How Can Probiotics Help Acid Reflux
Heartburn and acid reflux symptoms are irritations of your digestive system that usually results in discomfort and pain. Probiotics are friendly bacteria and may help your body to maintain a healthy balance between the good and the harmful bacteria in your digestive system. They will help with the balance of acids in your digestive system hence easing your heartburn and acid reflux.
When you have eaten a lot of food, it will fill your stomach to the brim. Any excess food will be pushed up close to the esophagus. As it ferments, the acid begins to bubble up, thus causing heartburn. Spicy foods and coffee are known to cause heartburn when combined with foods with high acidic contents.
Probiotics are known to possess characteristics that will help in alleviating acid reflux. They ensure that your body has a balance of gut bacteria.
The probiotics will also interact with the epithelial cells on the stomach lining to manage the secretion of proteins that might cause heartburn.
The best probiotics that can help with acid reflux are those that contain Lactobacillus strains.
Saccharomyces boulardii is also known to reduce any side effects that you might be feeling, thus reducing the risk of diarrhea. You can also take an antiacid together with the probiotic to ensure that your acid reflux is better addressed.
Why Treat Acid Reflux With Probiotics
Treating acid reflux should begin by treating the cause, not the symptoms.
This means restoring your bodys natural stomach acid production and eliminating bacterial overgrowth. One of the best ways to do this is through probiotics.
Probiotics work to restore the balance of good bacteria in your gut, which in turn allows them to crowd out the bad bacteria and maintain normal digestive function.
When your gut is lacking in healthy bacteria, it takes longer to break down food. This results in undigested food sitting in your gut where it begins to ferment and cause gas. This gas can push stomach acid up into the esophagus, resulting in reflux.
A meta-analysis in the World Journal of Gastroenterology noted that the use of probiotics in addition to standard reflux treatment helped to eradicate H. pylori .
H. pylori is a bacterial infection that can change the environment in your gut, allowing harmful bacteria to survive and reducing stomach acidity even further.
Probiotics are thought to help protect the gut against H. pylori by producing antimicrobial substances that prevent it from growing. Probiotics also compete with H. pylori for space to develop further, as well as helping to stabilize the gut mucosal barrier and reducing inflammation.
Probiotics are also valuable in preventing the dysbiosis that tends to accompany PPI medication.
Acid suppression with PPIs has been suggested to be a potential factor in the development of SIBO.
Types Of Probiotic Strains That Help Acid Reflux
To summarize, the probiotic strains that help with GERD are:
- Lactobacillus gasseri-may help to eliminate dyspepsia and reflux symptoms as well as reduce abdominal fat and waist circumference.
- Bifidobacterium bifidum-may decrease abdominal pain, diarrhea, and constipation.
- Lactobacillus reuteri-may reduced colic, reduce vomiting, increase bowel movement frequency. Also decreased abdominal pain, distention, nausea, and vomiting.
- Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG-decreased abdominal pain, distention, nausea, and vomiting.
- Bifidobacterium lactis HN019-Increased stomach emptying and speeds up transit time, 8 of 9 belly symptoms improved.
- Saccharomyces boulardii-along with L. reuteri may help reduce colic, vomiting, and alleviate constipation.
- Bacillus subtilis-may decrease SIBO and many GI symptoms
- E. faecium-could be helpful for many aspects of GI health. Not currently available commercially.
The strains of bacteria are important as you can see. While common probiotic strains like lactobacillus acidophilus may be good for overall digestive function, targeted probiotic strains may be more effective for GERD and heartburn.
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Other Natural Home Remedies For H Pylori
There are some other natural, effective treatments against H Pylori infections. Dr. Carnahan, a family doctor, who is also certified in Integrative Medicine, recommends trying natural methods before using the allopathic treatments, which are effective, but come with a taxing price on the patient’s microbiota. She prescribes her patients treatments based on Zinc Carnosine and mastic gum. Other remedies are mastic gum and berberine. Here is a list with some natural remedies for H. pylori:
- Mastic gum, 350 mg, three times dailyAccording to this study, mastic gum is extremely efficient.
- Zinc-Carnosine, 75 mg, one or two times per day can be a very effective treatment.Here is the abstract of a research study on Zinc-Carnosine effect on H. Pylori
- Berberine, 250-1000 mg twice dailyBerberine is a compound found in goldenseal, and it is very effective to kill bacteria.
- Bismuth citrate
Acidophilus And Acid Reflux
Acidophilus is a probiotic that people use for a variety of conditions, including digestive problems, such as acid reflux or gastroesophageal reflux disease, as it is a natural, inexpensive way to help reduce and prevent symptoms of these conditions 25. As always, speak to your doctor before you try any home remedies, especially if your acid reflux is chronic or severe.
If you are experiencing serious medical symptoms, seek emergency treatment immediately.
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After All This All It Took Was Probiotics
Ive had severe acid reflux for a long time. Bad enough that I get acid throat and it irritates my airways. Ive tried nexium, Zantac, Pepcid, nothing ever keeps the reflux away for any sustainable period of time.
I had been thinking about trying probiotics to see if they helped at all, grabbed some at the store and figured there was about a 1% chance they would actually do anything.
Holy. Shit. You guys. My acid reflux is almost entirely gone. I can eat fatty foods without any discomfort now. I went out drinking last night and Im not miserably sick and nauseous today like I normally would be. I dont feel like acid is burning a whole in my stomach, and Im not getting all the weird digestion noises or gurgling in my stomach.
Anyway just wanted to post this in case any of you guys hadnt given probiotics a shot yet. Im honestly just floored that all the prescription meds did next to nothing for me but some grocery-store probiotics were my miracle. Has anyone else had this experience??
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Does anyone out there have any suggestions for someone who had their gallbladder removed and has a hiatal hernia? I am over weight and suffer from what feels like a tight band around my chest and back and burning in my upper abdomen. The doctors want to put me on antacids but they dont help.
Can I give Primal Probiotics to my 3 month old son ? He has reflux issues and eczema. Exclusively breastfed and I have changed my diet and taken all allergens out. Just waiting for it to clear out of my milk and his system. He had to be on an antibiotic for his eczema because of an infection and I know he needs a probiotic ! What do you suggest for a baby ? Thank you. I am desperate to know the best thing to give him.
for me and my baby shortly after she was born. It helped her a lot. I sprinkled some on my nipple just before nursing her, but Im sure mixing a small amount in with some breastmilk would be fine too. Just a tiny bit made a big difference. Be sure to take it yourself, because your baby will get it from you too. Good luck!
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Best Capsule: Garden Of Life Raw Probiotics Ultimate Care
Garden of Life consistently gets an approval rating from Consumer Lab for quality, purity and passing the heavy metals test on many of their products, and this supplement is no different. It contains 34 different strains of probiotics and a fruit-and-veggie blend.
It does contain milk, so if you have an allergy, it’s best to choose a different product.
There is no refrigeration necessary, but you do not want to store this in extreme heat.
If you have problems swallowing pills, these can be opened and taken with water or juice.
Buy it: Price: $35.94 for a 30-day supply
Small Intestine Bacterial Overgrowth
In his book “Fast Tract Digestion,“ Norman Robillard, Ph.D., makes a case that small intestine bacterial overgrowth may be the real cause of gastroesophageal reflux disease .
SIBO is a health condition in which there are too many bacteria in the upper part of the small intestine, a place where these microorganisms really shouldn’t be. GERD is a disease in which stomach acid burns the lining of the esophagus , causing the symptoms of heartburn.
How might these two be connected? Dr. Robillard’s theory is that the gas produced by the bacteria residing in the small intestine puts enough pressure on the small intestine and stomach that it can push the acid from the stomach into the esophagus.
In addition to identifying a new way to look at thecause of GERD, Dr. Robillard also offers a new look at treatment. He does not endorse the use of acid-reducing medications, particularly the use of proton pump inhibitors , which is currently the standard treatment for GERD.
His theory is that the reduced stomach acid resulting from PPIs contributes to the bacterial overgrowth in the small intestine in the first place, as stomach acid serves a preventative role in terms of keeping bacteria from populating the small intestine.
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Probiotics Should Be Your First Call
Its important to determine the root cause of your reflux problem to address this cause. This may involve testing, as well as being aware of the types of foods that trigger your reflux symptoms.
Depending on the nature of your digestive symptoms, probiotics are an important way to help restore normal digestive function and alleviate your acid reflux.
If you are already taking an antacid, its a good idea to take a probiotic supplement alongside it to maintain your gut health and reduce the risk of destroying healthy gut bacteria.
Over time, as the probiotics work to rebalance your gut, you may find that you no longer need the antacids or PPI.
Here are a few key benefits of our probiotic:
- Time-release tablets that deliver 15 times more bacteria past stomach acid, when compared to regular probiotic capsules.
- Probiotic bacteria are released slowly over 8-10 hours.
- 12 probiotic strains chosen for their effect on gut health and immunity.
- 15 billion CFUs of probiotic bacteria.
- 60 tablets per bottle .
- Free of nuts, dairy, gluten, soy. Non-GMO and vegan. Made in the USA.
Clinical Efficacy And Potential Mechanisms
A majority of the included comparisons reported probiotic benefits on the symptoms of GERD, such as regurgitation, heartburn, dyspepsia, nausea, abdominal pain, and gas-related symptoms . However, the heterogeneity in the outcomes made it impossible to perform a meta-analysis.
Probiotics have positive effects on reflux with regards to the presence of episodes and frequency scores . The presence of reflux episodes fell significantly by 40% in 20 pregnant women . To our knowledge, de Milliano et al. is the first trial to supplement with multi-strain probiotics, and reported benefits for reflux, particularly in constipated pregnant women. The product in this study contained six probiotic strains from six species, including Bifibacterium and Lactobacillus, providing efficacy for a wide range of upper- and lower-GI symptoms, such as abdominal pain and constipation .
Little is known about gastric microbiota and its function in the pathogenesis of GERD and FD . In Nakea et al. , FD patients had a clearly different bacterial community compared with healthy controls, in terms of overall community structure and bacterial taxonomic abundance. Prevotella spp. is the predominant taxa inhabiting the stomach . In this study, the relative abundance of Prevotella spp. was lower in FD patients versus healthy controls and significantly negatively correlated with the severity of postprandial distress symptoms scores, implicating Prevotella spp. in the occurrence of FD symptoms.
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Acid Reflux: Are Probiotics Helpful
Dr. Veerendra Sandur explains, “Probiotics are essentially live micro-organisms that increase the good or friendly bacteria in the digestive system which leads to improved digestion and other health benefits. Research has shown that probiotics could help control gastrointestinal disorders such as diarrhea, constipation, irritable bowel syndrome in some people.”
Over-eating, eating spicy, oily foods, alcohol, sleeping/lying down immediately after eating, eating in a hurry, chronic stress, etc. can all cause heartburn or acid reflux. Imbalance in the gut bacteria can lead to an improper breakdown of food and an increase in intestinal gas, bloating and create unpleasant acid reflux.
Probiotics may help control or reduce this by increasing the number of good bacteria in the digestive system and helping to digest the food better. Dairy products such as curd are some good options to choose from.
Also read: Explained: Acid Reflux And 4 Foods That Cause The Heartburn
Why Type Of Probiotics Matter And Adding Prebiotics Could Help
Probiotic strains can have different effects on the upper and lower digestive tract.
For example, infants given the probiotic strains called Bifidobacterium infantis M-63, breve M-16V, and B. longum BB536 helped with symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome but did not help with functional dyspepsia symptoms .
Bifidobacterium longum BB536 and Lactobacillus rhamnosus HN001 are useful in functional constipation but havent shown benefit for acid reflux disease .
Another possible factor that could improve the effectiveness of all probiotic strains is prebiotics, which are fermentable fibers.
Emerging research shows that using prebiotics along with probiotics may have more benefits than using probiotics alone for acid reflux, but more research is needed .
Until then, eating a diet rich in prebiotics is probably a smart idea.
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Which Acid Reflux Symptoms Could They Ease
A 2020 systematic review investigated the effects of probiotics on GERD. The authors looked at 13 studies of varying quality, 11 of which found that probiotics had some benefit for acid reflux. The specific benefits are below:
- One study noted improvements in reflux or heartburn.
- Five studies noted improvements in shortness of breath.
- Three studies noted a reduction in regurgitation.
- Nine studies noted improvements in other gastrointestinal symptoms, such as:
2019 study investigated the effect of probiotic supplements in adults taking the PPI esomeprazole for reflux esophagitis. Over 8 weeks, one group of participants took esomeprazole with a probiotic, while a second group took esomeprazole with a placebo.
At 12 weeks, the researchers assessed the participants with cured esophagitis. The group that had received the probiotic had lower rates of SIBO and decreased diarrhea.
A 2018 study looked at the effects of probiotics on SIBO in children with GERD. The 12-week study included 128 participants with GERD and 120 without it. The researchers divided the children with GERD into two groups. One received a PPI with probiotics, and the other received the same PPI with a placebo.
At the end of the trial, the children who took probiotics had lower rates of SIBO, compared with those who took a placebo. These lower rates were similar to those of children without GERD.
and Enterococcus faecium. Any of these may help with acid reflux.
Probiotics For Gerd And Heartburn
The gut microbiome is composed of millions of microbes living in symbiosis and regulating a number of physiologic processes including gastrointestinal motility. GERD, a multifactorial gastrointestinal motility disorder, may partly result from gut microbiome dysbiosis. Manipulation of gut microbes through diet, prebiotics, probiotics and fecal transplantation is a promising therapeutic target to eliminate heartburn.
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Antacids Cause More Harm Than Good
Lactobacillus is an important probiotic as it converts lactose and other sugars to lactic acid. The production of lactic acid makes the gut acid, which inhibits the growth of bad bacteria and other pathogens. When the ratio of good bacteria to bad bacteria gets out of balance many health problems can start occurring. Taking antacids may temporarily stop stomach acid production thus relieving heartburn, but this can allow the ratio of good bacteria to harmful bacteria to be disrupted creating more problems with GERD along with a host of other problems.
Cultured foods, especially kefir, have anti-inflammatory properties and can ease the symptoms of inflammation. If you are experiencing these symptoms, one of the first things you should do is add kefir to your diet to restore balance in your gut. Kefir is packed with the Lactobacillus bacterium plus 50 other probiotics. These probiotics change your gut flora and reduce the symptoms of acid reflux.
Digestive Enzymes For Acid Reflux
One area that deserves attention for acid reflux is the use of digestive enzymes.
We need enzymes to digest foods well. Simply put, enzymes help us break down our foods so we can digest them.
We have many places in our digestive tract that make enzymes: in our mouth, stomach, small intestines, and pancreas.
Our small intestines actually produce more digestive enzymes than our pancreas does.
What does this mean for us?
Lack of digestive enzymes due to an imbalanced gut lining could be a silent problem that makes your stomach digestion way off. Adding digestive enzymes are safe and can be beneficial in relieving occasional acid reflux and indigestion.
What can make your digestive enzyme production low? Inflammation, food intolerance, and anything that can throw off the gut bacteria .
Enzymes are a safe and emerging treatment option for many digestive issues, including Celiac disease. They can be combined with ox bile as well when needed.
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