An article intended for practitioners of Chinese medicine:

Every now and then I hear about a concept called "stomach hypoacidity."

This is a concept that I am unfamiliar with from the fields of Chinese or Western medicine, so I turned to Lilach Nahari, a naturopath who specializes in the digestive tract, and asked her about it.

Her explanation is here for you :)

In Lilach's opinion, hypoacidity is a natural process that occurs in the body during puberty.

Lilach explains that as we get older, the body becomes slower and as a result, there is less and less acid secreted in the stomach.

In her opinion, most people who suffer from heartburn do not suffer from excess acidity but from hypoacidity, and for this reason most people who suffer from heartburn are older people. Therefore, Lilach claims that hypoacidity is actually an expression of digestive weakness.

When I asked how it is possible that heartburn caused by hypoacidity responds to medications such as Nexium or Omeprazole that lower stomach acidity, Lilach answered that even in the case of hypoacidity, the existing acid can rise and cause symptoms of heartburn, but that it is important, in her opinion, to treat the digestive weakness that created the problem and not just lower the acidity.

According to her, there is no need to distinguish between a state of hypoacidity or hyperacidity; treatment should always be to strengthen the digestive system.

How can digestive weakness be treated?

Most people know that when they have heartburn they should cut down on tomatoes, spicy foods, coffee, etc., but they don't emphasize what is important to eat, which is foods that strengthen the digestive system: hot, cooked food, cooked orange vegetables, peeled fruits and vegetables (so as not to make digestion difficult), easily digestible soluble fiber: oats, flax seeds, chia seeds.

In addition, according to Lilach, the way you eat is one of the most significant things for strengthening the digestive system, so being calm while eating, eating slowly, and chewing for a long time improve our digestive process. She also says it is important not to watch the news or stressful things while eating, and not to continue working or answering emails so that the chewing process can be done calmly.

In conclusion, I think that as therapists we need to remember that we are not only treating the symptom itself (heartburn) but what led to it (weakness of the digestive system), and therefore, in terms of nutrition, we should not only give recommendations to relieve heartburn, but also recommendations to strengthen the digestive system.

*Let it not be misinterpreted that I am in favor of stopping heartburn medication because this is something that needs to be considered together with the doctor and can have consequences. In the future, I also plan to bring an interview with a gastroenterologist who explains when it is permissible to stop medication and when it is not recommended to do so. Yes, we can strengthen our patients' digestive systems and then ask the doctor for permission to reduce the medication dosage.

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