If you're one of the millions of people taking a PPI, this is data you'll want to know.

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You're told that you have acid reflux and you have to decrease your acid with a drug. Sounds reasonable until you find out that your reflux is not associated with excess acid, but rather inappropriate pressure on your stomach. 

Further, the acid that's being blamed, once reduced by the drug, is causing the exact problem that's creating the acid reflux. It's not helping your underlying condition, it's perpetuating it.

I know that's frustrating but there are solutions.

First let's look at the various mechanisms occurring.
When you reduce stomach acid it allows both oral and environmental (from your food) bacteria to pass into your intestines. PPI uders have greater oral bacteria like Streptococcus in their gut than non-PPI users.

Bacteria such as E. Coli and C. difficile (which can result in life-threatening diarrhea) are linked to infection and overgrow in PPI users. There is also less diversity of good bacteria in the gut making you less resilient against infectious organisms.

Bile acids are also affected. You need good gut bacteria to break apart bile acids so they can be recycled. With less good bacteria present that doesn't occur and even more infectious, pathogenic bacteria survive, further worsening the gut microbiome.

When the pH is raised in the stomach, bacteria colonize in the small intestine promoting SIBO and causing bloat, gas, diarrhea and malabsorption.

The imbalance of the colon weakens the gut lining causing leaky gut and promoting body-wide (systemic) inflammation. This not only increases infection risk but also leads to metabolic changes leading to heart disease, type 2 diabetes, obesity, cancer, autoimmune diseases and dementia.

What can you do? It's not about abruptly stopping your PPI, especially if you've been taking it for more than a few months. You need to find a clinician who can evaluate and help you treat the root causes which include:
Infections
SIBO
Poor diet
Toxins
Weight loss - visceral fat particularly
Food sensitivities
Vagus nerve imbalance
and more.

It's not difficult when you know how to determine what the causative agents are. The program is natural and drug-free.

If you'd like help we're here for you. The best next step is to contact us for a consultation and then we can determine if what we do is a good fit for you. Call 727-335-0400.

References
1. Imhann, F., et al. (2016). Proton pump inhibitors affect the gut microbiome. Gut, 65(5), 740-748.

2. Seto, C. T., et al. (2014). Prolonged use of a proton pump inhibitor reduces microbial diversity: implications for Clostridium difficile susceptibility. Microbiome, 2, 42.

3. “Passing the ‘Acid Test’: Do Proton Pump Inhibitors Affect the Microbiome?” – T. Dong, E. Forslund, et al. (2018). Annual Review of Microbiology. PMC

4. Zhang, J., et al. (2023). Meta-analysis of the effects of proton pump inhibitors on the gut microbiota. BMC Microbiology, 23, 2895.

5. Khurmatullina, A. R., et al. (2025). The Duration of Proton Pump Inhibitor Therapy and the Risk of Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Journal of Clinical Medicine, 14(13): 4702.

6.Fossmark, R., et al. (2024). Changes in the Gastrointestinal Microbiota Induced by Proton Pump Inhibitor Treatment. Frontiers / PMC paper.

7. Zhang, X., Li, Y., Huang, C., et al. (2024). Proton Pump Inhibitors and Oral–Gut Microbiota. Biomedicines, 12(10), 2271.

8. Kiecka, A., et al. (2023). Proton pump inhibitor-induced gut dysbiosis and digestive disorders: what is the link? Pharmacological Reports.

#guthealth #acidr