A Look At The Digestive System
To understand how acid reflux occurs, it's helpful to first have a general understanding of how your digestive system works.
In their natural state, the foods we eat are not in a form that our bodies can use to create energy. The foods must first be broken down into smaller molecules, so that they can be absorbed into the blood, then carried to cells throughout the body.
Digestion is the process by which this happens.
Your digestive system consists of the digestive tract (mouth, esophagus, stomach, small intestine, large intestine, rectum, and anus) and other organs (liver, pancreas, gallbladder), which all work together to help your body break down food and absorb nutrients.
- Your mouth, stomach, and small intestine contain glands that produce digestive enzymes, which help to break down the food.
- Your liver and pancreas produce more digestive enzymes, which are stored in the gallbladder, and passed along to the intestine when needed.
- The digestive tract also contains muscle that helps move the food, and is protected by a lining called the mucosa.
Digestive Enzymes and Acids
Your body contains four main types of enzymes which, along with hydrochloric acid produced in the stomach, are necessary for digestion.
Each group of enzymes is classified by the molecules upon which they act. During digestion, all four groups work together to break down proteins, fats, sugars, and carbohydrates into nutrients that the cells can absorb.
These four main enzyme groups are:
Amylase -- The enzymes in this group are produced by your salivary and pancreatic glands. Their main function is to break down carbohydrates from foods like bread, potatoes, pastries, rice, and pasta into a form that your body can use for energy.
First, the amylase in the saliva and pancreatic juice breaks the starch into molecules called maltose. Then, an enzyme in the lining of the small intestine, called maltase, splits the maltose into glucose molecules that can be absorbed into the blood.
Protease -- These digestive enzymes are produced in your stomach and pancreas, and mix with the hydrochloric acid that your stomach produces. Combined, they break down proteins in foods such as meat, eggs, and beans, into amino acids, called peptides, which are essential for the health of every cell in your body.
These peptides can be absorbed from the hollow of the small intestine into the blood and then be carried to all parts of the body to build the walls and other parts of cells.
Lipase -- These are a group of digestive enzymes produced primarily in the pancreas, but also found in the mouth and stomach. Their purpose is to break down fats -- also known as lipids -- into glycerol and fatty acids.
The bile acids combine with the fatty acids and cholesterol and help these molecules to move into the cells of the mucosa, where they're formed back into large molecules, most of which pass into vessels (called lymphatics) near the intestine. These small vessels carry the reformed fat to the veins of the chest, and the blood carries the fat to storage depots in different parts of the body.
Nuclease -- The fourth group of digestive enzymes is produced by the pancreas. Their function is to break down sugars into nucleic acids, the building blocks of all living organisms.
The Mechanics of Digestion
Digestion starts in your mouth, when you chew and swallow.
The swallowed food is pushed into your esophagus, which connects the throat above with the stomach below. Where your esophagus and stomach join, there is a ring-like muscle, called the lower esophageal sphincter. Once the food passes into your stomach, the ring closes to keep the two separate.
The stomach stores the swallowed food and liquid, then mixes it with the hydrochloric acid it produces, to continue breaking it down. The stomach then empties its contents slowly into the small intestine.
As the food dissolves into the juices from the pancreas, liver, and intestine, the contents of the intestine are mixed and pushed forward to allow further digestion.
Finally, the digested nutrients are absorbed through the intestinal walls and transported throughout the body. The waste products of this process include undigested parts of the food, known as fibre, and older cells that have been shed from the mucosa. These materials are pushed into the colon, where they remain until the feces are expelled by a bowel movement.
How Acid Reflux Occurs
As previously outlined, acid reflux occurs when hydrochloric acid from the stomach -- instrumental in digesting food -- leaks into the esophagus.
There are a couple of different ways this can happen:
Cause #1 - Failure of the lower esophageal sphincter
If your acid reflux has been ongoing, or you're experiencing more severe symptoms that may include weight loss, vomiting blood, black stools, or painful swallowing...
... Then you should see a medical professional *immediately*.
It may be a sign that your acid reflux is caused by a failure of the lower esophageal sphincter, and left untreated, it can lead to some extreme medical conditions including esophageal cancer, narrowing of the esophagus, asthma, and dental problems.
If your acid reflux/GERD/heartburn is caused by a failure of your lower esophageal sphincter, which isn't closing fully and allowing the contents of your stomach to reach the esophagus, you will require treatment by trained medical professionals.
Talk to your doctor before discontinuing any recommended treatment program or prescription.
Cause #2 - Not enough digestive enzymes
Digestive enzymes, along with hydrochloric acid, are absolutely *essential* for the digestion and metabolism of food you eat.
Unfortunately, factors like age, poor diet, stress, antibiotics, poor health, and eating too fast can all contribute to our bodies producing fewer and fewer digestive enzymes, throwing off the delicate balance of enzymes and acid in our stomachs.
And this can kick off a vicious cycle:
As you can see, if you've only been dealing with the PAIN of your acid reflux until now, you may have only been dealing with a SYMPTOM, not the real cause!
And it's quite possible that you've been making your acid reflux WORSE through use of antacids, which create a hostile environment for critical digestive enzymes!
So what's the answer? Why not skip the antacids and try rebalancing your digestive enzymes to bring down your hydrochloric acid production and enjoy better overall digestive health!
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