The Yellow Door Life

Week 2

For most of my adult life, I suffered daily with terrible heartburn. Me and Tums, Pepto Bismol, Alka Seltzer, and eventually a more natural antacid, were best friends. I spent anywhere from $30-40 a month making sure I had something on hand for the inevitable heartburn.

I ate a lot of fast food, tons of sugar, and didn’t consume near enough fruits or vegetables. 

A few days ago I saw a Tums ad on TV and literally gasped out loud. The messaging we receive is to eat whatever you want, whenever you want, because as long as you keep Tums on hand, you’ll be fine. The ad literally says “love food back again.” As if the problem is your lack of Tums, rather than a serious gut problem, or choosing to eat foods that are NOT MEANT FOR YOU.

When you visit Tums’ website the same messaging is at the forefront, along with a disclaimer to let you know their product availability is in limited supply. “But how can I love food back again without Tums?”

Beyond even that, the product featured in the commercial is their Chewy Bites which contain insane ingredients, listed on the package as “inactive,” yet more than one is linked to serious health issues including an increased risk of cancer, the disruption of hormones, lung tumor development, liver enlargement, paralysis, and the list goes on. If you simply Google many of the ingredients below, you can see for yourself: 

acacia gum, alcohol, ammonium hydroxide, beeswax, caprylic/capric triglycerides, carmine, carnauba wax, citric acid, coconut oil, corn starch, corn syrup, dextrin, ethyl acetate, ethyl alcohol, FD&C blue #1 alum lake, FD&C blue #2 alum lake, FD&C red #40, FD&C red #40 alum lake, FD&C yellow #5 alum lake (tartrazine), FD&C yellow #6, FD&C yellow #6 alum lake, flavors, gum arabic, isopropyl alcohol, maltodextrin, methyl paraben, modified corn starch, n-butyl alcohol, phosphoric acid, PVP, propyl paraben, propylene glycol, purified water, shellac, sodium benzoate, sorbic acid, sorbitol, soy bean oil, soy lecithin, sucrose, TBHQ, titanium dioxide, triacetin, vegetable oil

They are also an HSA/FSA eligible item.

THIS. THIS IS THE PROBLEM Y’ALL.

We live in a society where we are bombarded with marketing that claims that if you just take this or that, you can continue to live in denial about the crap you’re putting into your body. Sure, they get rid of your heartburn, but they are actively putting chemicals and sugar into your body that are linked to disease. And the worst part? You can use your HSA/FSA account to purchase them, but it’s not like you can do that with healthy, whole, organic food, right? 

Guess what?

Two weeks into my nutrition protocol with A Body in Repair and I am completely free of heartburn. I haven’t had it once.   

I’m not taking a daily antacid, I’m just eating real food. 

An average ingredient list for my day looks like:

eggs, cucumber, spinach, romaine, peaches, raspberries, broccoli, cauliflower, garlic, chicken, cod, sweet potato, blueberries, sea salt, coconut oil, green tea, nutritional yeast, etc. 

Folks, if you are consuming anything with ingredients like the ones listed above for Tums, you are damaging your body. It’s as simple and as complicated as that. 

After two weeks on protocol, I’m thankful that I can now recognize another behavior that was detrimental to me and my health, and I can officially let it go.