What Do GERD and Osteoporosis have in Common?

Alice was the receptionist at the senior centre where I volunteered weekly. She had an engaging sense of humour and a young fresh attitude toward life, though her 70 year old body was stooped with a pretty prominent dowager hump. Her head was positioned forward and downward so it was difficult for her to look up. In the afternoons her grandchildren would show up at the centre so she could watch them after school while she worked. Her duties at the centre also included mopping the floor which was painful on her neck.

Alice was not a complainer by any means but since she had been put on Fosomax for osteoporosis “prevention” she had begun suffering from stomach pains which was wearing down her energy and causing too many sick days. She became worried about her job and her future security and that’s when she showed up in my office. Maybe there was something she could do about her diet. It seemed like she was becoming intolerant to more and more foods and losing her appetite.

Alice had a long history of indigestion, gas and reflux which she had handled over the years with antacids. Taking antacids for many years for GERD or indigestion is a fast track to osteoporosis. The reduced stomach acid will prevent your body from digesting and utilizing the very nutrition your skeleton needs to stay strong.

Most people with GERD and heartburn are actually suffering from INsufficient stomach acid. Instead of taking acid soppers and stoppers, they need supplemental digestive acid and enzymes. When treating the symptom and not the cause of the GERD, it’s a case of painting the ceiling to fix the leak.

The real cause of the problem actually begins with eating inferior processed and artificial foods too quickly and in large quantities such that the digestive system is overwhelmed and cannot produce enough stomach acid and enzymes to handle the burden. The undigested “food” begins to irritate the lining of the gastro intestinal tract. So the body does not get the nutrients it needs to repair the damaged tissue as well as nourishing all the organs and joints of the body.

This person often develops arthritis and osteoporosis. They then begin long term treatment with bisphosphonate drugs such as Fosomax, Boniva, and Actonel, which in turn carry a litany of further side effects, including erosion of the esophagus, long term weakening of the skeleton and potential for spontaneous hip fractures. Now it’s time for narcotics and pain killers and behold the depressing picture of invalidism, pain and decline as evidenced in our nursing homes of today.

Can we reverse this downward spiral of health?

In Alice’s case we completely changed her diet to very simple, uncombined, high quality meals with gently steamed vegetables, fats, simple proteins, no breads or processed foods. We used enzymes and healing supplements such as Okra Pepsin which coats the lining of the digestive tract while providing some enzyme support. She needed a special source of minerals from bone marrow, a calcium supplement derived from vegetables, (not crushed rock) Vitamin C (not ascorbic acid) cod liver oil (super source of Vitamin D and other fat soluble vitamins). And she began a very gentle exercise program (Bones for Life) designed to realign the posture and create the correct impact to stimulate bone building. She gained 2 inches in height!

Submitted as a public service by Cathy Lidster, GCFP, ACNRT. She teaches “Bones for Life” Movement classes and helps clients regain their health with diet and lifestyle changes. For more information on Bones For Life®, Nutrition Response® Testing, or next free health seminar contact cathylidster@gmail.com, visit www.cathylidster.com

or call 250-819-9041.