PPI Risks and Alternatives for Heartburn

Added: 2026-05-22

[00:00:01]Hi everybody, Dr. Gerard here. Today I want to talk about PPIs. And if you know what that stands for, then I'm sorry because you probably have a significant problem with digestion. PPI stands for proton pump inhibitor. These are a strong medication that inhibits the acidity in your stomach. It probably means that you have esophageal reflux, that you have gird, that you have heartburn. Those all describe the same things. You might have been told you have a hyal hernia. And so what happens is you take these PPIs. The problem is that they lead to long-term use of them.

[00:00:36]Even a matter of six to eight weeks can lead to um difficulty in absorbing your minerals, your basic minerals, calcium and magnesium, phosphorus, and that can lead to osteoporosis and bone fractures.

[00:00:51]And those are very dangerous and serious health conditions. So what we find is that there are some ways almost always to deal with this indigestion, this reflux, heartburn without the PPIs. It's generally a combination of assessing the spine. You can see what um the nerve supply to the stomach comes from the midback and that controls the amount of acidity produced and then the upper uh part of the neck also has a direct nerve supply to the stomach. Also we we um have luck with certain digestive enzymes specific for your condition and uh and then there's a manual manipulation of the um if there's a h highal hernia. So PPIs are not inevitable and I'm sorry if you have that condition that you have been take had to take them and that you have tried everything and have suffered accordingly and uh hope this helps. Have a great day.