try it. I said, “Trust me.” You know what the second reason is, one of the signs of acid reflux? Your dehydrated, too many carbs and not enough water. You know me vitamin W. Water, water, [00:12:00] water, water. You’re like planet Earth, you’re 75% water. You better replace it and quit being a big baby, because so many people don’t like water. I said, “I didn’t say you had to like it. You got to drink it.” And only water is water. It takes its own route. You like coffee, so do I, but it doesn’t take the same route directly to your bloodstream that [00:12:30] water does. One of the signs that you’re dehydrated is acid reflux. “Oh doc, I started drinking water.” It’s a habit. How much a day? I’m giving you my clinical experience of 46 plus years. You know what it is? It’s two liters a day and for my American friends, that’s 64 ounces. That’s what you need. That’s just clinical experience.

[00:13:00] You’ll get on the internet and someone will tell you, “You don’t need water and you need this much water.” And I’m just giving you what I found over the years to be … And you know what? I’m sticking to it, because I found that, that’s the amount generally that people need. Some need a little bit more, some need maybe a little bit less, but not much. It’s a pretty accurate, in my opinion, a pretty accurate amount of water. So what is that? [00:13:30] It’s two liters a day, 64 ounces of water a day. And I don’t care, guys. You want to have Perrier? But that’s not water. You like Perrier? I like Perrier, I do. I call it my Christian beer. I like it, but I don’t substitute Perrier or Sanpellegrino or whatever which one. A lot of people like carbonated [00:14:00] water, but it’s not water. As soon as they carbonate it, it’s acidic. I get up in the morning, guys, I’m telling you. You want to know what Dr. Martin does every morning, seven days a week. I’m thinking coffee, but I’m drinking water because that’s all I can think of is coffee.

Oh, a new study came out on coffee because I always get push back on coffee. But a new study came out. Headline [00:14:30] is this, coffee decreases your risk of heart attack. Ah-ha. Not tea, coffee. Isn’t that good? So one of the causes of why you could have acid reflux, you got to look at these two major things. One is insulin, change your diet. The other one is dehydration. “Ah doc, I drank water.” Maybe not enough. Maybe [00:15:00] not enough and juice isn’t water, and tea isn’t water and coffee isn’t water and Perrier isn’t water. It isn’t, I don’t care. And I know coffee is 95% water. It don’t matter. It takes a different route. Your body does not take it as hydration, only water is hydrating. Got it? Just accept it because I know it to be true.

Now I want you to think, [00:15:30] I really do. Now, I told you about the lawsuits, but let me tell you about the side effects of having low acidity. One, numero uno is, low levels of B12. Well, if you’re a vegan or vegetarian and you live on chicken and salad, you’re not getting B12 anyways. But so many people [00:16:00] are low in B12 because first of all, they don’t have good stomach acidity. And if you’re on any kind of medication, any medication, it disrupts the absorption of B12. That is an essential vitamin. When people talk about B vitamins, I talk about B12. Not that I’m not interested in the other B vitamins, but if you eat eggs, meat, and cheese, you’re getting all the B vitamins you need. [00:16:30] And some need to supplement with B12 because if you’ve got any trouble with your stomach, acidity, if you’re on any medication, especially proton-pump inhibitors, you are low in B12. It’s as simple as that, “Oh doc, my B12 levels are normal.” I don’t care. You’re still low because normal isn’t good, optimized is good, in B12.

Your body don’t work properly without B12. We’ve gone over that many, many, many, [00:17:00] many a times. You know what the problem with B12 is? It’s like a teenager. You moms who got teenagers. What are they? They’re a pain. B12 is like a teenager, it’s finicky. It’s a large structure vitamin, first of all. It’s very large, molecularly. B12 is a huge, huge supplement. And at the best of times, you’re going to have trouble absorbing B12. Even if you eat it from meat, [00:17:30] red meat. It’s just the way it’s built. And if you don’t have what they call the intrinsic factor, you’re not even breaking it down. You got stomach problems. You’re usually not breaking B12 down. That’s why the best way to take B12 is in a sublingual form.

Here’s another thing you’re not going to absorb, calcium. That’s why so many with stomach problems, they get osteoporosis. They don’t absorb calcium. I don’t want you to take [00:18:00] a calcium supplement, by the way. I’m not into that. I want you to eat your calcium, eggs, meat, and cheese. That’s why I love dairy too, guys. Somebody was saying the other day that Tom Brady who won the Super bowl, he eats really well and he doesn’t have any sugar. And he’s a low carb guy, big time. He eats a lot of meat, but he doesn’t eat dairy. Well maybe he can’t absorb dairy. Maybe he has trouble with dairy. [00:18:30] And I would tell him, “Yeah, I don’t like milk either, but cheese.”  That’s why I say cheese, guys and cream. And I talked to you about that last week. The importance of CLA, it’s a conjugated linoleic acid, which is in dairy. And it’s very good for you and vitamin K2 and butter and cheese. That takes calcium, by the way that you’re eating and puts it inside your bones.

[00:19:00] So people that have trouble with their stomach are low in B12, they’re low in calcium, a lot of times. And they’re low in magnesium and they’re often anemic. See, B12 is a big factor in the anemia. A lot of people think it’s iron, but it’s more B12 than iron. I know docs like to give you iron, if you’re anemic and I get that, I’d rather you eat your iron with steak and take a B12 [00:19:30] sublingual. Let it melt in your mouth, supplement, big time.

Here’s something interesting when they look at PPIs and they look at people that have low acidity, this is something that came out actually. It was a little headline that was sort of hidden. I can’t remember if I talked about it in the past or not, but people that are on PPIs, by the way are much more susceptible to COVID. [00:20:00] That was sort of a hidden headline. I don’t know if it came out of the United Kingdom. I don’t remember, but it suppresses your immune system. You see, even your stomach, that’s what I was talking to you about earlier. When your acidity is not good, you develop even more of a yeast or a fungal infection. Guys, it spreads. It can get into your lungs. It can make you much [00:20:30] more susceptible to pneumonia and things like that, we talked about that. The GI and your immune system, it’s part of it. It’s a big part of it. You want to be able to break that food down properly. Your stomach is the furnace for and viruses too. If your stomach’s acidity is good, your bacteria … Bad bacteria don’t get past it. And if you’re suppressing it artificially with a medication, [00:21:00] you’re just putting a band-aid on it. You’re not fixing it.

So let’s say you have acid reflux. What do you do? Now, I’m not telling you to come off your medication. So don’t say “Dr. Martin said, come off your medication.” Here’s what I am saying, let’s try and get you off your medication because if it’s gone, then you don’t need it anymore. So I’m not saying, like go cold turkey or whatever. I’m not saying any of that. What I am saying is, ” [00:21:30] Let’s get to the root of the problem.” So number one, get your insulin down, do the reset. There’s no better way to do it. You will get it down, man. I was telling the students yesterday at the University of Tennessee, Dr. McEwen, a good friend has asked me to do a couple of little classes at the University of Tennessee.

And yesterday I was telling them that insulin, it’s a big [00:22:00] issue. It’s behind metabolic syndrome. Insulin, it’s food. Lower your carbs, it’s amazing how many people digestively, including the upper GI, including the stomach. How many times they’ve been able to cure their acid reflux, when they lowered their insulin, they lowered their insulin. The reset, not just for a weight loss, [00:22:30] it’s the best weight loss program on the planet, in my opinion. It’s the best because, it’s not that you’re just lowering your carbs. You are replacing carbs with high density, high nutrient foods, important. Very important.

Now water, make sure you’re not dehydrated. We don’t have a little red light on our head [00:23:00] that says, “You need water. You need water.” Just trust me. You need two liters. Trust me. Start, get a habit. I know a lot of you, I’m preaching to the choir. You already do that. And a lot of times, it’s stubborn men. “I don’t like wine or Dr. Martin.” I didn’t say you had to like it. I said, “You have to drink it.” Pretend it’s a medication, if you have [00:23:30] to. Until you get used to it, then you will like it. Your body will scream for it. You have to turn the thirst mechanism on. Most people it’s shut off. They don’t even know they’re dehydrated. They get it in different symptoms. And one of the biggest ones is acid reflux. Well, there you go. You got acid reflux, stop eating at night. This works for your gallbladder. [00:24:00] This works for your liver. This works for your stomach. Stop eating. Have your supper and then stop.

If you can go past your breakfast. Well, that will help too. One of the things about intermittent fasting … They call it intermittent fasting. I’ve been talking about this for 40 something years. Don’t eat at night. You got a hiatal hernia, don’t eat at night. You got gallbladder problems, [00:24:30] don’t eat at night. Give your GI a big time break. “Oh doc, I got to have a little snack.” No you don’t. No you don’t. If you have acid reflux, let that stomach. It’s amazing how you can turn your gut around. Gallbladder, I hear it every day, every day, every day, every day. Women, they don’t use their gallbladder [00:25:00] and then they use it and no wonder they got stones in there because they never used it. But one of the things, don’t eat at night, it gives you a gallbladder a rest too. Especially when you first introduce fatty foods.

Do you ever have this happen? You didn’t do any exercise or whatever, then you go exercise. And the next day you’re, “Ew, does that ever hurt?” Holy moly, why do you think the gyms are full in January [00:25:30] and empty in February? “I didn’t know it was going to hurt.” Yeah, it hurts. It’s like the gallbladder. Well, you didn’t use it for years because you were eating chicken and salad and then all of a sudden your gallbladder gets used. It goes, “Holy crap.” Your gallbladder is a smooth muscle, but it’s a little pouch, but it’s made up of smooth muscle Now you’re exercising it. “Oh, how come you haven’t used me in the last 10 years, ladies?” [00:26:00] And I blame ladies because they’re the ones who get all the gallbladder problems. Men, they get acid reflux, because their insulin is too high.

So stop eating at night, going on the low carb. Absolutely, absolutely, you need help with your stomach. And that’s why I love digestive enzyme. I’m big on, what we call pancreatic enzymes, digestive enzyme. [00:26:30] Lipase, amylase, proteases, all these things, they help. I take digestive enzymes every day. I don’t have acid reflux, but I don’t want to get it, and I want to break food down because as you get older, you don’t have as much acidity when you’re older, in your stomach. Who said golden years are great? So drink water, cut your carbs, stop eating at night, [00:27:00] take digestive enzymes. You can take a little bit of apple cider vinegar if you want. That’s very acidic, but it helps. I like balsamic vinegar too. Just a little bit of balsamic vinegar before your meal, it helps.

Tomorrow, by the way, just going to make an announcement. Tomorrow and for the next few weeks, I am going to do Thursday morning. So I know I usually do Thursday afternoons and we’ll probably get back to that. But for [00:27:30] the next few weeks, I plan on doing Thursday morning’s podcast. So I’ll be on tomorrow morning, Lord willing. Friday is question and answer. So send in your questions. I’ll try and answer all the questions on Friday, that you have. We answer them in the group and a lot of times you answer them in the Martin Clinic Facebook group, if your friends are not part of that, your family’s not part of that. Make them part of that group. They’re welcome to come in. [00:28:00] No, we really appreciate it. That’s a great community. So love you guys. Talk to you soon.

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