The Truth About Heartburn & How to Get Relief Without Antacids with JJ Virgin

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Do what you need to do to manage stress. The first night that my son, who was a victim of a hit and run and literally left for dead in the street, I still remember that first night in hospital, standing there and having the worst heartburn ever. You know, it's one of the things that we know is stress can really trigger this.

This here's JJ Virgin, triple board certified nutrition and fitness expert and four time New York Times bestselling author. It's time to reignite wellness.

Hey, it's jj and today we are going to be talking about heartburn. And I am actually recording this podcast live on Facebook. And if you'd love to catch me live sometime, join me over at JJ virgin official@facebook.com and of course, I also do fun things over at JJ Virgin on Instagram. And again today, we are going to be talking about heartburn. So if you feel like your chest is on fire after a big meal or maybe you're just feeling chronically bloated or you have a little something, something like a little sore throat, a little in your throat, these are all signs of heartburn and you could be suffering and you're looking for natural alternatives. Well, today's episode, my friends, is for you. I've got nine hacks for you to help you resolve this once and for all. So you can toss those antacids. Yes, toss them, flush them. Bye. Bye. And we're going to talk today about why they are not the best solution, why they can create a lot of issues for you. Now, do not worry about taking notes. We do all of our show notes. Again, if you're watching live right now on Facebook, I'm recording this as a podcast for my JJ Virgin lifestyle show. You can grab the notes once the show becomes live@jjvirgin.com nomore heartburn. And if you're watching this live and you're going, what podcast are you talking about? Jj? I am talking about my JJ Virgin lifestyle show podcast. You can subscribe to that podcast. Very simple. Subscribe to jj. Subscribe to JJ is how you go and do it. If you're asking me questions live on Facebook, hang tight. I'm going to go through this whole thing first and then I'll be jumping on in. But before we do dive into the show, I want to do a shout out to someone who left a review on Apple itunes. Core training Pilates Left this review. Love these talks on my walks. Five stars. I'm a Pilates trainer and a business owner, and JJ's talks are so informative that I often share many bits of them with my clients. JJ and guests have great advice, but have fun while giving it up. Keep it up. All right, now I've got another favorite to share with you, so I'm going to jump off and let you have it and then I'll be right back.

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And welcome back. All right, we are talking about GERD. What the heck is GERD? So what's really interesting here is this is one of those things that I keep looking at going, why are we treating this the way we're treating this? So when you look at conventional wisdom, they say we get heartburn or gerd, because too much hydrochloric acid splashes upward towards your esophagus and creates burning and discomfort. So what do you do? You've got this acid. Well, let's just reduce that stomach acid and therefore reduce the burning. But, but actually what the research shows is the opposite, that it's too little, not too much stomach acid that creates gerd. And so why is this? This happens due to two big reasons, two big reasons. Stress. And I'm still trying to find that person who isn't stressed. Where are you? And aging? And so for most of us, it's both of those together. So here's what's really happening. You need to hci, that's what's produced in your stomach, to break down those, those proteins. You need HCI to activate the enzymes to break down protein. If you don't have enough stomach acid, you can't activate those enzymes. So that chicken breast you had for dinner, it doesn't sufficiently break down like it should. And then what happens? Well, it sits around in your stomach. So more stomach acid builds up and that acid can potentially reflex back up into your esophagus. And you know what that feels like. Not. Not good. So this whole cycle, why does it start not from too much acid? Nope, it's from too little acid. So then you reach for an over the counter antacid because, hey, you want to get out of pain. But the problem is that doesn't fix the underlying problem and can make things worse in the long run. So scientific research, if you're looking at it, backs up the idea that too little stomach acid is the culprit. In fact, one study questioned whether too much HCI is responsible for gerd. And they said when stomach acid flowed freely, researchers found no esophagus damage occurred for several weeks. If stomach acid was really the problem, damage should have occurred almost immediately. Furthermore, inadequate stomach acid sets the stage for gut issues. Your stomach's is protein's first step for digestion. When it can't do its job, the undigested protein goes your small intestine, where it has other jobs and always isn't always equipped to handle protein breakdown. This can lead to. And if you've been around my block, you know that these are things we talk about a lot. First of all, leaky gut, all right? And these undigested particles then can get out into circulation and wreak havoc, causing inflammation, causing cravings, causing bacterial overgrowth, all sorts of issues. So we want to avoid this. So when you look at throwing on antacids, if you already had, didn't have enough HCI to begin with, then you threw antacids on, now you're going to lower it even further. So now you lower the protein breakdown even forwards more. So you got some short term relief, but you're creating long term problems. And I'll tell you one that I saw that really, really concerned me. I remember meeting someone who'd been on long term antacids and my first question, this was a man in his mid-50s. I'm like, have you had your bone density checked? Well, they don't typically check men's bone densities, which they should. And of course when he went to check it, yes, osteoporotic. Because if you're not, you can't utilize something you're not breaking down. Right? So let's look at the temporary relief. Like the temporary relief of antacids or acid reducing medications are never worth the long term consequences. The little purple pill has now been proven to cause dangerous vitamin deficiencies and increased risk of osteoporosis, immune problems and premature death. And by the way, you'll be able to grab in the show notes. All this that I'm talking about right now. We got the studies to back it up. So you can go to again. Jjvirgin.com NoMoreHeartBurn now, if you're watching this live on Facebook, this will be put out with the podcast. We always include awesome show notes. So just be aware, it will be ready when we do this. Okay, so you got heartburn. What the heck do you do if we're saying, hey, that's not the best option to take the purple pill, to take the acid blockers. Okay, so what should you do? I got nine strategies. We got. We've got options that will help you, not hurt you. What I love to think about with all of these different options is that they rec. They create side benefits, not side effects. All right, so the first one, lose weight. Okay, so one of the big risk factors for GERD is being overweight. So why? Because a lot of the mechanical issues that create GERD for us. So what we're going to do is go and try my Stop, drop and swap challenge. Now this is free and you can get that. We will put the link to my seven day Stop, Drop and swap challenge in the show notes so you can do it and I see Emily's live on Facebook. Emily, if you could put into the notes on Facebook our seven day stop, drop, drop and swap challenge, that would be great. So first thing I'm going to tell you is let's start to work on losing some weight, specifically body fat. And of course, I'm going to tell you to do that. One of the things we want to do is stabilize that blood sugar by eating from the trifecta of lean protein, healthy fats, and slow, low impact carbs. So start your day when you get hungry with one of my protein shakes, because great research showing that when you replace a meal a day with a high quality protein shake, not, my friends, an adult milkshake, you actually are better at losing weight and most importantly, keeping it off, which is what's all about, right? Anyone can lose weight quickly, but keeping it off is where it all comes down to. Okay, next one. And you know that I'm all about this is minimizing problem foods. Now, virgin diet is all about figuring out which foods work for you and which foods don't. But let's go a little further than this because there's some very specific foods that tend to create problems for heartburn. Certain foods can cause changes to your esophagus that allow stomach acid to regurgitate into your esophagus. All right, I'm so sorry about what I'm about to say here. Okay, don't shoot the messenger, please. Coffee, tea, tomato, citrus and chocolate. All right, dark chocolate, coffee ice, green tea. You know, these are some of my most favorite foods, but at least try to eliminate them in the afternoon and evening because for some of us, this is more of a mechanical problem as we lay down and go to sleep. Okay, next up, number three, drink up. But drink up at the right time. Some researchers theorize that heartburn is a sign of an internal water shortage, especially dehydration in the upper part of the GI tract. Yet as you know, too much water during meals can further dilute your stomach acid, further contribute to contributing to insufficient protein breakdown. So go easy on the liquids during the meals, but otherwise drink up. And here's one thing, you know, what you measure, monitor, you can improve. So we want to make sure that you're drinking more fluids, especially water. And so mark it down, track it in your journal. It's so key, important to do until it becomes an absolute habit. All right, mark it. Mark it down. Okay, next up, go low sugar impact. Several studies prove reducing or eliminating high sugar impact foods can relieve gerd in Fact one even found that simple carbs may contribute more to GERD than coffee. Good news or fat. Of course. Now I'm going to have an infograph posted into the show notes that will teach you how to build a healthy plate that lowers your sugar impact. But I will tell you that one of the things I hear all the time when people go, go on the sugar impact diet program again, side effects, side benefits, not side effects is I hear all the time they go, oh, my gosh, my heartburn went away. It wasn't even something they were thinking about. They probably thought it was normal for them and they had to live with it. But boom, baby, their heartburn went away. Awesome. We love that so much. All right, next one. You knew I was going to say this one. Like, what would you guess this one would be? If you've been around, it is nix the gluten. That is number five, nix the gluten. All right, and so here we go. Yeah. Someone just said in Facebook, hci, not H, hcl, not hci. Yes. If I put HCI in there, I meant hcl. So number five, nix the gluten. One study found when celiac patients ditch gluten, they experienced a rapid and persistent improvement in reflux symptoms. Okay, but you're not off the hook if you don't have full blown celiac. About 30% of the population has some form of gluten sensitivity or gluten intolerance. And so there you go, virgin diet again. That free seven day, stop, drop and swap challenge. We pull that gluten out, you'll be able to tell in that amount of time if this is something that's making a difference for you. And honestly, I'd be surprised if it didn't. Okay, next one. Number six is slow down, slow down. And I know, I will tell you, back when I was a personal trainer a gazillion years ago, I literally would drive from house to house and like wolf down food in between. I had a cooler in the car for meals and it took me so long to train myself to, number one, stop that darn snacking. But number two, to stop wolfing down my meals, like, just to slow it down, down. So we really, really want to slow and actually chew your food. I catch myself sometimes I go, did I even chew? Now, it's one thing if it's a protein shake, but you don't want to guzzle that either. But these, all these foods really chew it through, you know, when. If you look at the research, it shows that people who are plowing through their meals suffer more from gerd. Slow it down, chew it out and put your fork down in between bites, just put it down. Hang out when you sit down to eat with friends, be the last to finish. I have to keep reminding myself this too. So this is one that I'm, I'm always working on. It's like long term bad habits. So that's what you want to do. Also, the bonus points, again, side benefit is that when you eat slower, you realize that you're full. When. Because so often we are full, but our brain hasn't caught up yet. Next one, super important, Take digestive enzymes. Now here's the deal. As we age again, we tend to make less digestive enzymes and less stomach acid. If you're under stress, same thing. So supplementing can improve digestion so that protein and other foods can break down more efficiently. And then things like GERD and things like gas and bloating, guess what? They're less likely to happen. Yay. So you really want to look at supplementing with digestive enzymes, especially betaine hcl. Betaine hcl. That's super duper important. I know when I added betaine HCL into my diet, into my life, it was like magic happened for me. No more heartburn and no more bloating. And also lost a little bit of weight. So again, side Benny's all bueno. All right, number eight. Oh my gosh. Whenever I'm talking about health, no talk about health is complete without me doing a shout out on sleep. But super important, the research shows that a vicious cycle, a vicious cycle. A poor night's sleep increases GERD symptoms the next day, which in turn makes sleep quality the next night worse. So, you know, just becomes a horrible, vicious cycle. Also remember, this is really, really important. Do not eat at least three hours before bed. And longer is better. In fact, great new research showing that eating, stopping eating like four, five, six hours before bed, even better for weight loss. So the reason here that we're not eating right before bed is mechanical. You do not want food in your stomach when you're lying down, then causing that wash up of acid right onto your esophagus. So ideally you're stopping eating like three hours is the absolute like bare minimum. And extending that time between your last meal and bedtime, not by staying up later, no, no, no, no. But by eating earlier is a great, great strategy. So what are we going to do? About an hour before bed, we are winding it on down. My buddy, Dr. Michael Bruce, the sleep doctor, calls it the power down hour. Electronics are off. I made the mistake the other night. Oh my gosh. And my hubby watched me do it. I read the email and like, you know, like there's never no good News happens at 9:00, clock at night when you think that you needed to read that last email and now you've got crap you have to deal with. So do not do that. Turn off all of the electronics, take a hot bath with Epsom salt. I'm now in my new house in Tampa with the most awesome, delicious, beautiful bathtub. So great. I'm so excited. I'll take a picture and I'll show it to you and then not with me in it, no, just the bathtub. All right. And unwind with a cup of chamomile tea to have deeper, more consistent sleep. And I take sleep candy every single night. It's my safe, non habit forming blend of botanical and nutrients to help you fall asleep and stay asleep without any side effects. We'll also give you some. We'll link to one of my blogs with all my sleep tips. But I, I'm at. I take three sleep candies every night. Most people need two. I take three. All right, but I'm six feet tall and 150 pounds so I need, I need. It always takes me a little more. All right, finally, do what you need to do to manage stress. Now I like always detest these like stress management tools because to me find the thing that helps you manage your stress. But one of the things, and I still remember the night, the first night that my son, who was a victim of a hit and run and literally death, left for dead in the street and was in hospital four and a half months and took five plus years to recover from it. That's what I talk about in my book, Warrior Mom. I still remember that first night in the hospital, standing there and having the worst heartburn ever. So, you know, it's one of the things that we know is stress can really trigger this. So I personally love eft tapping. We will put resources in here again jjvirgin.com forward/no more heartburn. We will put resources in here for tapping with my buddy Nick Ortner, for meditation with my gal, Emily Fletcher. It's whatever works for you. It might be deep breathing, it might be meditation, it might be playing with your dog. Whatever it is, I'll tell you what, Daisy, my, my sweet little toy fox terrier is the uber ultimate stress releaser. And she's even my emotional support animal on planes. And she's an awesome awesome flyer. So those are all of them. And yes, I know I just gave you nine. My guess is, though, that of those nine, you're probably already doing some of them, right? Like, you probably have a couple. You go, ah, doing that. And then what I would tell you to do is don't go, all right, I'm doing all nine of these tomorrow. I mean, that's crazy. That sets you up to fail. Pick one, choose one, start with it, track your symptoms in your journal, and then go to the next one and just keep. Keep them going. Just do one and then add as soon as you got that one dialed. It's a habit. Add. Because, by the way, all these things I just told you about, these are great things to do in life. So not only would they support you not having heartburn, they're going to support you being healthier. So it's just a win all the way around. So stay with me. I got one more thing to share with you. I'll be right back in putting this advice into immediate action. All right, this episode is brought to you by McAfee.

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You to suspicious texts, emails, and deep fake videos. Learn more@mcafee.com online protection. Okay, so I gave you. Welcome back, by the way. I gave you the great tip of pick one thing. And that really is. You're going to hear me say that over and over and over again. Because the number one reason people don't do things is because they're overwhelmed. And I get that. I actually had a day like that today where I had all these things get done. And I finally was like, why don't I just pick one thing and get that thing done instead of, like, staring at all these things in paralysis mode? So pick one thing and get that one done and dialed. That's again, why it's really important to use a journal so that you can track all of these things. All right, next thing is download the tips. You can get them again@jjvirgin.com no more heartburn, because that's how you look through the nine tips. You go, all right, which ones can I check off? And which one am I going to start with? Because again, I know you're probably doing some of these already. And then even better is if you can find a friend to do this with. If you are in my Reignite Wellness Community, grab a support buddy in there. Say like this is an issue for me. Who else is having an issue? Grab a support buddy to go through this with. All right, awesome. And then I want to hear about it. I want to hear, hey jj, I did this, this and this. And guess what? No more heartburn. That's the way me and my whole team get our A pluses. Like, this is what keeps us going. When we have our team meetings. We celebrate everything that's going on so with with all of you. So if you're having a great result, we want to know about it. Oh, and a quick reminder, if you haven't subscribed yet, you can do it fast@subscribetoj.com so you'll never miss a show. And while you're there, I would love a review because then I can shout you out. All right, thanks guys. SA.

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