“What may seem a curse may be a blessing and what may seem a blessing may be a curse.” –Muso Kokushi (1275-1351)
Asthma cases in children and adults are increasing at exponential rates. In 1995, 14.9 million people were diagnosed with asthma and today that number has jumped to 34.1 million! Unfortunately, the treatments for asthma often merely treat the symptom of narrowed breathing passages, and while this is a necessary step, it does not address the possibility of underlying causes.
In fact, 41.1% of non-smokers who have a chronic cough and 60% of those who have asthma also have acid reflux. First, acid reflux may cause people to breathe tiny drops of acid into their lungs, which can aggravate the delicate pulmonary lining and cause spasms in the airways triggering an asthma attack.
Second, frequent episodes of acid reflux may cause digestive acid to damage the esophageal lining and expose some of the nerves that are connected to the lungs. The irritation of the nerve endings may initiate a constriction of airways, thereby causing an asthma attack.
Additionally, the acid can cause inflammation of the throat and larynx. Surprisingly, some asthma medications that dilate the bronchial tubes can trigger acid reflux symptoms as they may cause the cardiac sphincter to relax–allowing acid to escape up through the esophagus. Therefore, treating the symptoms of asthma without looking at the possibility of acid reflux is like putting a Band-Aid over a boil.
However, even if a dual-diagnosis of acid reflux and asthma is reached there may be more problems. If the acid-reflux is treated with another Band-Aid approach of symptomatic relief, still the cause of the underlying asthma issue will not be addressed. Acid reflux is most often treated with acid-lowering drugs.
The true source of acid reflux is a Candida, or yeast overgrowth, in the stomach. Instead of good digestion in the stomach, digestion slows down and foods will ferment under these conditions. Acid reflux is caused because the Candida paralyzes the esophageal sphincter and the gases from the fermentation push the food up through the weakened esophageal muscles. Most importantly, Candida grows in the stomach only when there is low acid in the first place.
If acid reflux is treated by acid-lowering drugs, Candida will proliferate and cause severe dysbiosis, or poor intestinal flora. With poor intestinal flora, foods are not digested properly, nutrients are not absorbed, intestinal damage is forthcoming and eventually malnourishment will occur. With intestinal damage, allergies are imminent and allergies are another main cause of asthma! Therefore, one problem incorrectly treated cascades into more problems.
Now if we can arrive at the true cause of both asthma and acid reflux, we will have the answer to help millions of people. Asthma and acid reflux has grown exponentially since the industrialization of our food supply and the dawn of processed, denatured low-nutrient foods.
Before this time, people ate many more foods that were both high in nutrients and supported good digestion like meats, poultry, eggs and dairy from grass-fed animals and cultured dairy and vegetables like kefir, yogurt, sauerkraut and pickled beets. They also ate ample traditional fats like butter, lard and coconut oil and foods with natural sources of vitamins A and D like cod liver oil, liver and egg yolks, which are necessary for good digestion and nutrient absorption.
With good digestion and a nutrient-rich diet, a person will diminish the probability of suffering from an illness like asthma and other related conditions like acid reflux and allergies. By returning to traditional farming and the foods that our ancestors ate, we will diminish the exponential growth of illnesses rooted in poor digestion. If we can learn from the “curse” of asthma and the subsequent failure of medications that treat only the symptoms we will have gone full circle by creating a blessing of better health for generations to come.
http://performancewithoutpain.com/the-healing-diet-for-healing-acid-reflux-diseasehttp://performancewithoutpain.com/the-healing-diet-for-healing-acid-reflux-disease
hi, my name is kathryne pirtle. i wrote an ebook on how to heal acid reflux disease. i am a professional clarinetist and my career nearly ended because of performance difficulties caused by acid reflux, celiac disease, chronic inflammation and other health problems.
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