We've covered a lot of ground! And now we're at the exciting point where we can begin to think about how all of this knowledge can start to translate into actionable steps. So here we'll dig into the set of interventions that are best suited to get stomach acid up and back online as quickly as possible, in the safest manner as possible.

Okay, so in general, there are three tools available to us when it comes to tackling gut health, and while I can't stress enough how all three of these components are in any happy gut routine, today we're primarily focusing on category 2, supplementation.

So to be clear, the supplementation component is the first absolutely foundational step for getting your digestive system to function well-enough to avoid major fallout, however, diet and lifestyle are absolutely non-negotiable for long-term health outcomes.

I tend to come across a lot people who tell me things like:

"I hate to take pills."

"I want to do it naturally."

"It'll be too expensive."

I don't want to be on a supplement for the rest of my life."

etc.

And, certainly, these are all valid concerns! Actually I tend to fall in the same camp believe it or not. So I'll preface this by saying that for me as a practitioner and as a supplement user, my goal is always to have the least amount of supplement needed where you can still maintain the benefit, and to continually experiment with weaning off of most supplements.

So let's walk through the reasons that supplementation is necessary, why the tradeoff of investment is worth it, and why most of us can count on eventually even weaning off.

So the main piece of rationale here that we need to keep in mind, is this idea of a positive feedback loop.

As we've discussed: humans have a novel toxin burden in modernity, it's unprecedented! And this toxin exposure works to lower stomach acid and slow digestion down.

Unfortunately, this results in our body becoming more and more toxic over time, because the way we eliminate toxins is through the stool, which doesn't tend to move very well when digestion is slow.

Beyond the dangers that this poses to our health, this also presents an obstacle for the body's innate ability to naturally fix the problem.

The fix, creating more stomach acid, requires toxins to clear our tissue. When digestion is slow and toxins aren't clearing the body out through the stool, then it becomes impossible for stomach acid to naturally correct itself. It's this never ending cycle of becoming more toxic and more incapable of producing acid. So this is really the gap that supplements and detox work can help to bridge.

So our ultimate goal for stimulating stomach acid production is opening up the body's drainage funnel, or our elimination pathways. Once toxins begin to leave the body again, acid can flow freely. 

When we are blocked in any of these systems in the drainage funnel depicted here, but in particular the colon, liver and bile, then it's very difficult to address stomach acid issues. So opening up these systems are top priority when the stomach is dysfunctioning.

However, this drainage work can take a minute to get moving, and it can take even longer to catch up and get on top of your toxin load to the extent that your mitochondria come back online and your stomach acid can kick in again.

In the meantime, you can take some additional steps to manage your symptoms of low acid, especially if you're dealing with something like reflux.

You want to follow our S.E.E.D. process:

• soothe your digestive mucosa to prevent damage
• enzyme support to lower your digestive burden
• elevate your beneficial microbes to keep things moving
• drain and detoxify your tissue.

This is the recipe for stomach acid success!

When you implement this S.E.E.D. method, as your stomach acid comes back online, your digestion will also begin to speed up again, so toxins will be able to move out of your elimination pathways better, making your need for external supplement support likely to lessen more and more over time.

The more toxins you eliminate, the more stomach acid you'll make, the faster digestion will move, and so on.

So I can't exactly answer whether this is a forever thing. Unfortunately there's no one size fit all approach because we're all individuals with different ages, health conditions, nutritional needs, and toxin burdens.

Likewise, because our toxin exposure is so constant, we'll likely always need to revisit detox support to some extent, though perhaps with a much lighter hand than initially. What I can assure you is that this is an investment worth making. 

It has the potential to save you loads in healthcare down the line by naturally lowering toxin levels in the body and by keeping you away from dangerous acid blocking medications and all of those other diseases and conditions associated with low stomach acid! So its a small price to pay for the benefits that you have the potential to reap.

And when you start out with a simple gut soothe with us, we've made sure that the investment is incredibly affordable!

If you're someone who might struggle with thinking about tackling more intensive changes to your diet or lifestyle, starting with a gut soothe that preps your tissue for this drainage and detox work is a great way to get a quick win, that will inspire you to see that improvement in your symptom load is possible and within reach.

You'll also start feeling a little or a lot better, which may offer you some extra fuel in the cup to draw from as you take on detox.

So hopefully it's clear why supplementing is the easiest, cheapest, and most effective way to go about fixing your stomach acid. Tomorrow we'll talk about the most common method touted out there about how to use fix your stomach acid... and why I never suggest using it, and what I do suggest instead.