Hometown Healing
One simple, inexpensive supplement solves 2 big health problems
Meet Charlie. He's 52 and loves to fish for bass. At the end of the day he takes home his catch and fries 'em up with potatoes. He washes it all down with a couple of beers or some coffee, then tops it off with a piece of chocolate cake his wife bakes. And guess what? Heartburn city. Big time.
When I started to care for Charlie, he was on one of those stomach acid-blocking proton pump inhibitor drugs you see ads for all the time. They can definitely stop heartburn dead in its tracks––by totally turning off stomach acid, the body's natural response to a meal.
Now I'm not saying acid blockers don't have their uses, because I do use them with some patients—usually shorter term for ulcer healing. But I prefer not to tinker with the body's natural functions if I don't have to.
Back to Charlie. I started by telling him that some of the things he was eating and drinking—alcohol, caffeine, and chocolate—were actually making the problem worse. They all promote the reflux of stomach acid up into the esophagus by loosening the lower esophageal sphincter, where the stomach and esophagus meet.
Charlie had another problem, though—constipation. Pretty common problem, right? Enough fiber from plenty of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains takes care of most folks' constipation. But getting Charlie to add more fruits and vegetables was kind of like trying to talk a hungry dog off a meat wagon.
Enter magnesium. It's an important mineral that lives inside cells and participates in hundreds of important reactions in the body. It has all sorts of therapeutic uses—treating leg cramps, palpitations, preventing migraines, and you guessed it, fixing constipation. But many people don't get enough, since it's found mainly in leafy green vegetables. Plus, Charlie was at an added disadvantage because he had been taking the proton pump inhibitor, which was suppressing his stomach acid. Stomach acid helps your body absorb important minerals. Basically, he didn't have enough acid to absorb what little magnesium he was getting.
So I had Charlie take simple, cheap, over-the-counter magnesium oxide—400, then 800 milligrams a day. I actually prefer magnesium citrate capsules, because they're better absorbed, but magnesium oxide is usually a bit cheaper and easier to find.
Now his constipation's history. What's more, his heartburn cleared up, so he was able to stop taking his acid-blocking drug. Turns out that getting things moving down below kept things from backing up higher up in the whole system. Charlie's happy and so am I. Anytime I can get the body to heal without harsh drugs, I know I've done my job.
I'm still trying to persuade Charlie to boost his fruit and vegetable intake—so we can get him off the magnesium. After all, why take a pill when you can get what you need from food?
Safe, natural solutions for heartburn and the other "big C”
Suppressing stomach acid long-term is rarely the right solution for heartburn. If you're on a proton pump inhibitor, reduce your intake of alcohol, chocolate, caffeine, and fried foods. Try it for a couple of days to see if you notice a difference.
For a safe, natural solution to constipation, try over-the-counter magnesium oxide or citrate—400-1,200 mg a day. If you're going to supplement with magnesium long term, you should also take calcium citrate with it, in a 2:1 calcium/ magnesium ratio.
And while you're at it, have some cooked oatmeal with raisins or chopped up prunes for breakfast. Still not there yet? Add 1-2 tablespoons a day of flax oil, a healthy fat that can definitely help keep things moving smoothly. Or try including 1 or 2 servings of raspberries (they have the highest fiber content of all fruits) into your diet each day.
