An amino acid healed Deb’s chronic acid reflux
Doctors told Deb Provin-martin that her acid reflux had caused an incurable precancerous condition and that only being on medication for the rest of her life could keep it at bay. But with a simple supplement, she proved them wrong!
“Your acid reflux has evolved into a serious precancerous condition,” Deb Provin-martin was told after an endoscopy. Deb’s stomach dropped. The Portland, Oregon, then-51-yearold had been suffering from heartburn for years. So she’d expected to hear the pain in her throat and chest was acid-related, but assumed it would be easily treatable.
She listened nervously as the doctor explained how her condition, called Barrett’s esophagus, occurs when stomach acid regularly comes up into the throat and damages the tissue lining the esophagus, which increases the risk of cancer. “There is no cure, so you’re going to have to be on medication for the rest of your life,” he told her, prescribing proton pump inhibitors (PPIS) to reduce stomach acid.
Deb was terrified. She had read about PPIS and their potential side effects. “I really don’t want to take them. I don’t want to take any medication,” she said. The doctor openly laughed when Deb, who was attending nutrition school at the time, told him she wanted to see if she could heal by adjusting her diet first. “This isn’t something you can fix with diet,” he said, dismissively. Frustrated, Deb didn’t bother responding. I’ ll just figure this out for myself then, she thought defiantly.
“L-glutamine triggers mucus production that’s key for digestion and gut healing” — Fred Pescatore, M.D.
A hopeful solution
Doing some research, Deb learned that certain foods can cause the esophageal sphincter, the muscle that prevents stomach acid from backing up, to relax, causing reflux. Some common triggers include chocolate, coffee and wine— some of Deb’s favorites. She even did wine tastings as a hobby. Still, she immediately cut out all three.
Deb had also read about the amino acid L-glutamine, a powerful antioxidant and
anti-inflammatory that reduces the swelling and pain that reflux causes, and helps strengthen the esophageal sphincter. Hopeful, Deb began taking 3 grams a day of Metagenics Glutagenics L-glutamine powder ($ 62 for a three-month supply; you can also find a variety of L-glutamine powders online starting as low as $10).
Deb then set a three-month test period—vowing if this didn’t help, she’d try the medication. But to her joy, the pain, coughing and throat-clearing caused by the reflux dramatically improved in just weeks. As her symptoms abated, she switched to just 1–2 grams per day of the L-glutamine supplement, and after another three months, Deb felt so good that she slowly started adding back in some of her reflux trigger foods.
“I had my first glass of wine nine months after giving it up, and it was awesome! ” Deb beamed to a friend. “I was even more excited when I woke up the next day and there was no pain!” Soon after, Deb went for a follow-up endoscopy with a new doctor who said that, remarkably, the test showed no sign of Barrett’s esophagus or precancerous cells.
Although neither doctor would acknowledge that she had cured her acid reflux and Barrett’s esophagus with L-glutamine and her diet, Deb says the results speak for themselves. “I don’t get reflux anymore and the damage is healed,” smiles the 58-year-old, who now owns the health coaching business Sustainyourlife.com. “I’ll raise a glass of wine to that!”