Stomach – Functional Medicine Back to Basics

Power Health Talk with Dr. Martin Rutherford

https://youtu.be/_JFzbgUtK0M

In this segment of Functional Medicine Back to Basics Dr. Rutherford will discuss the stomach and its roll in chronic conditions.

Note: The following is the output of a transcription from the video above. Although the transcription is largely accurate, in some cases it is incomplete or inaccurate due to inaudible passages or transcription errors.

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Hi this Dr. Martin, Rutherford and word: this is a segment on functional medicine back to basics. Last segment was on chemical sensitivities. We went into that pretty extensively. Chemical sensitivities can be there.

They can be at that spot right after the gut right after small and large intestines, they can be, they couldn’t, be later it’s, something that it depends on the person’s history, but right now. This is a good relative order.

In the way you would attack a chronic condition case, which is mostly why we see chronic conditions. Neuro inflammation, we see autoimmunity a lot, but but even just a strict gut case. This is why you would you would attack so this week’s on stomach stomach is, I think it’s highly underestimated, as as a part of chronic conditions.

Most people are really aware of the intestines. Now it’s on the four-hour program, the heal, your gut, all these different programs. For that, do it do that audio, mute, alio, diet and and and take some supplements – and you know, kind of keep your fingers crossed and sometimes it’s going to help.

But the stomach is frequently missed and if you’ve done it automating, paleo diet or if you’ve, been diagnosed with small intestine bacterial growth and you’ve done that or you’ve done any number Of things for your diarrhea or constipation, and they work for a short period of time and and then they stopped working, you’re gonna find out.

Why? Right now, because the stomach has a huge player in not only helping to get those under control, but they are a huge player in keeping them under control. Once you’ve done one of those programs, so there’s, so the stomach it digest your food and – and one of the main things it does is one of main features of it is hydrochloric acid hydrochloric acid is, is designed to Primarily digest your protein, it’s.

Your stomach’s, a very acidic area for those of you who are alkaline people, you tend to dampen this response, which is not a good thing. The and, and so it is the beginning of the chain, it’s, it’s. Actually not the beginning of the chain of digestion.

The beginning of the chain of digestion is actually smelling your food, seeing your food that actually creates a beginning of the digestive process in your stomach in your pancreas and your gallbladder and, of course, chewing your food.

But then, after that, the next thing is hydrochloric acid. So cyntha so first there’s low there’s, low hydrochloric acid symptoms and their high hydrochloric acid symptoms. If people think about their stomach and they think about symptoms, what I my experience is mostly they say.

Well, I don’t have an ulcer or they say I’m, taking yeah I have or or they say I do have my do taking in acids, because I have acid indigestion and, and one of those is one of those – is Too much acid one of those is too little acid.

The problem with the stomach environment is usually too little acid and I think it’s, important to walk through that. Let’s. First, walk through other symptoms that our stomach symptoms that you may not connect with the stomach one is excessive, excessive belching, burping or bloating, and I think that’s.

What seem like it could be number of things, but that would be excessive, belching, burping and bloating after you’ve eaten the protein. I just had a lady yesterday patient and we’re close to the end and she started the range to do some food.

Oh she that’s, one of what she switched over to keto diet. Typically, she’s, starting to eat more meat than she probably should, and she’s having a hard time and she’s having a hard time digesting and she’s getting gas play.

Well, it’s because she she doesn’t have enough hydrochloric acid in her stomach and she’s now, trying to digest more pro team. So so, usually the guests and the bloating from the stomach versus a pancreas or gallbladder or SIBO would be.

If you are not able to digest protein, I eat a protein meal again gas and bloating that’s, usually lack of hydrochloric acid. In your stomach way, more about hydrochloric acid in a minute, so guess immediately following a meal same thing offensive breath.

So so many of the people come in here our health minded. They are brushing their teeth. They are flossing their teeth. They have going to the dentist. They’re, doing the right things, and yet someone come in here and they and their breath is really horrible and they’re embarrassed by it.

Of course, we smell their breath to see what it smells like, because breath coming from a lack of hydrochloric acid in the stomach has a very distinct smell, and it can alert us to the fact that that person, doesn’t have on the hydrochloric Acid understand difficult bowel movements, one of the number one causes of constipation, possibly the number one cause of constipation is stress and stress – creates a situation where it puts you into something called fight flight and when you’re in fight flight, your nature kind Of knows that you don’t need to be eating peeing pooping, so it shuts all of that down.

So if you’re in chronic stress, it shuts down your stomach, your intestines, your your goblet, your not your gallbladder, your urinary, bladder and so stomach. If it shuts that down what happens, is you stop making hydrochloric acid for that period of time? But if you’re chronically stressed, and you shut down that hydrochloric acid there’s, a chain reaction from hydrogen from not having enough hydrochloric acid, and that chain reaction is.

Is you’re, not making enough hydrochloric acid? That sends a signal to your gall bladder not to work, because doesn’t want you, you’re here. You’re in fight flight. We don’t want your gall bladder to work either you don’t need your gall bladder doing anything while you’re, trying to run from the barre right and then that will help to shut down your pancreas.

For all you, pancreatic enzyme fans, and so and and and that is a stressors and then those if you’re in stress long enough, can create inflammation in the intestines and for their. I’m just trying to point out at this point in time how important not having an of hydrochloric acid in your stomach is and where it comes from.

So we’re, so so difficult bowel movements will happen when you have all that happening. You’re not to just in your protein. You’re, not digesting your fats, you’re, not digesting your and your your your starches, because all those organs – aren’t working, that’s number one cause of constipation sense of fullness during the other thing.

By the way, second, most common cause of hypochloride Rhea low hydrochloric acid is thyroid. Hypothyroid Hashimoto’s thyroid slows down the ability to make hydrochloric acid sense of fullness during and after meals.

Of course, you’re, not digesting your meal, because you have enough hydrochloric acid difficulty, digesting proteins with meals, undigested food found in the stools. These are symptoms of low hydrochloric, acid they can and and and that can be caused by that can be caused by stress that can be caused by high power.

Just said late, just a few minutes ago, it can be caused by low thyroid. Those are the two most common causes that come into this office that can be caused by h, pylori, h, pylori is a bacteria that you get in your stomach.

That will actually cover the inside of your stomach and cause you to not make well. You’ll still make hydrochloric acid, but the hydrochloric acid can’t be expressed because the parietal cells that are making it are being covered by a bacterial infection.

So not having in my world not having enough hydrochloric acid is probably more important to look for immediately than whether the person has too much hydrochloric acid, because, as I’m, going to tell you here second to little.

Hydrochloric acid leads to you having symptoms up too much hydrochloric acid, just they are with me on this okay. So so what are the symptoms of too much hydrochloric acid, more people know these then know the symptoms of not enough.

Chloric acid stomach pain, burning aching when just right after eating use of antacids. This is like the number-one thing feeling hungry an hour to after eating heartburn when lying down or bending forward.

I’m gonna stop on that one heartburn when bending down or lying for it can also be a hiatal hernia, and I don’t have any to my knowledge. We should do something on high auto hernia, because I don’t think I have any presentations online on hiatal hernia, but hiatal hernia is when your stomach pushes up through your esophagus.

It can because you were vomiting it because it could be because you’re bent over too much. It could be because we sit too much and because you can live to much and it pushes up your stomach into your esophagus.

And then your acids become available to your esophagus and then it starts burning your esophagus long-term hypochloride, Riya, low low acid, long-term hyper chlorhydris too much acid or long-term hiatal hernia all can caught lead to something called Barrett’s, esophagus esophageal esophagitis.

Some of the things that some of you watching this may have it’s, something I see semi commonly heartburn. When you’re laying down or bending forward, then can be too little. Hydrochloric acid. It’s, usually too much hydrochloric acid and it can be a hiatal hernia.

Temporary relief by using hand acids that’s too much acid in your stomach digests. Their problems subside with rest and relaxation that’s too much acid heartburn due to spicy foods, chocolates citrus peppers, alcohol and caffeine.

By that time, the inside lining of your stomach is starting to disappear. Okay, so we have a low hydrochloric acid in stomach problems. We have high hydrochloric acid and stomach problems. Now we briefly have talked about the importance of low hydrochloric acid, because if you have low hydrochloric acid to go over it again and take it one step further, you eat food.

The proteins don’t, get digested. The the the food then sits there. The proteins actually sit there. This is this. This is a step by skipped. Previously, the protein sits there. It is what becomes acidic in a case of low hydrochloric acid.

This is by far the more common reason for you having acid indigestion, because it takes a long time to get where we’re going to get to in a minute with the high hydrochloric acid. So the protein starts getting acidic and then what happens is is, is it gets putrid and you know it starts to.

It starts to burn, and then your your, your, your digestive system, has a lot of checks and balances. A lot of failsafe mechanisms. A lot of Governors, if you will okay, and so this is the biggest one.

If you Dom enough hydrochloric acid, the food gets putrid. The food gets acidic and now sends out a hormone to your gall bladder called cholecystokinin, and it kinda tells your gall bladder to not pump for all you.

People have had your gall bladders out. Why did they take it out because it started pumping slower? What did they tell you? Your ejection fraction is slower and when that happens over a long period of time, guess what else happens? You start to get sludge and then guess what else happens that ends up turning into two to two small stones and then large, donuts and so on and so forth.

If you’ve had low hydrochloric acid over a long period of time, from usually chronic stress or hypo and or ultimately, maybe h, pylori. These are the things that caused it. Okay, now that gallbladder and that stomach also now alert your pancreas hey.

I’m about to send a bolus of food down in there that is not digested properly and is acidic stop working pancreas, because if you keep pumping out enzymes through your little duct inflammation from that as city acidity of that food is gonna Get in there and you’re gonna get sick, okay, and this is how some people get pancreatitis without drinking alcohol, okay, so so, but the bottom line is low.

Hydrochloric acid shuts sound gallbladder, both of those shut down your pancreas. Now you’re, not putting out pancreatic enzymes. Now you’re, not digesting your proteins, you’re, not digesting your your fats and most people.

Don’t realize that these organs do more than that. Your gallbladder. Actually helps with immunity. It helps with inflammation. Your pancreas puts out enzymes that are anti-inflammatory. If you want to know how to get an inflamed intestine, then don’t have enough hydrochloric acid, in your stomach.

How did that happen, usually by stress usually by low thyroid, usually by h, pylori? Those are the biggest ones. There are other things, but that’s, probably 98 % of the reason two people have low hydrochloric acid and the next thing you know you start getting bad bacteria in your stomach.

Why do you get bad back to your in your stomach? And then you get bad back to your in your intestines. Why do you get bad bacteria intestines? Because the hydrochloric acid is not just there to dance to to to digest your protein? It’s there to kill bad guys.

It’s. There to kill bacteria, in fact, even though it’s kind of a reciprocal thing, even though h pylori infections can cause out like a hydrochloric acid, you almost can’t, get a hydrochloric h, pylori infection in your stomach.

If you have enough hydrochloric acid, because it’s going to – and i’ll tell you in a minute why the other thing would be, but because it’s, usually going to kill that it’s. Usually going to kill that bacteria, it’s, going to kill Candida it’s.

Gon na kill viral infections that come in, even if you’re like if you like, out there and and and you’re drinking bad water. You have enough hydrochloric acid. That may even kill that, although the water goes through a lot quicker, it may even kill that okay, so the hydrochloric acid also is like the guard at the door to try to make sure you don’t get bad viruses.

You don’t, get bad yeast. You don’t, get all that stuff in there. Now you don’t have enough hydrochloric acid. All that stuff starts starts happening. If you don’t have enough hydrochloric acid.

For a long enough period of time, then you start to get damage to the inside of your intestines, because you have because you have infections in there, because you have food, that’s, not digesting properly and most people say and then and then what Happens is you start getting very acidic now? Let me stop at this point at this point.

Many of you are taking antacids, but antacids are gonna, do what they’re, going to kill what little acid you have left. This is so common. It’s like mind-boggling. How common this is? Okay, so you’re now perpetuating the problem.

So now we know what a little bit of acid being left causes. Now you have no acid left because you’re killing. Everything now you’re, perpetuating everything we just got done talking about, and now you’re, taking them over a long period of time.

The inside lining of your intestine starts getting bad because there’s, inflammatory responses because you don’t have the enzymes and those types of things to kill it, and the next thing you know you stop absorbing things now you can get Malabsorption now you can get osteoporosis and you get all the other things that you can get in your intestines.

You can get all kinds of intestinal problems so, like you know, omeprazole, and that’s. What is it pants? Oprah’s own. Those types of things you, if you, if you, if you, if you are taking those and you have been confirmed as not having an ulcer, find another way, there are lots of other ways, herbs, botanicals or a lot of other ways to get over that acid indigestion.

Until you take care of whatever is causing it, I mean bad diet could cause it to, but the number one and two causes are usually stress and thyroid, and so now so we move from hypo chloride, Riya to hyper acidity okay, but you get the hyper acidity Because now after you’ve had low hydrochloric acid for a long period of time.

And if it’s. Because of stress for sure you’re now going to have a so long that it’s. Going to start to damage the inside of your intestines now at this point, when you have the day when you have damage the inside of your intestines, you’re, definitely going to check that person to see if they have h, pylori, okay, because they’re because they’re, not going to be killing their bacteria because first they had low hydrochloric acid.

Now they have high hydrogen. I dab high acidity because the inside lining of their stomach is being affected. They have, they can’t eat any of these things. They’re, taking antacids and and and so the damage is happening to something called the parietal cells in in there.

The parietal cells are what make hydrochloric acid. So when you start getting damage to that stomach now from from from having it from having the the hypo acidity for so long that’s now causing the damage.

Now you start getting an inability of the cells in the lining to make hydrochloric acid because they’re being damaged, so that could be because you had hypo acidity for so long. You could get that hyper, acidity separately other than the low hydrochloric acid.

If you have an automated problem, so if you have let’s say you have Asha Moto’s, let’s say you have rheumatoid arthritis. Let me sit and lupus whatever you have. You can get other antibodies. That will attack the inside of your stomach separate from everything I just got done saying, and so, if you come into a person and and if you come into a doctor and you have that type of an issue, they should be checking you for a hypo chloride.

Riya they should be checking you for autoimmune antibodies, in other words, antibodies to the inside the parietal cells. On the inside of your stomach that are being destroyed by the acidity that you’re.

Having at that point in time, they should be checking you for h, pylori B, if you have nothing torque, hydrochloric acid or if you’ve advanced the point where you’re, having stomach symptoms or actually ulcers.

You’re, not making enough acid to kill the bacteria h. Pylori is almost a standard. If you do the test, it’s, almost always going to be there, and – and so this is stomach. Okay, and and and and the big thing about this is – is as you’re following me: you’re, probably thinking wow, it’s, pretty important to have like enough hydrochloric acid in my stomach, because it screws everything else Up and the answer is that’s right, but the hydrochloric acid comes first, so you have to figure out.

Where are you? Are you just at the point? We don’t have enough hydrochloric acid or you point. Are you at the point where you’ve crossed over to the dark side, and you now have actual damage to the inside of your intestines and or do I have h, pylori and do I have or do I have in parietal cell antibodies that Are attacking the inside of my stomach? This is stomach.

Okay. This is something there’s, a lot of weird things that can happen through the stomach other than that, but these are pathologies that rarely happen, and there’s, something that people would see if they do an endoscopy or something like that.

This is ninety nine and nine-tenths percent of the people who come in to this office. This is the flow and again we’re talking about flow. We’re talking about there being a we’re talking about there being a an organization to this and a hierarchy so and and and many of you, if you go back, you’ll understand we’ve.

Already looked at stress responses: we’ve, already looked at those types of things and we’ve, looked at your intestines, your intestines being violated can in turn like if you’ve developed celiac or if you’Ve developed Crohn’s, disease or ulcerative colitis.

First, the inflammation from there can certainly feed back and can certainly cause an abnormality in stomach function, and so that’s. Another thing that you kind of need to be aware of. As far as that goes, but again, those are not a huge part of the population.

I don’t know what the percentage is. Maybe six percent people who have got problems have those autoimmune issues the this is what you’re. Looking at so so so the big takeaway from this to me is I go back to those of you today.

Everything’s on the internet, everything everything people come in to me today. It’s. It’s way different when I started when people had no clue as to anything about anything relative to why they had autoimmunity or why the what was going on through thy right or what’s, going on with their gut now.

The for our program, the 5-hour program, the SIBO program, the automated Paleo diet. All these programs are all over the place, and people who are looking at this, like yourself, probably have already looked at all those things.

Many of you have probably tried all of those things. Many of you have gotten no help from them, or many of you have – or many of you have gotten help from them for a short period of time and then two weeks later, four weeks later, six weeks later, eight weeks later, boom everything came back.

You got discouraged, you said, oh, my god, I thought I had SIBO. I was right out of textbook. I did everything was better now it’s. All back. I’m, so bummed out. Oh my god, like it’s like and it’s, not that, but it could have been that.

But if you have small intestinal bacterial overgrowth, okay and you do that whole thing that whole that whole dietary regime and and you used to and you use the proper herbs and botanicals and stuff – and it comes back it’s because most likely you Didn’t have enough hydrochloric acid in your stomach, to kill it and keep it away and by the way for those of you who are the alkaline people, you need at least a little bit of acidity in your intestines, and you need a lot Of acidity in your stomach so that you can kill things and so that you make the environment in your intestines just a little hostile, so that these viruses, these bacterias and stuff don’t, come back once you’ve killed him so That’s kind of, I think the extent of really what you need to know about stomach.

I I think that’s, really the critical core of it for those of you who have gone through again. This whole series is relative to back the basics of what functional medicine is supposed to look like and and and and the breadth of functional medicine.

The organization of functional medicine, the hierarchy of how you attack things to the degree that you can do that, and so that is really this is. This is a huge, huge, huge, huge key to the entire hierarchy of attacking almost any problem that walks in this door.

Relative to gut problems got problems having immune responses that are attacking other things. If you do all the right things and you don’t get the I and you don’t, get the acidity in your stomach under control.

You don’t, get the stomach under control. You’re, not gonna get a long term response. So this is one of my favorite subjects. I could go on for hours and hours and hours and hours on this, but I, but but there’s.

Lots of data online relative to this particular type of a condition. And if you want to, like you know, look those things up and verify it, but this is the core of stomach. This is the testing that you would do, and this is the testing that you would do when you would do it and I and it’s.

It’s such an important part that if you’re having any these problems, I would like rewind this thing. Rewind this thing I would replay this thing. You tell where I’m at right. Where I come from, you can replay this thing a couple of times and then kind of compare it to your symptoms and I think you will find and and that and and and a success.

The solutions are dietary. The solutions are supplements, sometimes the solutions are are just you know getting hydrochloric acid in there. Sometimes you take hydrochloric acid and you burned you, so you have to actually you know.

Maybe you got autoimmune gastritis because you have positive antibodies against your bridal bed cells and then you’re, not making enough hydrochloric acid. So you may have to get the immune response. That’s, a whole nother animal! That’s, a whole nother presentation, but it is extremely doable the vast majority of the time, so so so that’s, an important presentation back to basics, and I’m, a big back to basic guy.

I’m, a big fundamental guy there’s, a reason for that, and – and this again I can’t reiterate this enough. This is one of the most important aspects of what we’re doing so next time we’ll, be going onto pancreas, which will be frankly a pretty short presentation.

So I’ll, see you, then, with pancreas, you

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