Why Stomach Acid Is Good for You: Natural Relief from Heartburn, Indigestion, Reflux and GERD [Paperback]

Jonathan Wright (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 20, 2001

This groundbreaking book unleashes a brilliant new plan for permanently curing heartburn by relieving the root cause of the problem: low stomach acid.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Jonathan Wright, MD and Lane Lenard PhD

Product Details

• Paperback: 285 pages
• Publisher: M. Evans & Company (August 20, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0871319314
• ISBN-13: 978-0871319319
• Product Dimensions: 6.1 x 0.5 x 9.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (86 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #12,999 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #11 in Books > Health, Fitness & Dieting > Diseases & Physical Ailments > Abdominal

More About the Author

Dr. Jonathan V. Wright is a pioneer in natural therapies for health conditions and an expert in the use of bioidentical hormone replacement for men and women.

A Harvard University and University of Michigan graduate, Dr. Jonathan V. Wright is a fore-runner in research and application of natural treatments for healthy aging and illness. Along with Alan Gaby, M.D., he has since 1976 accumulated a file of over 50,000 research papers about diet, vitamins, minerals, botanicals, and other natural substances from which he has developed non-patent medicine (non-"drug") treatments for health problems. Since 1983, Drs. Wright and Gaby have regularly taught seminars about these methods to tens of thousands of physicians in these United States and overseas.

He was the first to develop and introduce the use of comprehensive patterns of bio-identical hormones (including estrogens, progesterone, DHEA, and testosterone) in 1982 and (at Meridian Valley Laboratory) directed the development of tests to ensure their safe use. He teaches use and laboratory monitoring of bio-identical hormones at several seminars each year.

He also originated successful natural treatment for elimination of childhood asthma, developed treatment to stop vision loss or improve vision in the majority of individuals with "dry" macular degeneration, was the first to use aldosterone to reverse age-related hearing loss, discovered the effect of iodine on estrogen metabolism and cobalt on steroid detoxification, popularized the use of D-mannose treatment for E. coli urinary tract infection, developed effective natural treatment for seborrheic dermatitis, allergic and viral conjunctivitis, and Osgood-Schlatter's disease.

Dr. Wright founded the Tahoma Clinic (1973), Meridian Valley Laboratory (1976), and the Tahoma Clinic Foundation (1996). Tahoma Clinic was established to approach disease by natural means and emphasize correction of imbalances in the body that lead to disease. The infamous 1992 FDA Tahoma Clinic "raid" ("The Great B-Vitamin Bust") was a major impetus for Congressional reform of vitamin/mineral regulation. Dr. Wright continues to be an advocate for patient freedom of choice in healthcare.

Internationally known for his books and medical articles, Dr. Wright has authored or co-authored 14 books, selling over 1.5 million copies, with two texts achieving best selling status: "Book of Nutritional Therapy" and "Guide to Healing with Nutrition". He authors "Nutrition and Healing", a monthly newsletter emphasizing nutritional medicine that reaches over 118,000 in the USA, and another 15,000 or more worldwide.

On April 28th, 2012 Dr. Jonathan V. Wright was inducted into the Orthomolecular Hall of Fame in recognition of his outstanding contributions to orthomolecular medicine over the years. He joins other well-known and respected pioneers honored by the organization since 2004. Click here for more info about the Hall of Fame (www.orthomolecular.org).

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

209 of 211 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars End Antacid Dependency February 3, 2008

By Rufus Quail

Format:Paperback

A new remedy came on the market promising 14 days of heartburn relief. I rushed to the drugstore the day it hit the shelves. As advertised, I had 14 days of blissful remission.

My suffering relieved, I relived the days when heartburn was impossible. There was a time I could gulp jalapeno peppers like candy. I could eat a double order of Nick's Famous Coney Island Dogs piled with onions, washed down with a (small) pitcher of beer. I laughed at heartburn.

When the 14 days ended, the heartburn returned with a vengeance, worse than ever. Warning labels proscribed continued use of the remedy. There has to be a better way, I concluded, and started researching heartburn online. This book turned up among the search results.

Following the book's advice, I swallowed a spoonful of fresh lemon juice to combat an attack of heartburn. The lemon juice caused some alarming turmoil in my stomach, but the heartburn subsided. I had some lemons on hand, so I squeezed them into glass bottles of drinking water. I put the juice of half a lemon in each quart bottle.

For the next few months, I drank lemon-spiked water. The heartburn abated from day one. I didn't need to take the acid tablets the book recommends.

I am a beer and coffee lover, so there were occasional flareups. I might forget to take the onions out of my gyro. I fought these flareups with chewable papaya enzyme tablets, which work better than any antacid.

My shopping habits changed. Instead of buying antacids in jumbo bottles, I bought lemons by the 5-pound bag. I squeezed one or two lemons a day into my drinking water.

Eventually, water didn't taste right without lemon. I ended my lemon water addiction. In 3 years, the heartburn has not returned. I've been working on the same bottle of papaya enzyme while eating and drinking practically anything I want (except onions).

I've had a puzzling response from fellow sufferers when I have suggested this book. People don't want to hear about it. They get the idea that it's some kooky, possibly dangerous, health fad. Strangely, they seem reluctant to give up their trusty antacids. They'd rather keep fighting a losing battle than take a chance on a simple cure that sounds counterintuitive. MORE stomach acid will cure heartburn?

I consider myself lucky to be open to alternatives. I turned to this book only because I was so fed up with years of riding the antacid merry-go-round. If you are serious about ending antacid dependence, this book has the answer.

You have to be patient while the authors lay out their theories and research findings. For the doubting medical community and readers leery of jarring unconventional ideas, the authors take several chapters to make their case.

Actual advice for heartburn sufferers can be summarized in a few pages. A few pages that can make your life a whole lot better.

136 of 138 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars This book shocked me January 6, 2005

By G. Shane

Format:Paperback

A great, great book. I stopped taking my Prevacid before I finished the second chapter. Dr. Wright exposes how the medical profession treats the problem of a little bit of stomach acid in the wrong place (your esophagus) by almost completely neutralizing your stomach acid with powerful drugs. But without stomach acid, you can't absorb nutrients properly, and you can't prevent bacteria growth in your stomach! Thank God I found this book, or I would have taken those pills forever, and my symptoms weren't even that bad. I needed to change a few eating habits, not get rid of stomach acid forever. I was honestly taken aback that doctors could be so ignorant of the importance of stomach acid for your health, and so willing to casually prescribe a powerful (and profitable) pill to simply make the symptoms go away without treating the cause.

123 of 126 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Indigestion is most often caused by too little acid! July 5, 2002

By A Customer

Format:Paperback

Hard to believe, but true - at least in my particular case and, in the authors' opinion, about 90% presenting with indigestion.
After being warned by a pediatrician about the high incidence of stomach cancer among patients taking acid suppressors, I scoured the health food stores and web looking for alternative therapies until finally finding Dr. Wright's & Lenard's book.
They explained in detail how the stomach and, by extension, the whole body, are severely compromised by low stomach acid. The doctors expose the drug companies - who have known since the 1800s that the symptoms of low stomach acid mimic and are much more common than those attributed to too much acid - for the greedy pushers that they are.
The doctors warn of an impending stomach cancer epidemic and other related health problems if the drugs that are currently dispensed like candy (and are amazingly available over the counter) continue unfettered.
In my own personal experience, I have been under treatment for GERD and heartburn for over 10 years with typical emphasis on acid reduction, e.g., Prilosec, Nexium, and a lot of Rolaids. I was off drugs the same day I received this book and feel much better by taking over-the-counter supplemental acid and pepsin.
No doubt the drug companies will attack the truth here. There is a lot of money to be made by selling expensive products that at once reduce and yet sustain the indigestion symptoms daily until the patient eventually dies.
This information is a lot like that of Australian medical researcher Dr. Barry Marshall, the man who was ridiculed but later vindicated for discovering that the cause of many ulcers is a helicobacter pylori bacterial infection. While initially controversial, this book will hopefully similarly end up changing the dependence on dangerous acid-reducing drugs and save lives.