calcium Archives - Hudson Valley Chiropractic & Wellness

Fix your GERD for good!

December 9, 2015 by drchrista Leave a Comment

Are you ready to fix your GERD for good? Read on for functional medicine solutions that will help you get to the root cause of these issues so you can heal from GERD for good!

There it is again- that tight, burning feeling in your stomach or chest after eating a meal. It use to happen so infrequently that you didn’t pay much attention to it, but now it seems to happen a few times a week. It was merely uncomfortable at first, but now you’re getting concerned. Sometimes you can’t even get to sleep because of it. You’ve tried cutting back on the ‘usual’ triggers mentioned in that late-night internet search you did on one of said sleepless nights- coffee, spicy foods, and alcohol. That helped somewhat, but the symptoms are still there and on top of it, now you can no longer occasionally indulge in food or beverages you enjoy. You really don’t like the idea of living on a prescription antacid, but its getting to the point where you’ve got to do something.

Living with GERD (gastroesophageal reflux disease) is no fun. It’s uncomfortable, distracting and can even lead to scarier health problems like esophageal cancer. However, addressing the problem with acid-lowering medications (proton-pump inhibitors) comes with a whole new set of issues. For one is the acid-rebound effect that can occur when you try to discontinue the medication. The other problem with long-term use of these medications is that they can lead to nutritional deficiencies. Zinc, Vitamin B12, iron and calcium are just a few examples of micronutrients that need an acidic environment in the stomach for absorption. One of the many side effects of these drugs in an increased risk of bone fractures due to inhibited calcium absorption. (So please don’t think you can take something like Tums to get your calcium requirement, mmm’kay?)

To fix your GERD without living on acid-lowering medications and risking these nutrient deficiencies, you’re going to have to get to the root cause of problem.

1.) Hypochlorhydria. Yes, this seems like a paradox that low-stomach acid may be what is actually causing your acid-reflux symptoms, but here’s the thing- your stomach is supposed to be acidic. It’s designed for it- that’s why it has a thick mucosal lining found nowhere else in the body. The hydrochloric acid of the stomach not only helps break down proteins, but is also the first line of defense for killing food-borne pathogens. When there is not enough stomach acid, it takes longer for the food in your stomach to be mechanically broken down enough to continue on to the small intestine- the next part of the digestive system. So it just sits there…eventually pushing upwards on the diaphragm and the lower part of the esophagus and causing those familiar GERD symptoms. Other clues that hypochlorhydria maybe at the root of your GERD symptoms are that you have a hard time digesting dense animal proteins and that you feel bloated or burp a lot after a meal. (Bloating and burping can be signs of other digestive diseases as well, so make sure you work with a holistic physician or functional medicine doctor to make sure those aren’t symptoms of a different problem.)

2.) Food intolerances. If you have an intolerance to say, gluten, it can inhibit the release of a hormone that actually helps open the pyloric sphincter (the muscular ring between the stomach and the small intestine), allowing the digested food to move out of the stomach. When the food gets ‘stuck’ in the stomach it can lead to those acid-reflux symptoms you’re all too familiar with. I’ve had a few patients for whom we fixed their GERD simply by removing trigger foods that they were intolerant of.

3.) Hiatal hernia. This is a type of hernia where the top of the stomach slides up through the hole in the diaphragm for the esophagus. Symptoms can closely resemble that of GERD. Larger hernias can be seen on x-rays. Smaller ones, also called ‘sliding hiatal hernias,’ can be present and causing symptoms, without being large enough to see on an x-ray. What to do about it depends on how large and how problematic the hernia is. For most of my patients, they tend to have the smaller, functional version. In this case, a simple abdominal massage to ‘pull the stomach back down’ may be useful.

Armed with this knowledge, you may find that you can fix your GERD symptoms by simply changing your diet a bit and using some supplemental digestive enzymes to increase stomach acid. Once you are able to sufficiently digest & absorb proteins and micronutrients like zinc and B12, your stomach and pancreas will be better able to make enough digestive enzymes on their own and supplementation can be discontinued.

One important note here. If you have had GERD for long enough that it has progressed to Barrett’s esophagus, please do not try to discontinue your acid-lowering medications on your own. This is a serious pre-cancerous condition and you need to work closely with a specialist to make sure you aren’t inadvertently causing more damage.

Need some help or guidance to fix your GERD for good? We can help. Call my office to set-up your appointment today 845-687-6387.

Calcium supplementation: more harm than good?

October 21, 2015 by drchrista Leave a Comment

Are you taking a calcium supplement or has your doctor recommended one? You might be surprised to learn that the latest research suggests that calcium supplementation is useless at best, harmful at worst.

A study in the online British Medical Journal found that calcium supplementation in patients over 50 years old had no benefit. Neither did increasing calcium intake from dairy foods. This isn’t the case of a single, controversial, contrarian study either. Dr. Ian Ried of the University of New Zealand at Auckland and his team performed a meta-analysis, where they looked at results from all the high-quality studies they could find, and found the same thing.

The bigger problem though is that since this extra calcium intake is not ending up in the bone tissue, its accumulating in the arteries where it can lead to atherosclerosis and heart disease, or it ends up in kidneys where it may lead to the formation of kidney stones.

And yet, a very real problem remains. The National Osteoporosis Foundation estimates that 54 million Americans are at risk for developing the bone-thinning condition and half of American women over 50 suffer from a bone fracture because of osteoporosis.

So if calcium supplementation and dairy foods aren’t the answer to the osteoporosis epidemic, what is???

1.) Vitamin D. Among other things, Vitamin D helps increase absorption of calcium by the bone tissue. Its also vitally important to the regulation of the immune system. If you have any sort of chronic inflammatory condition, work indoors and wear sunscreen religiously, you are probably deficient in the crucial pro-hormone. Almost everyone I test for Vitamin D that is not already supplementing it, is at or below 30 ng/mL, the lower cut-off for “normal” Vitamin D levels.

2.) Magnesium. This mineral is necessary for over 400 different enzymatic reactions in the body, including the absorption of calcium. And yet, magnesium itself is blocked from being absorbed by calcium. So if you are relying on the magnesium from your Cal/Mg supplement to supply you magnesium needs, you probably aren’t getting enough magnesium. Magnesium glycinate is the best assimilated form of this nutrient.

3.) Vitamin K2. One of this vitamin’s main jobs is to determine where calcium should go- into the bone tissue or into soft tissue. When a person is deficient in K2, more calcium ends up in the soft tissue rather than the bone tissue. K2 is found almost exclusively in animal foods, in particular the butter from cows grazing on lush, green spring grasses. The more deep yellow or orange your butter is, the more nutrient-dense it is.

4.) Weight-bearing exercise. Walking, running and lifting weights are the best options. Bone tissue operates according to Wolf’s Law, which is basically that the tissue will respond to the magnitude of the loads placed on it. More loading = denser, stronger bone tissue. This is one of the bigger problems with space travel; the lack of gravity means there is not enough loading on the skeletal system and astronauts quickly develop osteoporosis. Given the lack of exercise and even just movement required by most people to function these days, this might be the biggest piece of the osteoporosis puzzle yet.

5.) Posture. Or maybe I should makes this 4B instead of 5. Its not just how much you load the bone tissue, but also the vectors of those loads. Imagine a stack of blocks and how much load they could take if we pressed straight down in the same line as gravity- a compression force. Now imagine if we could put a curve in the stack of blocks how much less compression force the curved column of blocks could handle. Now remember from above, more loading = denser, stronger bones. So proper alignment leads to stronger, denser bone tissue.

And if you have been taking calcium supplements? It might be wise to talk to your doctor about having a calcium score test done. This can tell how much calcium has accumulated in the soft tissue of your arteries and is a much better assessment of heart disease risk then looking at total cholesterol.

Use the grey box on the right to sign-up for my newsletter before October 25, 2015 and get an exclusive 10% site-wide coupon at my Metagenics webstore. Metagenics carries an awesome Magnesium glycinate supplement as well as many other high quality supplements.

Heal your gut with this simple (and simply amazing) food

September 25, 2014 by drchrista Leave a Comment

As the air turns crisper, we naturally start to crave warmer, moist foods. It’s a perfect time to make simple, nourishing bone broth.

Why bone broth?

For one, its a nutrient dense food. The minerals in the bones dissolve into the broth and are easily digested and absorbed. Bone broth is also rich in the amino acid glycine, which helps nourish and heal the gut. It’s also an extremely economical food. Grassfed beef bones can be bought for mere cents per pound and leftover veggies can be used to fill out the flavor profile. And if that’s not enough to convince you, bone broth will make you a rock star in the kitchen. Add it to soups and stews to make them more flavorful or braise meats in it. My homemade beef broth is what makes my pot roast a perennial crowd favorite. Don’t be surprised if people start asking where you got your mad skills in the kitchen!

You can make bone broth from both beef bones or chicken bones. I’ve found that you can buy the beef bones by themselves, but the best way to get chicken bones is to buy a whole, pastured chicken. Roast the whole chicken and serve it for dinner one evening. Pick the carcass clean and use those bits to make a chicken salad for lunch the next day. Then place the bones into the stockpot and cover with water (3 meals from one chicken makes the investment in a pastured chicken worth it! Also the broth will be more nourishing if you use a pastured chicken). Add 2-3 tablespoons of vinegar (1/2 cup for beef bones) to the water and let it sit for 30 minutes. For beef bones, I like to use a combinations of marrow bones and knuckle bones. The knuckles have more collagen in them, which will add more good nutrients and amino acids to your broth.

After the broth sits for 30 minutes, add some peeled cloves of garlic, a pinch or two of sea salt and some pepper if you’d like. Bring the water to a boil and skim off the foam that rises to the top, then turn the heat down and let it simmer, 24-36 hours for chicken bones, up to 48 hours for beef bones. This is a simple broth, but you can get fancier and add more flavor by adding onions, celery and carrots. Once your broth is done cooking, let it cool. You can skim off the fat that rises to the top, or not. Strain out the bones and vegetables, if used.

Once you have made your nourishing bone broth, enjoy it straight up for a super-nourishing meal or freeze the rest and use it as needed for a soup base, to make stews or to braise meats in. Drink daily for optimal gut health.

More than just healthy bones

October 5, 2012 by drchrista Leave a Comment

We all know, or have heard by now, that the mineral calcium is essential for strong bones and teeth. Since we were little, we have been exhorted to “drink your milk” and eat plenty of dairy products in order to ensure plenty of calcium in our diet and to have strong bones for the future.

But what you may not know is the multitude of other functions calcium performs in the body. Too many to list here, an important one for you to know is that calcium is vital for proper muscle function. Your muscles need calcium in order to contract and relax. For that reason, calcium can be really helpful to take for muscle cramps or spasm.

I’ve successfully helped patients in my office get relief from painful muscle spasms with calcium supplementation. Calcium supplementation before, during and after athletic events can also prevent cramps and muscle soreness from the increased exertion. I’ve also read reports of alternative doctors successfully treating restless legs with calcium.

An important caveat though before you run to the store to buy some calcium, is that not all calcium supplements are created equal. For one, you absolutely need Vitamin D and Magnesium to absorb calcium. Second is that calcium is most effectively absorbed in an acidic environment. (That’s why trying to get your calcium from an antacid remedy is useless and a waste of money.) But most importantly, the form calcium is in can effect how much will be absorbed. Calcium carbonate is a very common form often made from crushed rocks or shells. It is very cheap to make, hence it is so common in most supplements. However, very little, if any, of this form is absorbed by the body. A highly absorbable form of calcium is calcium lactate.

You should also note that effective calcium absorption requires fatty acids (like omega-3s) and iodine. In fact, one of the risk factors for osteoporosis (brittle bones) is being thin! Not all, but alot of people who are too thin, do not have adequate amounts of fat in their diet. Without these vital nutrients, the bones suffer as well as many other tissues in the body.

I want to go back to that “drink you milk for strong bones” message really quickly. That was largely started by the dairy industry to keep people drinking milk, especially in a time where more and more people were starting to have intolerances to dairy. While milk and cheese do have calcium in them, cup-for-cup, dark leafy greens like spinach and kale have more calcium in them then milk. And the vegetable form of calcium is generally more absorbable. So, really, for strong bones and relaxed muscles, the message should be, “Make sure to eat your dark, leafy greens, and don’t forget a bit of butter or olive oil on top!”

This article is for information only and is not to be construed as medical advice. Please consult your healthcare provider before making any changes to your supplemental or pharmaceutical regime.

Fix your GERD for good!

Calcium supplementation: more harm than good?

Heal your gut with this simple (and simply amazing) food

More than just healthy bones

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