Acid Reflux, PPI Tablets, & SIBO

Before reading the blog, this is a personal and very logical interpretation based on multiple research papers, talks from eminent specialists, some personal experiences and feedback from hundreds of our customers.

Please give Tibico a try before taking the tablets.

Our craft fermented, raw water kefirs have not only benefitted thousands of customers with acid reflux but have also helped them eliminate or reduce their dependency on PPI's.

So lets start with two definitions:

 Proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) are a class of medications that reduce stomach acid production. They are used to treat indigestion, heartburn, acid reflux, and stomach ulcers. 

Small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) is a condition where there is too much bacteria in the small intestine. It can cause diarrhea, bloating, and other symptoms

At Tibico, we have possibly thousands of customers that suffer from stomach problems, (not small intestine or gut problems).

Most stomach ailment are created from the foods we eat, what we drink and lifestyle. The most common is indigestion, heartburn, acid reflux, hernias, and stomach ulcers. All these can be cancer inducing.

We pop along to the doctors who's role it is, to prescribe tablets in as short a timescale and get on to the next patient.

PPI's are one of the most commonly prescribed drugs. Some are listed below:

• Nexium: The brand name for esomeprazole

• Prilosec: The brand name for omeprazole

• Prevacid: The brand name for lansoprazole

• AcipHex: The brand name for rabeprazole

• Protonix: The brand name for pantoprazole

• Dexilant: The brand name for dexlansoprazole

• Zegerid: The brand name for omeprazole with sodium bicarbonate

What are we doing? Treating the effect and not the cause as usual.

I have never experience my GP discussing how many ultra processed foods I consume, my lifestyle, weight management, exercise routine, nutrition and especially how to manage the cause naturally. What worries me, it that in treating the effect, we just pass the problem further down the GI tract (gastro intestinal tract)

According to research, there is a direct link between taking proton pump inhibitor (PPI) medications and an increased risk of developing small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO), as PPIs can alter the stomach environment, potentially allowing bacteria to overgrow in the small intestine.

So what's happening?

PPI's limit the amount of hydrochloric acid secreted from the stomach wall. This changes the acidity of the stomach, making is more alkaline. The stomach is designed to be acidic 1.5-3 pH, to kill pathogens entering with some foods and from the air, The potential danger from the long term use of PPI's is less acidity and an increase risk of infections.

But most importantly is the part digested food leaving the stomach and entering the small intestine becoming less acidic. This upsets the acid gradient that our bodies have evolved over hundreds of thousands of years.

Therefore in the small intestine where carbohydrates, proteins and fats are digested, we are encouraging a less acidic environment where gut bacteria that thrive in a slight acidic environment, can travel from the large intestine to live in the small intestine.

Evolved to live on fibre they have created small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) where the bacteria are having an absolute feast on absolutely everything. They consume vitamins, especially B12, bile that is responsible for the breakdown of fats, iron, they restrict digestion and create bloating / gas from digesting fibre in the small intestine, before it reaches the gut.

Once SIBO becomes established, then there a strict need to remove, prebiotics (fibre) Probiotics (Tibico), introduce fasting and change dietary habits to redress this most uncomfortable condition.

I have posted a small video below to help explain SIBO.