INDIGESTION, ULCERS, AND THE PANCREAS

 

©Patricia Heredia

 

INTRODUCTION

 

Many people feel remarkably better when they take apple cider vinegar and water with their meals. There is a sound biochemical reason for this phenomenon. Many people lack the necessary acid condition in the stomach to digest food properly. For these people, the acid in vinegar will provide great relief.

 

Regardless of this, taking cider vinegar is usually not the entire answer to indigestion. It must be determined why your acid production is currently poor, why your body can't make adequate acid, and why you may have burning, and even ulcers, despite the fact that your stomach does not produce sufficient acids.

 

Use the apple cider test: Take a couple tablespoons of vinegar in a glass of water with meals. If your digestion improves, your acid production is low. Or you can purchase nitrazine (pH testing paper) and check the pH in your mouth first thing in the morning (before brushing your teeth). Your oral pH should be more acid at this time than it is after breakfast. A good example would be a pH of 7 before breakfast and a pH of 9 after breakfast. If your pH drops after breakfast, you are suffering from too little stomach acid. If your oral pH of 7 before breakfast dropped to 5 or 6 after breakfast, you need better stomach-acid production.

 

Your problem may not be in your stomach at all, it may be in your pancreas. You need good pancreatic function to maintain good hydrochloric acid production in your stomach. Your pancreas smoothes the way for food to go from your stomach - a highly acid environment into your small intestine - a highly alkaline environment, just the opposite of your stomach. The pancreas does this by dumping enzymes and chemical buffers into your small intestine, neutralizing the stomach's acid just as it enters this region of your gut. If your pancreas is not up to snuff, the highly acidic contents of your stomach can enter your small intestine with no buffering agents. This is one of the main causes of ulcers, in particular duodenal ulcers.

 

Protocol

1. Use pH testing paper or use the apple cider vinegar test- if you feel better using the vinegar, you need an enzyme supplement.
2. Use a good Vitamin B-complex.
3. Check your iron level for any deficiency. It should be between 60 and 160. If it is below 50, you might benefit from an iron supplement. Use one tablet daily for one month, then one per week for six months.

 

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