But nutrient absorption actually begins in the stomach. And there are numerous studies that show that acid-blocking drugs impair the absorption of all kinds of different vitamins and minerals. That’s not surprising when you know that stomach acid is required to absorb those nutrients in the first place. These include things like vitamin C, iron, magnesium, B12, folate, and other B vitamins. These nutrients are important for adults, but they’re even more important for developing babies. So folate and B12 in particular are needed to form new red blood cells, and they play an important role in methylation, which silences and activates gene expression, which, in turn, regulates just about anything in the body. Vitamin C is important for collagen development and the structural development of the body, in addition to immune function. Iron is also involved in red blood cell function. Without enough iron, babies will become anemic and not develop properly. Magnesium plays a role in over 300 different enzymatic reactions in the body, it’s one of the most important nutrients that we need. And all of the other B vitamins—B6; B5, which is pantothenic acid; B1, which is thamine; B2, which is riboflavin; B3, which is niacin—are all essential. Again, they’re all there for a reason. We need them. They’re all essential nutrients. And PPIs inhibit their absorption. We could potentially see an increase in things like neurological issues from B12 deficiency; problems with development, like I said, of the structural tissue in the body from vitamin C deficiency; behavioral disorders like ADHD, autism, et cetera because of folate and B12 deficiency. These things are on the rise in kids. There may not be enough kids now taking PPIs that this is making a significant contribution, but this could certainly happen if we continue with our current course.
Another important role of stomach acid is to prevent infection. We’re exposed to bacteria, viruses, and fungi all the time. They’re all around us in the environment. But a lot of times, if we get exposed to them through food or water that we swallow, the stomach acid just takes care of that. Many of these organisms cannot survive in a really low pH, acidic environment like the stomach. The stomach acid is our first line of defense against these organisms entering through our mouth and when we swallow. As you might suspect, PPI use has been associated with an increased risk of infections of all types, but particularly gut infections and something like Clostridium difficile, which is a potentially fatal gut infection. Very serious. It’s a cause of concern. It’s been shown that there’s an increased risk of community-acquired pneumonia in people using PPIs. Back to the nutrient absorption issue, PPIs have been associated with decreased bone mineral density, because calcium absorption is impaired, and also maybe the fat-soluble vitamins—like vitamin D, which plays a role in calcium metabolism, and K2.
PPIs have been shown to increase the risk of SIBO. So that’s pretty ironic, right? SIBO is one of the underlying causes of reflux in the first place, and PPIs have been shown to increase the risk of SIBO. Then SIBO is also associated with everything from skin issues like eczema, to cognitive and behavioral issues, to malabsorption. A lot of things that show up in kids, right? A lot of kids have eczema. It’s one of the most common problems. In my work with young children, I found that eczema is almost always related to gut issues. And when we address the gut stuff, the eczema goes away. Perhaps most ironically, as I said, SIBO is associated with GERD and reflux. There’s even a paper in the scientific literature—I nearly spit on my coffee when I came across it—that was called*Evidence That Proton Pump Inhibitor Therapy Induces the Symptoms It Is Used to Treat. I mean, that’s a paper you don’t even need to read, really, right? That’s such a great title. It pretty much says it all. But of course, I did read it. They talk about some other interesting mechanisms by which PPIs can actually induce acid reflux.
PPIs increase gastric pH, which means they make it less acidic and more alkaline. This, in turn, substantially increases the concentration of something called gastrin. Then gastrin promotes the release of histamine, which, in turn, provokes increased acid secretion. This will lead to a rebound effect after stopping PPIs, where more acid is produced. The gastrin actually causes a growth in the tissue that produces stomach acid. So when you stop the PPIs, you’re producing more acid than you were before you started taking them. This rebound effect has been documented, and it’s been shown to last for at least four weeks, possibly longer, because they ended the follow-up period after four weeks, and many of the patients were still experiencing symptoms at that point.
PPIs are also associated with weight gain over the long term, in adults at least. One study in adults showed an average increase of about 10 lbs in weight in about 70% of patients that were taking PPIs over a two-year period, whereas only 9% of patients in the control group gained weight over that period. That’s pretty significant and alarming, especially given childhood obesity rates on the rise. I mean, even the FDA cautions against the long-term use of PPIs. It’s a real problem. They were never approved for long-term use. That’s an interesting little historical note about PPIs, is they were initially only approved for short-term use. They were never intended to be taken for years and years. I just got an e-mail this morning from someone who has been on Nexium for 30 years, 35 years I think he said. He’s wondering how to get off of it. That’s just a complete, huge mistake, an oversight by the FDA and other regulatory agencies, and just another problem with the way that our system is constructed. You know, doctors made those prescriptions, and people just kept taking them for years and years, with no approval for that kind of activity.
So far it does not seem to help.
