A Possible Link Between $24-Billion-A-Year "Antacid" Industry and the Misery of Menopause

Its no secret that in the U.S, a greater number of women are transitioning to menopause. At the same time, pressures to perform at work and at home are causing an estimated 60 million Americans to suffer from heartburn and/or indigestion every month. As a result, many are asking whether the millions of women who help to spend $24.3 billion on acid-blocker drugs every year could be putting themselves in harm's way.

January 13, 2005 -- Its no secret that in the U.S, a greater number of women are transitioning to menopause. According to the North American Menopause Society, about 4,000 new women enter menopause each day. And with the baby boomer generation nearing retirement, the number of women entering menopause is increasing at a rate of two million a year. With it, many of us are increasingly experiencing everything from hot flashes in the boardroom to night sweats in the bedroom.

At the same time, pressures to perform at work and at home are causing an estimated 60 million Americans to suffer from heartburn and/or indigestion every month. As a result, many are asking whether the millions of women who help to spend $24.3 billion on acid-blocker drugs every year could be putting themselves in harm's way.

Dr. David Minkoff, medical doctor and founder of BodyHealth.com, believes the answer is yes, and that a resultant lack of protein is at the root of many menopause symptoms.

As women enter middle age, they lose nearly half of the hydrochloric acid in their stomachs. This loss is due to natural aging and the fact that many people take prescription or over-the-counter medications -- such as Mylanta, Pepcid, Zantac, Prilosec and Nexium, etc. -- that block stomach acid."

According to Dr. Minkoff, stomach acid is actually necessary to activate the digestive enzymes needed to break down protein. An unintended consequence of using antacids is that it lowers the level of digestive enzymes, and consequently the body's ability to assimilate protein. So even if individuals are eating a lot of meat, fish and eggs, the protein may not be getting to their body's cells because it never gets digested.

As a result, many women are becoming protein deficient. They can't manufacture the protein materials they need to rebalance their body's hormones during menopause, says Dr. Minkoff.

To combat the lack of vital protein, a new, highly purified, all-natural dietary supplement was created. This protein source, called BioBuilde, contains the eight essential amino acids in a unique proportion and ratio to maximize protein synthesis, according to Dr. Minkoff.

While reading the literature on the product (www.biobuilde.com/meno.html), I found that the amino acids in BioBuilde are broken down already and do not need stomach acid to be absorbed into the body. Instead, this supplement is absorbed from the small intestine into the bloodstream in only 23 minutes.

Research has shown that 99 percent of BioBuildes amino acids act as precursors to protein synthesis in the body, as compared to only 18-42 percent of other protein sources. This efficiency is measured by a concept called "Net Nitrogen Utilization."

Specific protein products aside, as this side-effect of acid-blocking drugs becomes more known, the discovery that women need to find better ways to supplement their deficiencies is already something we can all benefit from. Now those who experience the misery of menopause will find they can do something to address this problem -- and eliminate a lot of suffering in the process.

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