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Losing weight should't be expensive or complicated. The ideal process would reduce our stress while driving results. Dr. Z weaves together his perspective on physical and mental health and the powerful way that fasting can connect these two spheres of our lives. Let's move toward total wellness and a holistic vision of health and healing. Learn more at SimpleFasting.com
If you or someone
you know is suffering from acid reflux.
Hey, this session is super for you.
And if you are following
along our channel,
our process here, you're
just trying to lose weight.
Hey stick around.
The same physiology
that is helping to suppress acid
and open up
some healing space in our digestive system
are the same processes that help us digest
our food,
extract nutrients, and power
our weight loss process.
So a good digestive health situation,
so essential
for good health and every health process.
So I hope that this session
be very helpful for all of these things.
We're diving in on Gerd today.
This is something that is so common.
Gastro esophageal reflux disease.
So is actually one of the most common
ailments
that people face in our modern world.
So going to be diving into some deep
thinking hopefully on it in some research.
And I'll give you my clinical perspective
and experience.
I have interacted with this process
so much.
So as we move forward with it,
be happy to take your questions as we go
and especially can have
a big discussion at the end.
So a chronic digestive condition
where stomach acid and other contents
repeatedly flowing back up
into the esophagus so can irritate
the esophagus lead
to acute and chronic discomfort.
Very unpleasant situation.
So classic symptoms heartburn all right
might feel like burning pain in the chest
up into the throat
can occur after meals, often
plaguing people at night
when they lie down.
All right.
So sour liquid,
even undigested food back up in the here.
Yeah.
And then we have atypical symptoms
or other symptoms.
So reflux considered
one of the great mimicking diagnosis.
So someone coming into the air with chest
pain is always
on the differential diagnosis.
Of course
you're always thinking heart attack.
But sometimes the pain of reflux
you know, can be right in here.
And we can have to distinguish that
other times can be just abdominal pain.
People can experience this
in different places.
Difficulty swallowing or feeling
like something is stuck on the throat,
in the throat.
Sometimes we have acid
irritating the back of the throat,
and then it can feel like
something is scraped or stuck,
even if it's just inflammation
from the lining of the esophagus
and back, the throat getting burned
and other things.
Cough is definitely
on the differential for cough.
Someone coming in.
Cough can be caused by many things,
including reflux, nasty,
going all the way down
and irritating the lungs.
Someone presenting with a new onset
of an asthma like syndrome.
So reflux, you know, has got got its hands
all over the place, can be affecting
a lot of things in our health
and amazingly,
is one of the most prevalent conditions
that we face.
Here's some data on this.
Up to 28% of adults in North America
struggling
with Gerd at some point during the year,
not necessarily all the time.
And North America leading the pack
globally with this issue, unfortunately.
On resolve number eight,
most prescribed drug,
even though it's generic,
I thought this was amazing.
So you can go get a at the pharmacy.
And despite that,
still the eighth most prescribed
for the PPI class proton pump inhibitors
proton pump.
This is what is creating
the acid in the stomach.
A proton pump inhibitors shut that down
and a hundred million PPI
scripts annually in the US,
which is just a huge number
when you realize that doesn't
include all the generic use,
which is probably bigger,
I don't know, might even be bigger.
I couldn't this article
that I referenced down there teases out
some of the details.
Crazy horse is with us.
Say I suffer from reflux.
More than likely.
Hiatal hernia.
Yeah.
So here's something definitely in the mix.
Heavier am the worst it is.
Just 20 pounds can make a huge difference.
Yeah.
Feeling the pain under the sternum
radiating down into the diaphragm.
Hey, glad you're here.
Thank you for sharing.
Your experience is is valued.
And so I'm sure
a lot of people can relate to it.
There is a lot like this
and we're going to get into this.
So connecting the situation weight loss
something that we are
extremely interested
in going to help with this process.
Many people experience that.
So fasting giving us multiple mechanisms
where we can get at this process.
And I'm going to review these with you.
So the common situations that we have
there's risk of acid.
And so you know I'm certainly
not opposed to piss I want to
I want people to be able to take
as few medications as absolutely possible.
But there's real benefit
to these medicines.
And so I'm certainly not telling anyone,
oh, just you can just fast and stop it.
Okay.
There is a process to these things
because risk of acid is real
and acid
is damaging the lining of the esophagus.
And this can lead to a condition
called Barrett fagus,
which is a
transformation of the type of the cells,
the type of cells in the esophagus
actually kind of morphing themselves over
into more like a stomach cell.
And then it doesn't belong that way.
And that this can be a risk
for esophageal cancer.
So it's no joke.
We want this situation to go away.
And acid
blockers can suppress that process,
stop that process from happening.
And so taking a medication for of course,
if it is helping,
he's very prudent thing to do.
On the other side of the coin,
there is real risk of acid treatment to
and I think this is generally becoming
more appreciated as time
has gone on and evidence is accumulated
of the risks of these things.
So PiS in general imprison
all the related compounds.
You know,
acid is a normal part of the physiology.
It's not bad.
The GI system is built to handle it,
and it uses it for many purposes.
The acid, of course, determining
what the level is in the digestive system
and the many nutrients are absorbed
in a dependent fashion.
And so when we drop out the acid,
we can end up with malabsorption
of nutrients, especially calcium,
magnesium, iron and B12.
And this can manifest not,
you know, in the short term
but long term use of these things.
If we are chronically depleting
our calcium.
There are warnings on these products
about development
of osteoporosis, absorption of magnesium,
iron and B12.
You know, you can end up with anemia
from malabsorption of these things.
And so these are real concerns.
And then a litany of other issues
can develop,
including increased risk of infection
I put C diff infection here.
Non antibiotic associated C
diff is associated with long term PPI use.
Also inflammatory bowel disease.
as I was diving in
I read a couple papers on this yesterday.
And you know, it's just very interesting
to look into the medical literature
and see people kind of blow that off
and they say, oh,
the incidence is only about 1 in 3000.
Okay.
And so it's
kind of like this sort of motion.
But to me I'm like, there's 100 million
scripts for these things being written.
And this is a lot of people
that are having trouble from it. So.
Both acute and chronic kidney disease.
So acute interstitial nephritis
is associated with PPI use
and then CKD chronic kidney disease.
So there's just like a host of things.
And and even if some of these more serious
things are small in their
relative numbers relative to the scripts,
the absolute numbers are actually
shockingly large.
And so what we want to do,
of course, everything I'm trying to do
on the channel, how do we move toward
health in a natural fashion,
try to use every technological thing
that we have at our disposal,
you know, needed as little as possible.
So I don't care
if people invent every single better thing
than a PPI with less risk.
I would still want people to be thriving
and healthy and not need it.
And so that is what we are
going to be trying to do.
So here I just found this stock photo
trying to overlay the digestive system.
They needed to make it
a little bit bigger.
But we're getting the idea.
Okay I want you to understand
the anatomy of what is happening here.
Stomach. It isn't symmetrical. It's
not just a circle.
And if you look,
the stomach is starting off
to the left side of the abdomen,
and then it traverses over
and enters into the bowel over
on the right side of the abdomen.
And so some of this physiology is like
really helping us understand
some practical things about how we can use
a few simple practices to help mitigate
our experience of reflux, even before
we dive into the fasting part of it.
So if we lay this person down
on the right side, or I put, do you see,
I put a little acid flask in here.
So like little red flask full of acid
when we're upright, okay.
Everything
draining down, gravity supporting us.
But when we lay down over on our side,
especially on our right side.
See, I put the flask right up.
Do you see the esophagus coming down,
emptying into the stomach?
That point right there.
Lower esophageal sphincter.
This is the point where there's a muscle
that'll tighten up
and try to seal that off.
But do you see that
for part of the stomach
the acid can pool at that spot
when right on our right side.
And so if you have a hiatal hernia
and the connection with the diaphragm
and the sphincter diaphragm
coming right through, and it's supposed
to support the lower sphincter
right there and hiatal hernia
that they aren't quite lined up anymore.
And so then it can leak through.
And so do you see lying on the right side.
If acid were pooling right there
then that would be something
that could make it worse.
Whereas if we over, do you see because
the stomach is shifted to the left,
that this is causing
a natural sink and reservoir.
And so people sleeping on the left
side, often you can keep the acid
from pushing up right against the lower
esophageal sphincter like that.
And the other thing,
if we're trying to let gravity help,
if we're just trying to
minimize reflexes, flex
as much as possible, let gravity help.
Classic recommendations
put the head of the bed up
and then it is kind of draining down.
So I'm trying to build out the foundation
for us as we're seeing
what are the things
that are triggering reflux to happen.
All right.
There's a relaxation of this
sphincter is happening.
If the sphincter function
at the end of the esophagus
was perfect,
you say is always sealing it off.
And we couldn't really have a reflex.
And so the natural practices
that we want to do
trying to help support that.
So here's some historic medical advice
as we're getting into it,
especially as it relates to meals.
How many people have been told something
like this who are struggling with Gerd,
eat small, frequent meals and then,
you know, maybe 6 to 8 times a day
you are eating.
And so now we're going to head really
into our eating, you know, thinking.
And, you know, to be honest, this is like
the standard advice that is given for
almost every single digestive problem
constipation and irritable bowel syndrome.
Inflammatory bowel disease, people are
told, eat small, frequent meals.
And I'll tell you, this causes
a lot of trouble for people, actually.
And you know, it's interesting
how we got into this situation.
The idea behind it is, oh, when we
we aren't challenging the digestive system
very much,
we're just going to put a little bit
and then it can clear it out more quickly.
And so you can kind of
see the idea of the, the wisdom of it.
It just in practice what it ends up doing.
You just end up running the GI system
all the time,
and we end up increasing
the amount of acid that we have.
And yeah.
And then this would be part of it.
Marie says, eat a lot of crackers, right?
There's a lot of simple carbs coming in
and then thinking there is like,
oh, we're going to soak up the acid
with these simple starches
and help to clear it.
And I'll tell you, you everybody.
Feel free to share
what your experience has been as.
And I've got a paper that looks at it too.
You know, you eat something,
you can eat almost anything.
In the short term.
There is an acid buffering effect.
But the trouble with that is,
is it also inspires the stomach seal.
We're eating now
and it actually cranks out more acid
and it can be amazingly, unfortunately,
a self-perpetuating problem.
And then it's very hard to lose weight
this way.
This is also I mean, this is like
the standard advice of the medical system
for almost everything historically.
And thankfully, that's changing
when we look at some nice studies.
Very hard to lose weight
when you're eating all the time, like,
you know, standard
dietary advice, you want to lose weight,
people will eat small, frequent meals.
And then, you know, dieting
becomes this process of eating little
bits of food all the time,
but never as much as you want.
And so it's super unpleasant
to go through, right?
Because, like,
we're never really satisfied.
And I'll tell you, the human body,
the digestive system is built
and designed to handle meals.
It's not in designed, as best I can tell,
in the physiology and the experience.
It's not designed
to have constant intake all the time,
and this can be damaging
to the system actually.
And then it's it's a way,
absolutely that we can gain weight.
Never give the stomach a break.
This is a huge issue.
So thankfully people getting the idea
like this isn't working very well.
You know, if we look at the data
that we've reviewed, we say, okay,
there is a huge problem here.
And the dietary that we have
certainly is not helping.
So this study was done in Stanford,
published in a major gastroenterology
journal.
25 patients is a tiny study, 25 patients,
and it's a four day observational study.
For two days.
They are eating their standard diet,
which included no fasting.
And then two days after the study,
they did 16 eight okay
in the two meals
over the course of eight hours.
And then they do two things
their self rating, their reflux systems,
which symptoms which just in two days
they had a 30% reduction
in their reflux self rated systems.
And then they get a wire down,
all right in a soft monitor.
And they documented in these people
in average
of about 18% reduction
in their total acid exposure.
And so this is very fascinating.
Now of course, you know, we can say, well,
we want a giant randomized trial
and we want it to be 3
or 6 months or something longer than.
A couple days.
But this is the type of thing
that we have.
And, you know, it's very interesting
to see where some literature is going.
The fact that we have been in the system
for so long,
telling people eat
all the time is the answer.
And now we got some top researchers,
you know, actually
generating some clinical data.
So I think the progression
is very encouraging.
Here's another study
published in a family medicine journal
that was done
jointly in Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.
And so it's very interesting.
There's a doctor there.
This the name of this study,
Ockham's Lifestyle,
the doctor there, Mohammad Akram,
who I'm not familiar with, but they have
less reflux overall in the Middle East
but still dealing with it.
And this doctors
put together his lifestyle
which is basically just intermittent
fasting specifically for reflux.
This is what is so interesting about it.
So in patients coming to him for reflux,
he's developed
his whole system is just basically 14,
ten eat two meals only
and then just water or some other liquids
tolerated in between that.
But it's just two meals a day.
And so in this observational study,
60 patients, two weeks of two meals a day
and patients self rating their reflux
symptoms down nearly 70%.
And and then that increased
as they got through the process.
It was a cumulative benefit
as they went through it.
So from my perspective,
you know I think there's two independent
things that are happening there.
And these are things that we need to
look at.
Was like the fasting interval.
How long is someone fasting that is having
a suppressive effect, especially
as we get into a routine with it?
Not necessarily the first day,
like we said, because, you know,
our digestive system operates on patterns.
And, you know, a line that I try
to walk on the channel to tell people,
okay, we're not stuck in some rigid
dogmatic process when we are fasting.
Fasting can be very flexible.
You can do it on some days
and not others.
But when we get into something like this
and we realize, okay, acid production
is one of these things
that is hormonally regulated and the brain
and the our little brain down
in the digestive system, trying to predict
when we're going to be eating.
And it will start priming
the pumps on the acid generation, starting
even half an hour before we usually eat,
so that the system is ready to handle it.
And I found a study once that I read,
and I wasn't able to
find it yet for this talk,
but it was looking
at the impact of meal frequency
on acid secretion.
And when people
are eating more frequently,
we actually getting more pulses
of acid happening.
And so as we get in a schedule
and bringing our routine down,
and the body is starting to understand
that we are eating at only these times,
we actually are creating more acid
free space and decreasing the total amount
of acid produced.
And what they say in the studies et
acid exposure time is actually reduced,
giving the
system
a chance to rest and heal and recover.
And so part of it is that
and then part of it is just the total,
you know, meal frequency itself,
the mechanical trauma of like, okay,
all this stuff is sliding through here,
rubbing off the stomach lining.
Do we have space to regenerate that?
It's when that smooth mucous lining
gets taken away
and then the acid can be burning
right on there in the perfect state.
The body has kept that lining all intact,
and the acid
never actually touches
the more delicate cells there.
And it's like when we give it time,
it can regenerate that very positive.
Okay.
Additional benefits of fasting. So.
Food like we said buffering
the stomach in the short term.
But then it is triggering this.
It's like more new acid is coming on
top of it.
Actually like the described in
the literature is an acid
pocket can form over it,
which is actually when it's on top.
Think of that stomach anatomy.
We're putting a lot more acid
close to that low risk sphincter.
And then this term tl e sr
transient lower sphincter relaxations.
This is medical stuff.
They they abbreviate it like that.
So our papers are not so long.
Things can trigger the lower sphincter
to relax a bit.
Right. Or maybe you have a hiatal hernia.
And so is just happening.
And when we are grazing
more perpetual food is coming in.
We're constantly regenerating acid there.
And then if that sphincter
relaxes a bit, this is creating
an environment where reflux can happen.
But fasting is the opposite.
When we let the system clear out,
then the acid pumps are shutting off.
The acid pocket is gone.
If that's finger relaxes a little bit,
there's not going to be anything
there ideally to trigger the symptoms.
So fasting giving us
a real physical benefit in that way.
And then okay mechanical offloading right.
Especially during sleep.
So it's like the big thing.
So many acid protecting mechanisms
diminishing during sleep.
We're not swallowing so much.
Like when we swallow we're triggering
contraction of the esophagus
kind of pushing everything,
keeping it moving down here.
Less saliva coming through.
And and then like we said
at the beginning, gravity
not helping to clear things out.
And so if we eat something
solid food 4 to 5 hours to fully
get everything out of the stomach.
And so especially fasting in the evening
is extremely helpful for this.
And it's very counterintuitive
because a lot of times,
tell me what your experience is like.
You know, we get the immediate
reinforcement that we get.
We have a sour stomach going on.
We're experiencing some reflux.
You you drink something, you eat something
and you feel this
temporary benefit and you say,
just a little respite from it, thank God.
And and so that reinforces the idea
that eating is helping us
to make the reflux better.
But then we kick in the acid pumps,
we build that new acid pocket
and then it can be worse.
And so, you know, the cycle that can
develop, you eat right before bed.
But all of a sudden
now we filled up the stomach
and now there's more contents
pushing up that acid packet.
And then it can be
pushing back on the sphincter.
And then if we
if our sphincter isn't perfect there,
if we have a transient lower esophageal,
you know, relaxation event, okay.
Then it can help
or it can can trigger reflux.
You see fasting in the evening,
if we didn't eat for 4 to 5 hours
before we went to bed, and we lie down
and the stomach is totally emptied,
it can make such a profound difference
to our reflux experience.
Now, you know when I'm talking to people
about when should someone fast
like my default?
And most people's
default is to fast in the morning?
Many benefits to fasting in the morning.
People, usually the least hungry people,
have a cup of coffee and hang out.
Grab a simple fasting mug from doctor Z
and then we just kind of chill and say,
hey, I can float through this space
pretty comfortably,
and that is usually the easiest way
to flow through some fasting space
and have a lunch dinner.
But I say
optimizing this in a reflux space.
Now there is actually tremendous benefit
also in fasting in the evening.
Also for weight loss,
it's the more powerful time to do it.
And so if you were to ask me like
what is the most powerful, more powerful
fasting window for weight loss,
you know, to be eating a breakfast lunch
or a lunch dinner, I'll tell you, it's
more powerful to eat breakfast, lunch
and then fast in the evening.
But people don't like to do it as much
because dinner is our more social meal.
And so I say, the path of least resistance
that keeps most
social meals at their normal
time is to fast in the morning.
But if you are trying to heal reflux,
then fasting in the evening
has extra benefits to it.
Because of this mechanical
offloading that I'm saying
the longer you go before you go to bed,
the more you're shutting down the stomach,
the more you're offloading any pressure
on that low
risk sphincter
and the less reflux symptoms you'll have.
And so tightening from both ends
and in fasting in the morning
and fasting in the evening,
increasing the total fasting
time is going to be decreasing
the total acid time.
And that acid exposure
time, giving the body
as much opportunity
as it can to heal the digestive lining.
This is the same physiology
that brings healing for
so many other digestive processes,
like inflammatory bowel disorders.
And we could go on and on about it,
giving the digestive system
a chance to rest
and heal is just so profoundly beneficial.
it's not something that we get very much,
you know, in our society.
And then it's this is super synergistic
with weight loss.
So late eating is, of course,
the optimal time to gain weight, to say,
okay, I like to kind of personify
some of this thinking is like, okay,
we eat right before bed because we say,
I want to soak up some acid, I'm
getting the crackers in or anything
like Well, let's say let's just look
at the first moments, okay?
We ate the crackers.
We felt better
and soaked up some acid. Yes.
And we forget for a moment that the body
is just going to make more acid
in 20 minutes later, we're going to
still be struggling with it.
Okay, but you just loaded,
you know, another 20g of carbs in there,
and now the pancreas
is going to be cranking out insulin.
And so our insulin is going up.
The body still got to process this.
And the body is like, okay,
what do we do with this is like 10:00.
We're trying to sleep okay.
We're trying to shut everything down.
Now we're cranking the systems
back on bodies
thinking they're going to be up all night.
Got to like, run
all the intestinal processes, everything.
We think we don't have to think about
bodies like insulin is the message.
Remember insulin is a hormone.
So they take extra blood sugar
jam it inside of body fat cells.
This is the drive that insulin creates.
This is why if you are developing,
you know or have type two diabetes
and you get put on insulin, it's
why it creates so much weight gain
because it's the signal molecule
that says store body fat.
And so the big thing
we're trying to do in a weight
loss space, both by controlling,
you know, our intake of carbohydrates
to try to keep our insulin level low
and then open up some fasting space
and then bring in some gentle movement
practices to burn up all the sugar
so it doesn't have to be stored anywhere.
Okay, we're undoing that with late eating,
and the body is like,
okay,
we don't need this energy now hormone
saying just tuck it away for later, except
later comes and we still don't need it.
And this is the sort of cycle.
And so this sort of space
trying to get out of a cycle of late
eating is so good for reflux,
so good for weight loss.
And it's actually one of the spaces
where there's total agreement and overlap
between nutritionists that both support
fasting broadly and those that don't,
because you'll run into medical providers
who don't like fasting, you know,
which hopefully is getting to be less
and less over time, as people understand,
you know, as scholarly studies
and the physiology. But any nutritionist
you talk to, if you're suffering
with reflux will tell you.
Yeah,
you should clear out the late eating now.
They just don't call that fasting
if they're not on board with it.
But it's fasting okay.
And it has many benefits to it.
And then if we're just in the weight
loss space, any nutritionist
I've never met one who say, oh,
like eat more right before you go to bed.
Nobody says that because it's
totally clear to everybody the physiology.
It's like it's optimal
time to eat to gain weight.
So okay, here's something to avoid.
And this is something to avoid just
with fasting in general, okay.
And compensatory overeating
when you're talking to nutritionists
who do not like fasting, it's
because they have had experiences
like this with people where some people
and there's a natural part to it.
I was reading a study once that, you know,
if you knock out a meal, on average,
people who are not practiced,
at least these study is not
actually studying
people who are practicing fasting,
they're just studying people
who, like, are told to not eat a meal.
And then they look
people naturally eat about 20%
more than they would at their next meal.
So there is a natural tendency
for compensatory increase
in eating at the next meal
after a one meal is skipped.
Now, when you are practicing these things,
you say, I'm practicing fasting.
You don't have to do it that way.
And of course, the longer
that someone has a fasting interval
going away from simple fasting
and into extended fasting,
of course you have to be very thoughtful
about easing into things,
breaking the fast in a gentle sort of way.
If you're doing simple fasting,
fasting in a day, eating just two meals
or one meal in a day, you know,
then we're not in that sort of zone.
But it still is the case.
And some people struggle with this.
Let me know,
is this something that you struggle with?
I've talked to a lot of people and
sometimes fasting is not the right answer.
You know, I've said a lot of times lately
like just we're on a fasting channel,
but I am not a believer that fasting is
the perfect thing for every single person.
And for someone who really struggles with
and say, every time I try to do
fasting is can trigger trigger,
a binge eating or something like that.
Say, I want to stay far away from that,
you know, I say wouldn't do it, but
that's something that can be approached
very thoughtfully, very gently.
You know,
I talk a lot about
a fasting space as repairing
or healing our relationship to food.
And so that is a space where we could go.
So like that would be like a whole talk.
But if we specifically look
at compensatory overeating from an acid
perspective, you know, this is the exact
opposite of what we're trying to do.
We're trying to create spaces
where we let the GI system clear out,
and we kind of put
acid production in in space.
And if we all of a sudden
if this triggers us to,
like, really overeat,
all of a sudden we're really descending.
Things like that can be a big trigger for,
you know, a worse
reflux event is something we don't want.
So just make sure
you're being thoughtful with it.
I didn't include these papers,
but I reviewed some of it.
You know, there's a billion people
on this planet practicing
Ramadan fasting in the Islamic tradition.
And so people have studied
this a lot there.
Oftentimes, you know,
eating before sunrise
and then an evening meal after sundown.
And most people, the literature
in the Ramadan literature
that I reviewed is that reflux
is actually much less doing that.
That's this Akram lifestyle
sort of thing that they're studying
the Middle East. And.
But there's a subset
in those papers of people
who are having huge meals,
you know, at their late meal.
And these people
are having a lot more reflux.
And so just recognize that, remember,
the whole thing that we were talking about
is we're trying to avoid the late eating.
And so Ramadan opening up an opportunity
for people to have some late eating.
And so as like
then we have conflicting benefits.
We have a bigger fasting space,
maybe only two meals,
but if we're putting a lot of eating late,
that data is showing
us, okay, that's not the time
when you really want to be eating
if you're trying to help with reflux,
certainly.
So stay far away from that.
Okay, so a top recommendation
from all of these things.
Clearing out the late eating.
This is just like the top thing.
It brings so many things together.
It brings the physiology
both for weight loss.
It brings the mechanical offloading.
It is just helping everything.
So wherever that is.
And that can be flexible.
If you're someone
who has typically been eating before bed
to to get that short term effect,
just maybe this is like recognizing, okay,
that physiology is not working
very well for many different reasons.
And so can
you just start like leaning into it
like we've been doing on
the summer challenge for weight loss?
We just lean in by slowly
working that back.
You know, you don't have to jump
if you've been eating at 10:00,
you don't have to jump all the way to six
and one go.
And then you're sitting there.
Here's a couple little tricks
or tools to think about with it.
One is if you're
if you're trying to soak up some acid
and you're eating to do it, you know,
using a calcium supplement, calcium
carbonate, Tums, this sort of thing,
instead of eating, maybe you get
there's a little sugar in some of that.
Sometimes there's artificial sweeteners.
I mean, I don't super like these things,
but in the short term
to try to break a cycle and say,
oh, I'm not going to be eating this.
Take a little calcium supplement
as I get you through.
Like that's a way to do it.
And then just marching it back, recognize
it probably had reflux for oh, this
if it's been an issue for a long time, say
it doesn't have to be solved instantly.
You know, look at the study
in Pakistan to by two weeks.
It's just getting better and better.
So just recognize the more we practice it,
the more skill we get with it,
the more we let the body adjust to it.
And as we give it a little bit more time,
a little bit more time
getting stronger, more space
to regenerate that lining,
you know, if we have gastritis, gastritis
you can think of like a pre ulcer where
it's like,
okay, that nice protective lining
has been thinned out
and now the stomach is irritated.
It has an ulcer rated yet
but the acid is right on it.
So give it more space.
Let that he'll.
That can take a couple of weeks.
And so that's what I say.
Just lean in and I think of it
like a dose response relationship.
How much fasting space do we dial in that
actually helps the reflux to be better.
You know.
And that can be different
where we have different physiology
we're in a different space.
So for some people,
if you're not doing any fasting,
maybe just opening up a little bit,
like look at the study that was showing
even 14 hours don't
even have to get all the way to 16 eight,
but getting in a routine with it
and by two weeks people finding benefit
and you know, going
part of that
I think is going from three meals
to two and knocking out all the snacks
so that we're giving the body
a chance to rest and actually have that
healing space in there.
That's a way to lean into it.
And then the long term benefit, the main
thing that I want to point out with it
is that the whole process
then circles around into a second benefit,
which is that especially the visceral fat,
the abdominal fat is increasing in
pressure, is like the more material
in a smaller space,
and that can be physically driving reflux
in and of itself.
And so as we use fasting along
with every other beautiful tool
that we have, getting active
in a thoughtful and enjoyable way,
then eating our healthiest low carb
foods, minimally processed foods, right.
Weight loss is reversing that process.
And so as we are losing weight
and we're literally taking the pressure
off inside of our abdominal cavity,
and then that is like
less pressure pushing up against the acid
into the sphincter.
And so very, very helpful.
And so obviously those are be short
benefits from mechanical offloading.
And then this is a process.
Take a little bit
like Crazy Horse was saying
if they've dropped 20 pounds
and then they can really feel it.
And so this is the sort of thing.
But you don't
you know, lose 20 pounds instantly.
And so then
that is the longer term benefit.
And then these things
can really start to cycle forward.
That's what I want.
So I just spend a little time
tell you about my clinical observations.
You know fasting I have said on the
channel a lot I came to me like a gift.
I couldn't believe it.
The day it came, it was a total miracle
where I saw a patient
who had had healing from type two
diabetes, and I just couldn't believe it.
I was like,
is this real? I've got to look into this.
And I told the story.
The wonderful Hindu woman just happened
to be there at the same time.
Who is this master at fasting
and done it for 40 years and so amazing.
So I started leaning into it
mainly for diabetes, but then it became
very clear that this is a profound space
because I start taking people on insulin,
I help them to gently fast.
I'm dose reducing insulin
to help them do it safely.
Anybody who's in that situation
needs significant clinical oversight.
And I've written protocols to do this, and
I'm going to do a talk soon on my paper.
So I talk through all of that
in a different session.
But, you know, right away
within the first couple of weeks,
I'm like seeing people blood pressure
getting much better.
I'm like, well, this is fascinating.
And then people who not been able
to lose weight in the past,
I'm seeing, okay, especially
as we're getting the insulin out.
I was describing earlier that insulin
caused a lot of weight gain pressure.
And so we start bringing the insulin down,
blood pressure
coming down, people able to finally lose
weight.
People can do it.
I was thinking,
nobody's going to want to do this.
That's because I was thinking,
I don't want to do it.
I was never a faster.
I ate four times a day, like all the time.
And I just thought that that is like,
if three is good at four is better.
Like more nutrition.
Like, this is like a standard
sort of thing that is taught to people.
Got to keep the metabolism going.
And then I was going in a bad way with it,
and all of a sudden I was like,
I heard it, I saw it, I'm like,
oh no, I'm going to have to do it.
And I was not looking forward to it.
And then but then I did it and I was like,
oh, like, you can do it, I can do it.
And then I started feeling better
and it helped me.
And then and then I was like,
no, I'll tell people, look, you can do it,
let's do it.
Then the more people start doing it, okay?
It's like diseases
that people think can't go away.
All of a sudden going away, I'm like,
this is wild.
Not just like a magic wand, though, okay?
It's not like,
oh, you just fasted once and like,
you know, it's like you're cured.
No, this is a lifestyle.
Like the guys paper.
We're trying to create a way of being
in the world, which is very physiologic.
The reason I've gone through
okay, studies in anatomy and things is
just to realize, okay, the body has ways
that it's designed to work.
I've said a lot on the channel.
Wouldn't it be nice when the baby
comes out instead of the placenta?
It was like an instruction manual
and it just gave every perfect,
you know, piece of advice.
And instead we have nothing,
and we're all just trying to do our best
and work with the body and learn.
But my observation,
for what it's worth, is, man,
you start opening up some fasting space
on a routine basis,
really get into it,
and a whole lot of benefit can come.
And so this was kind of the order
I saw, okay, diabetes getting better
then blood pressure, people losing weight.
And then next on the list was digestive
problems and acid being the big one.
As we saw from the data
that so many PPI scripts,
so many people struggling with this and.
So much benefit can come from it.
So it doesn't mean it's going to
heal every sort of thing or that that
this is the answer to every single thing.
I'm not saying anything like that,
but if you just look at the physiology,
the bit of research that we have here,
you see there's real reason
to think that it could.
And I say, why not try it, you know,
why not gently lean into it and see
talk with your medical team.
You know, I'm internet guy.
I look at all my disclaimers.
I'm not telling anyone to do anything,
but I'm just showing you
the papers and the science
that is out there.
I'm sharing my clinical perspective.
You talk with your medical team
and see, is this the type of thing
that might be able to lean into it
and get some benefit?
Lean in is the way to go
with all of these things.
Always gentle and gracious,
always feeling in a perspective where,
hey, this is nice.
Ideally, or if we're finding a line
because fasting can be difficult, right?
The experience of hunger is a barrier.
And if you don't feel like never forcing
through it, say, we're
just going to find that line and we say,
okay, that's good enough for today.
And that's the way I would always want
people to appreciate it.
Appreciate y'all being here with me.
I love the conversation
and the thoughts.
Thank you for that.
Really hope that people
find this perspective to be beneficial.
If you're here on the replay,
if you're coming through to any time or
you're here with me live,
come back to this session
if you have further reflections
and thoughts on
Questions for ongoing discussion.
Put them in the comments.
We have an ongoing discussion about it,
just like we can do
with any of topics on the channel.
One step forward every day.
That's what we're trying to do here
on the channel.
Take a step forward in health center
our thinking, digestive
health, such a key
part of our well-being.
We can take it so much for granted.
You know, when everything is working well,
we just eat something,
we go on with our life
and the body takes care of stuff.
And, you know, then we encounter a space
like this, acid reflux, where it's like,
man, this system not working so well,
and then all of a sudden
can't just consume
like at least half of our thoughts,
especially if you're struggling with it
during the day.
I know, and it's like you're
trying to work and you got this going on.
And so.
Take a deep breath.
Let's try to open up some space,
see how much healing can happen
from the fasting process.
Let me know as time goes along.
Do you lean into something like this
and does it help?
Feel free to share.
And then I know even I was getting emails
from people yesterday.
I leaned in specifically in this talk
into the fasting part of it.
There'd be a whole
nother talk that we could do just about,
you know, diet and food choices
specifically.
And when we are in our fasting
window, like, what exactly do we eat?
Because of course, there's
many recommendations for food choices
and reflux.
And, you know, we can talk a lot
about that to some people,
of course, classically say,
oh, got to get the spicy stuff out.
And, and that can can make a difference.
Certainly, you know, there's a lot
of conflicting information to peppermint.
People say, oh, peppermint so bad.
But actually I found a study once,
Mayo Clinic, I think, in peppermint
helpful for some people.
And there's a a supplement.
I'm not too big on supplements,
but there's a natural supplement,
Iberia Gassed, which is a whole bunch.
It's made in Germany.
I think it's got a whole bunch
of nice stuff in it, camomile flowers
and peppermint,
and it helps a lot of GI discomfort.
And so some people say,
oh, I beer gassed made my reflux worse.
But I've definitely had some people say,
oh, it helps so much.
And they loved it.
So there's all kinds of dietary things.
Some people emailing and chatting
in yesterday oh apple cider vinegar
helping them.
And so there's not a lot of research
on some of this stuff.
But if if people have
and want to share perspectives
and things that have been helpful
for them, of course, use the comments.
Support each other.
Share your experience is a beautiful,
beautiful thing to do.
Thanks for being here.
I look forward
to connecting with you again soon.
Have a great day everybody!