170: Is Reflux Robbing Your Resilience?

Heartburn that keeps coming back is a red flag, not a personality trait you “manage.” If you’ve ever wondered why acid reflux returns the moment you stop antacids or PPIs, I walk you through a different model that’s especially relevant for high-demand lives like motorsports: reflux is often about pressure and control, not simply “too much stomach acid.”

I break down the real gatekeeper, the lower esophageal sphincter (LES), and why stress can change its tone. That stress can be external, think travel, long schedules, sleep disruption, and constant pressure, or internal, including gut microbiome imbalance, yeast or fungal overgrowth, H. pylori, parasites, and toxic burden. When the system is under pressure, the valve can open at the wrong time and acid ends up where it doesn’t belong. I also explain the counterintuitive twist: low stomach acid can slow digestion, increase fermentation, raise internal pressure, and create reflux symptoms that look like “excess.”

Then we get practical and honest about the tradeoffs of common fixes. I explain why calcium-based chewable antacids can shift mineral ratios and contribute to magnesium depletion, tension, and sleep issues, and why long-term proton pump inhibitor use can reduce absorption of key nutrients like B12, iron, and magnesium while increasing downstream gut issues. You’ll also hear a simple baking soda and water check that can build awareness, plus why precision functional testing is the faster path to restoring digestion, sleep, focus, and consistent performance.

If you’re ready to stop guessing and start correcting root causes, listen now, subscribe for more science-backed performance health, share this with someone living on antacids, and leave a review so more people can find the show.

Transcript

When Small Symptoms Start

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There is a driver who starts noticing something subtle. A little burn after meals, sleep getting disrupted, focus just not as sharp during those long runs. And at first it seems minor, something to manage. And somewhere along the way, someone suggests it's just acid reflux. Take something for it. And it works for a while. But what often goes unnoticed is the difference between symptom relief and system correction. Hello, I'm Jeffrey Morda. If you're like most in NASCAR's top tiers, drivers, crews, owners, or executives, while you're busy chasing podiums, have you fully considered who's taking care of you? Right here, you're about to start transforming your mind and body for peak race day performance with high performance health, designed exclusively for the demands of NASCAR. As a certified high performance health coach and consulting hypnotist, I've coached elite entrepreneurs and athletes to higher energy, sharper focus, and greater resilience, naturally, safely, and backed by science. And right now, I'm bringing that same engineered approach to the best in motorsport. Here you'll find no wasted time, just a unique blend of integrative health, mental conditioning, and proven recovery strategies delivered in plain language that you can use right away. Imagine a season without burnout, brain fog, or the costly crash of your health. Because the truth is the real race starts within. I'm grateful you're here. Yes, welcome back to Breaking Boundaries for Champions, where conventional health and performance beliefs are challenged and replaced with a science-backed approach. And today's topic is acid reflux, and why the common explanation may not explain the full picture. Now you may have been told that acid reflux is caused by too much stomach acid. It makes sense, does it not? Burning sensation, pressure, discomfort? Of course it feels like uh excess acid. And yet, many individuals remain on acid blocking medication for years. Symptoms return the moment they stop. Digestion often becomes less efficient over time, which raises a better question. What if the issue isn't the amount of acid, but where it's going? Consider a race car coolant system. If coolant ends up in the wrong part of the engine, no one blames the coolant. The issue is control, seals, pressure, gaskets. Well, the same applies here. The real issue is the LES, the lower esophageal sphincter. And it acts like a valve between your pipe pipe and the stomach. And its role is to stay closed under pressure. Open only when appropriate, letting food into the stomach for processing. And when that control weakens or gets the wrong signal, acid can move upward, and that's reflux. That makes sense. Now you might be wondering what causes the simp the system to lose control. Well, there's one thing in two parts. That one thing is stress, but that stress could be external stress, like long schedules, constant travel, high demand, sleep disruption. This shifts the nervous system and it reduces that valve tone. It raises cortisol, your stress hormone, causing a low-grade fight or flight response, causing that valve to open. Now, here's the part that's often missed internal stress. You may or may not notice how often symptoms cluster, things like bloating and gas and brain fog, along with the reflux. That pattern suggests something deeper. And these internal stressors can include yeast and fungal overgrowth in the gut, bacteria imbalance, uh pathogens like H. pylori, or parasites, even. And you might be thinking parasites, no way. Well, honestly, one in three people that we test for have parasites. And also uh heavy metal toxicity, which uh I can't remember the last time I tested somebody that didn't have some level of heavy metal toxicity, which can cause stress on the body. These not only increase pressure inside the system, but also raise cortisol, causing more low-grade fight or flight response, signaling that LES valve to open. And eventually pressure overrides control and more acid reflux. Now, here's the twist low stomach acid. It's easy to assume more acid equals more problems, does it not? But low stomach acid slows digestion, increases fermentation, which builds that internal pressure, and pressure can actually force that LES valve open. So the symptom appears as excess, while the cause may actually be insufficiency. Now, the conventional approach, it has its limits. Most people reach for those over-the-counter antacids, the chewables, um, and these can neutralize acid quickly, and relief is almost immediate. I used to use these things on a daily basis. I had bottles of Tums everywhere. When I was in uh when I was an electrical contractor in the construction field, I would have them in my desk, I would have them in the van, I would have them in my lunchbox. Um, but the underlying system here remains unchanged. Now, the other conventional approach that has its limits are proton pump inhibitor medications. These are also known as PPIs. And what they do is they actually suppress acid production, often intended short term, yet commonly used long term. And I could tell someone that long-term acid suppression creates negative downstream effects, but they usually have already discovered this over time on their own. And yes, when I say short-term, if you actually read the instructions of those medications, they usually say two to eight weeks max, depending on the product. Yet some medical doctors have these prescribed to patients for years on end. So let's reveal the deeper consequences here. This is where things will begin to shift for you. Those chewable antacids, you know, there was that time I mentioned back when I used to have these things all the time, not occasionally, but by the handful, because it worked and I did pay the price. What happens with these is these chewable antacids are typically calcium-based, which introduces large amounts of calcium into the system. And just like a high performance race engine, the body runs on ratios. So calcium needs to be in the right ratio with magnesium. It also has to be in the right ratio with potassium, and it also has to be in the right ratio for phosphorus. Now, you can begin to imagine how quickly those ratios can shift when increasing just one without the other. The resulting effects, you end up with magnesium depletion, which can lead to muscle tension and poor sleep and so much more. Potassium imbalance can lead to fatigue and hydration issues, and the entire central nervous system can easily become dysregulated. You see, calcium stimulates and magnesium calms. So over time, the system becomes tighter, more reactive, and less adaptable. Now, there's also additives in these. Many of these compounds include additives that can act as endocrine disruptors, meaning they can affect the thyroid, the adrenals, the hormones, and this could be subtle at first, but cumulative. Now let's talk about the PPIs. These have a different mechanism. They don't neutralize acid, they actually shut down production. And this can lead to nutrient depletion. So stomach acid is required for things like protein breakdown, uh, vitamin B12 absorption, magnesium regulation, iron uptake, and a whole list of other things. Without it, absorption drops, causing systemic chaos. And what does that become? Well, not immediate collapse, but gradual decline. Things like fatigue, slower recovery, reduced clarity, and performance decline. So someone may or may not connect those dots right away. And then there's the leaky gut cascade. Stomach acid also protects against incoming pathogens. So you can imagine when suppressed, microbes survive and balance increases. Intestinal lining can become compromised from the microbes and in some cases from the medication themselves. Now the system will then shift into inflammation, reactivity. This can lead to inefficiency and reduced performance. You see, blocking stomach acid is like removing an air filter from a race engine at a dirt track because the fuel delivery seems too aggressive. At first, it may feel smoother, but over time, damage could be catastrophic. So here's the hidden trap. I'm wondering if it becomes clear at this point how easy it is to confuse symptom relief with true resolution. Now, there's a simple do-it-yourself check that exists to see if there's really low stomach acid. So you could simply, you know, just like the grade school chemistry class with baking soda and vinegar, you could actually take a quarter teaspoon of baking soda, mix that with about four to six ounces of water, and drink that down. Now, this isn't diagnostic, but it invites awareness. And awareness often precedes change. It's important to note if you try this, the timing and the response and its power. In other words, if you come up with a large belch, you probably have adequate stomach acid. Uh, but if it's maybe just a small burp or nothing at all, then there probably is low stomach acid there. Now, instead of asking how can acid be reduced, the better question becomes why is the system under pressure? And this is where precision comes into play. This is where high performance precision at home health testing identifies things like gut imbalances, microbial overgrowth, toxic burden, nutrient deficiencies, and so much more. As you already know, guessing really produces consistent performance outcomes. Once the deficiencies and toxicities are revealed, then rebalancing can begin with safe, natural, and science-backed protocols to be able to support that digestion, restore microbial balance, reduce internal stress, and balance that central nervous system. No suppression required, only restoration. So try to resist thinking this is only affects digestion. Over time, energy declines, sleep fragments, and focus drops. Performance becomes inconsistent, and that could compromise your legacy. But imagine a system where digestion feels effortless, sleep deepens, focus stabilizes under pressure, there's no more acid reflux, and because internal systems are no longer fighting performance, they are supporting it. So the final thought here acid reflux is really about excess acid. It's about pressure, control, and imbalance. When you correct those, and symptoms often resolve themselves. For those ready to move beyond symptom management and address performance at the root level, you can apply to work with Victory Lane Wellness. That program is designed specifically for motorsports professionals who value precision, performance, and long-term health. And you'll love that every enrollment supports Race for a Reason, which is a program that provides integrative health testing for chronically ill children of motorsports charities. And for the right person, high performance health may be exactly what's been missing. We'll see you next time. Bye bye.