Are GERD and Hiatal Hernia the same thing? Does on cause the other? Let's discuss.

First let's define our terms: A Hiatal Hernia is when part of your stomach moves upwards above your diaphragm. 

GERD, or gastro-esophageal reflux disease, is when your stomach moves its contents, acid, up your esophagus.

When the stomach moves acid up into your esophagus you'll often feel burning, the classic acid reflux or heartburn. Can you have reflux without a Hiatal Hernia - yes and no.

You can have very rare reflux which occurs from overeating or eating a large meal and lying down, as an example. If this is something you feel a few times per year, the odds are you would not have a Hiatal Hernia

But you can have chronic reflux and be "living" on TUMs or some other antacid. Now you are at risk. The chronicity or frequency of your acid reflux means that your stomach is frequently under pressure and that pressure is forcing acid to move up your esophagus.

That pressure is, by definition, what causes a Hiatal Hernia over time. The upward pressure, over time, causes a widening of the opening where the esophagus passes through normally. The stomach, which has a larger diameter at its top than your esophagus, is slowly widening the opening, creating a textbook Hiatal Hernia.

Therefore, if you have a Hiatal Hernia you DO have GERD. But, despite what conventional medicine says, when you have GERD, chronically, I have found that you are moving toward, or already have, a Hiatal Hernia, for the reasons I've just explained. 

As a note: 50% of GERD is "silent", meaning you can't feel it. So it can be happening due to a Hiatal Hernia, or better said, Hiatal Hernia Syndrome, and you won't know it. The symptoms associated with silent reflux are higher up in the esophagus and include: hoarseness, a cough, trouble swallowing, regurgitation, and more.

Because Hiatal Hernia Syndrome has so many symptoms associated with it, I do recommend that you get to the source of your GERD as soon as possible.  This will avoid things like bloating, gas, heart palpitations, shortness of breath, anxiety and panic attacks.

In summary, it's not difficult to get to the root cause of GERD or treat Hiatal Hernia Syndrome, if you already have it. 

We are here to help so consider contacting us for a consultation: call 727-335-0400.

Burping is normal until it isn't. It isn't normal to have a lot of burping and it isn't normal to feel uncomfortable such that you wish you could burp. And it's definitely not normal to have burping that lessens symptoms of heart palpitations, anxiety or panic attacks.

There's a nervous system connection that I think you'll find fascinating, especially if you suffer from Hiatal Hernia Syndrome symptoms: including reflux, gas, bloat, heart palpitations, shortness of breath, anxiety or panic attacks.

The specific nerve I'm referring to is the vagus nerve - your longest cranial nerve. The vagus nerve is all about relaxing and calming. So if your esophagus has trapped gas, your short of breath, having heart palpitations or anxiety, those are all symptoms of a sluggish, irritated vagus nerve.

The vagus nerve can get irritated secondarily to acid reflux because the stomach is pushing up against the base of your esophagus where the vagus nerve is located in a web-like fashion. The vagus nerve travels to most of your organs, but many of its symptoms are digestive and mood related. 

The diaphragm is also irritated in Hiatal Hernia Syndrome due to the stomach elevation pushing on it and creating some spasming. Again, you'll find it interesting that a branch of the vagus nerve becomes the nerve that travels to the diaphragm (your phrenic nerve). It is lack of normal diaphragmatic movement that can create not only shortness of breath, but panic attacks and anxiety. 

If you suffer from a lot of burping, you may never have made the correlation between your burping and the other symptoms I've mentioned. But they very much can be related and the root cause is not difficult to treat.

If this sounds like you or someone near and dear to you, consider giving us a call for a consultation: call 727-335-0400. We're here to help!

Are you taking a beta blocker? It's one of the most prescribed drugs in the U.S., so you're in very good company. But perhaps you don't have heart failure or high blood pressure. Perhaps you were prescribed the drug due to heart palpitations or anxiety.

If so, please listen. You truly may be able to avoid the dangerous side effects of this drug while restoring your health naturally.

What do beta blockers do? Beta blockers are used to reduce your heart's pumping force, decreasing the number of times if beats per minute.
Beta blockers also block the effect of adrenaline on your nervous system, so are used to reduce anxiety.

Primarily the drug is used for high blood pressure and heart failure, but also for irregular heartbeats and anxiety.

The drug is not without side effects - no drug is. You can expect side effects of include: shortness of breath, decreased blood pressure to the point that you're dizzy or lightheaded, irregular heart rhythm (yes, perhaps the reason you were given it!), fatigue, nausea, insomnia, ED and sexual dysfunction, along with hypoglycemia that results in passing out, confusion and/or seizures.

What if you could get to the root cause of your heart palpitations (arrhythmias) or anxiety and treat it naturally, making it unnecessary to continue the beta blocker?

We see this often with our patients suffering from Hiatal Hernia Syndrome. It's the pressure on the stomach which spasms your diaphragm and elevates both organs up into the area where you heart sits. The result? Heart palpitations and/or anxiety. The root cause is actually digestive in nature and the treatment is natural, no drugs or surgery.

And if you do have high blood pressure, please know that we are very successful getting to the root cause of it as well.

The summary is that beta blockers are commonly prescribed but not always necessary - there is a natural alternative.

Do you want to learn more?
Contact us for a consultation: call 727-335-0400.

The connection between your stomach and your heart (called gastro-cardiac reflex) is a real one that's been well documented. Even though the connection is understood, you may very well have been told by your doctor, cardiologist or gastroenterologist that no such connection exists.

You've perhaps felt the connection between your heart and your digestion, but not gotten any validation from your doctor.

Symptoms include bloat, gas, acid reflux, regurgitation, shortness of breath, anxiety, and heart palpitations, to name a few.

Treatment involves a number of medications to treat both high and low blood pressure, anticonvulsants, and antacids, of course. The side effects of these drugs include many of the same symptoms of hiatal hernia including dizziness, constipation, nausea, fatigue, rapid heart rate, and cognitive decline, to name just a few.

These drugs do nothing to treat the root cause and in fact can create more of the same symptoms.

I'm assuming when I share this with you that you have had your heart checked and you do not have heart disease. That should always be ruled out. But when it is and you continue to suffer with heart palpitations, please know there IS a root cause and it's generally treated successfully, naturally.

If you've been suffering with this and you're frustrated as to what you can do to really fix it, consider reaching out for a consultation. We're here to help! Call us at 727-335-0400.

If you suffer from Hiatal Hernia Syndrome and its attendant symptoms of reflux, GERD, bloating, burping, stomach pressure, heart palpitations, shortness of breath and anxiety.... yes, a very long list - I don't need to tell you how miserable it is.

With the Holidays fast approaching I wanted to give you some tip to help you get through the Holiday meals with less discomfort.

1. Stick with real food. Avoid the overprocessed, high sugar and preservative foods.
2. Use box breathing before meals or whenever you're feeling anxious. (I describe how to do this in the video).
3. Eat slowly - chew, chew, chew and put down your fork between bites and engage in conversation.
4. Don't overeat. Your hiatal hernia symptoms will really flare up with an overfull stomach.
5. Between meals, hydrate.
6. Take a 20 minutes walk/stroll after meals.
7. Stay upright for 3 hours after a meal. Either walking or at least sitting upright to help digestion.
8. If you are getting heart palpitations, try changing position - bending left or right, stretching your arms overhead, strolling - see what abates your symptoms.
9. Finally, consider bringing some of your own 'safe food' to a dinner to ensure you have something to eat that you know you do well with.

And enjoy the time, conversation and relaxation time the holidays bring vs focusing on the "bad food" too often present.

Let me know how this works for you!

When you're ready to improve your health, consider reaching out to us for a consultation. Call 727-335-0400.

The human body is an incredible machine. Did you know that you have something called the migrating motor complex (MMC) which is a pattern of rhythmic contractions that occur in your stomach and small intestine between meals? It starts 3 hours after you stop eating and lasts for 90 - 115 minutes.

Its purpose is to cleanse your stomach and propel undigested food, bacteria and other waste products towards your colon where you can then excrete them.

Disorders linked to a problematic MMC are SIBO, IBS and gut infections.

Treatment to optimize your MMC involves decreasing stress, waiting 4 to 5 hours between meals, having a 12-14 hour overnight fast, and normalizing vagus nerve function.

Hiatal hernia syndrome is associated with SIBO, IBS and gut infections. Plus it is also associated with an increased stress response and vagal nerve irritation. I thought the association was fascinating and wanted to share how treating Hiatal Hernia Syndrome in the way we do will also optimize your MMC.

If you need help optimizing your health please consider contacting us for a consultation: 727--335-0400.

If the symptom has occurred concurrently with heart palpitations or a panic attach, you've likely ended up in the ER or Urgent Care, worried for your life. Once tests have been done and you're told your heart and lungs are fine, you were likely sent home with the diagnosis of a panic attack. 

You know yourself; if you're not an anxious person, this diagnosis just doesn't make sense. You are now in the dilemma of knowing something is wrong but you're not getting any corroboration from your doctors.

Perhaps you've sought out a pulmonologist (lung doctor), only to be told that your lungs are normal.

What is it? The answer lies in your stomach. It sounds odd but your shortness of breath is coming from a spasm of your diaphragm which doesn't allow for normal air flow. The reason your diaphragm is spasmed is due to your stomach pushing up on it. And the reason your stomach is elevated and spasmed has to do with digestive imbalance that you may or not be aware of. 

Let's face it. Not being able to breathe normally is stressful. Add in some heart palpitations and/or a panic attack and it's down right frightening. You don't need to continue suffering. There's an answer and the treatment is natural - no drugs or surgery. 

Consider contacting us for a consultation and we can discover the true root cause of your breathing issues. 

Call 727-335-0400. We treat patients across the country.

Book your consultation: https://rootcausemedicalclinics.com/hiatal-hernia-natural-treatment/

The body fat you can’t see is making you sick!

We know that excess body fat is a problem, but I think you'll be amazed to learn of a type of body fat that only involves a small amount of fat yet it's the most dangerous when it comes to your health.

There are 3 depots or storage areas for fat. The first is subcutaneous which simple means beneath your skin. This is the fat you can see on your body, excluding belly fat.

You can develop a fairly large amount of subcutaneous fat before it "spills out" of the fat cells and starts to create a burden on your body.

Per Dr Robert Lustig, the amount is 22 pounds or 10 kilos. It takes that much subcutaneous fat to overburden your body and move you towards diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, autoimmune disease and cognitive decline and dementia. The location of this fat is usually in the butt or thigh or even arms.

The second type of depot if visceral fat. This is belly fat and it takes about 5 pounds of this before the overflow burdens your body causing inflammation and leading to disease. The cause of body fat is stress. We're talking about chronic stress that elevates your hormone cortisol and causes you to lay down belly fat.

I review some strategies to deal with this type of fat in the video.

The third and most dangerous depot is liver fat. When your liver is overburdened, insulin rises and you get the diseases of inflammation mentioned above. Why is this the worst? Because it only take 1/2 pound of fat to overburden the liver and begin the cascade of inflammation. The cause of liver fat is sugar and alcohol.

I discuss the dangers of artificial sweeteners so don't substitute one for the other.

If you need help to diminish the fat levels in your body and to reverse the diseases of inflammation, my team and I are here for you.

Call us for a consultation: 727-335-0400.

Heart rate variability (HRV) is a measure of your body's adaptive capacity and resilience to challenge or stress. Specifically it is a sign of resilience of your autonomic nervous system - the part of your nervous system counterbalanced by the sympathetic, fight or flight nervous system. While the sympathetic nervous system gets you going, the parasympathetic is the rest, digest and relax part of your nervous system.

It is your vagus nerve, as part of your parasympathetic nervous system which slows your heartbeat and elongates the time between beat of your heart. The sympathetic nervous system does the reverse. You can think of it like your car - for an ideal driving experience you need to both accelerate and slow down as appropriate. 

HRV, when healthy is the variation of time intervals between each heartbeat. Your heart should not beat like a metronome at a steady beat, but variations between the beats are ideal. Your HRV is influenced by physical activity, breathing, emotions and hormonal change.

The higher/healthier your HRV, the lower your risk of heart disease, the greater your emotional well-being, the better your recovery from illness and injury and the more enhanced your exercise performance.

You can go online to see what your HRV range should be based on your age. There are several devices that measure your HRV: apple watch, or Fitbit or Oura ring or Whoop band. If you don't have access to any of these you can try this exercise:
Sit comfortably and the do a 60 second sprint (if this is appropriate for your health status) and then sit back down and see how fast your heartrate slows back down and you can concentrate and easily get back to work. Was this easily done or did you have a hard time either revving up or slowing down? This will pinpoint the part of your nervous system which needs support.

If your resting heart rate (HR) is greater than 70 beats per minute it indicates your sympathetic nervous system is too dominant and your vagus nerve, a major component of your parasympathetic nervous system, is not signaling correctly.

This is correctable naturally. 

Hopefully you found this information helpful. Optimizing your HRV is something we help each individual to do based on their health history and what they're experiencing. It is very worth your while to get your HRV in a good range.

If you need assistance improving your health, reach out for a consultation. Call 727-335-0400.

Is you're a woman and losing muscle tone and strength I've got some good news for you. If you've been noticing a decrease in your muscle tone along with an increase in fat gain with age, this isn't inevitable, meaning you CAN do something about it.

Muscle protein synthesis, the repair and growth of muscle which is the opposite of muscle wasting and loss of strength is dependent upon protein.

In order to start building and repairing muscle you need protein, but specifically an essential amino acid, leucine, in the quantity of 2.5 to 3 grams 2x/day. Leucine, an essential amino acid, is the specific one you need to ensure you get enough of. Now, you don't want to take only leucine, but rather ensure the protein you're consuming has a good amount of it along with the other 9 essential amino acids. The 11 non-essential ones can be gotten easily as your body makes them.

As we get older we need more protein but less calories and more intense exercise - resistance training. That's a lot to confront but I'm happy to help you figure it all out. It turns out that we are less efficient at extracting protein from the food we eat as we age. Add that to a slower metabolism and it's critical for long-term health that we understand the nuances of aging and our strength of overall body composition.

So when designing protein intake with a mindset of adequate leucine, high quality protein and moderate to low calories you need to know some specifics.

Let's talk about a few common foods and how much you need to consume of each to get adequate leucine.
Whey protein isolate is number 1 with a single scoop providing great protein and leucine balance with only 100-120 calories.
Lean ground beef comes in second with 1/4 pound providing enough leucine at about 155 calories.
Salmon, about 7 ounces has a calories account of about 300 depending on the type of salmon.
Eggs are next but it takes 5 eggs to get adequate leucine with a calories count of 368.
Soy beans are 4th with less than 1/2 cup getting the leucine in but the calories are now mounting - 443 calories.
Pumpkin seeds require 3/4 of a cup with calories of 446.
Hemp seeds need more than a cup and calories are 573.
Peanuts require over 120 peanuts and 600 calories.

As you can see, while plant protein can still provide the needed leucine and balanced amino acids, we start "paying' for it in calories, so something to consider.

I hope this provided some valuable information for you.
If you need assistance in this area, please call my office at 727-335-0400 for a consultation.