Acid Reflux; Progress, not Perfection; Oven Fries
Health Tip:
Don’t start your health journey trying to shoot for perfection! If you try to be perfect the likelihood of you getting started significantly decreases. Aim to make a few good, healthy changes that you know you can do. Dr. Smith started by pulling out trans fats from her diet and then moved to no sodas. Doing small changes like this that are doable, start to add up over the years. Don’t feel like you can afford all organic food? Start eliminating processed foods and purchase conventional whole foods and fix your meals at home. You will naturally start moving to healthier options in the future when you can. We want PROGRESS, NOT PERFECTION!
Monthly Article:
Acid Reflux: The Rest of the Story
(Iron, B12, and digestion)
The general public has been told only about half the story when it comes to acid reflux.
Your body actually requires acid in your stomach to digest your food. Your body actually produces hydrochloric acid to digest your food. When the system is working properly, your food is quickly digested by this acid in the stomach and then the food moves on within about 20 minutes to 2 hours into the small intestines. Meats require more time to digest than fruit and veggies.
When your stomach acid is too low, your food sits in your stomach longer than it should and it actually begins to ferment. This fermentation process actually forms another acid. This is the culprit acid in most cases of acid reflux. Your food and the acid continue to sit in your stomach and then are more likely to come back up, or reflux.
Acid neutralizers, like Tums, can make the reflux not hurt but does nothing to fix the underlying issue. Acid suppressors, like Prevacid and Protonics, actually suppress your natural hydrochloric acid production. While this again will make a person more comfortable by lowering overall acid, it again does nothing to fix the underlying issue. In actuality, both end up making the problem worse. (Side note: Tums is NOT a good supply of calcium as it is almost impossible to digest this calcium in a low acid environment.)
There must be sufficient acid in the stomach for the body to be able to absorb both iron and vitamin B12. If a person has low stomach acid the likelihood of anemia increases. If a person is anemic, and any ‘leaks’ have been ruled out the next item to consider is low stomach acid and the regular use of acid suppressors or acid neutralizers.
If there is not enough stomach acid to digest food the problems will continue to the rest of the digestion process. This could lead to constipation, diarrhea, or alternating between the two. It can cause inflammation in the intestines which might lead to diverticulitis or colitis. It can also cause ‘leaky gut’ which makes a person more prone to food intolerances.
It is important to find out if low stomach acid is the culprit. An easy self test would be to try an over-the-counter supplement called Apple Cider Vinegar tablets which will increase stomach acid. If taken and acid reflux improves, continue taking the vinegar tablets. You can also put about ¼ tsp of Apple Cider Vinegar in 8 oz of water and drink it instead of purchasing the tablets.
If nothing changes, there may still be a low acid condition that the vinegar is not strong enough to help with. If so, please speak to Dr. Smith and she will test to see if you need a stronger, but still natural, supplement.
If your stomach hurts more after the vinegar, this means that you have an irritation in the stomach that needs to be healed first. This irritation started because of the fermentation of the food and once the irritation is healed, the low acid condition must be addressed. Dr. Smith can help you find out how to heal this stomach irritation.
Recipe of the Month:
Oven Fries
Eating healthier doesn’t mean you have to give up on those fries entirely. Here is a different way of doing them that is healthier than fried fast food fries. You can use a white potato or mix it up and use a sweet potato instead! While there are no set measurements, this is quick and easy and very tasty. (A note for those wheat or gluten intolerant—restaurants often use flour dusted on the fries so they brown up nicely or there can be a risk of cross contamination with cooking oil.)
Ingredients:
White or Sweet Potato
Oil safe for high heat (such as grape seed oil, coconut oil, or peanut oil)
Sea Salt and other spices as desired
Directions:
Preheat oven to 425°
Wash and scrub white potatoes. You can leave on the skin or peel white potatoes as desired. Peel sweet potatoes.
Slice potatoes into strips—thinner if you like the thin fries and thick wedges if you prefer thick cut.
Put potatoes into a bag and drizzle enough oil on potatoes to coat them. Add sea salt and other spices as desired. Salt and pepper are great on the sweet potato fries! A little cayenne pepper or chipotle pepper is also nice. Shake up the bag with the potatoes, oil, and spices.
Spread out fries onto a large baking sheet with space between each fry. You can add some cooking spray to the sheet so the fries are less likely to stick.
Bake for 20 minutes (sweet potato may need longer cooking). You may wish to turn the fries mid-way through cooking but it is not mandatory. As with any new recipe, keep watch towards the end to make sure your fries do not burn. If you have convection, you can turn this on towards the end to help crisp up your fries.
I hope you enjoy these fries as much as I have. I enjoy having them with a grass-fed beef patty, and a green veggie like asparagus, broccoli or Brussels sprouts.
Upcoming Activities and Announcements:
Roots to Health talk Tuesday March 7 & April 4 at 6:15. Please sign up at the front desk. Bring a friend and write a question! This is a casual time to learn about the real Roots to Health!
Are you happy with your care and progress? Please tell others! We love getting online reviews to spread the word. Not happy? Please tell us so we can fix it!