Your stomach is your best friend — yet millions of people treat it like their worst enemy.

They fill their guts with lousy food, and then at the first sign of heartburn or acid reflux, they carpet-bomb their bellies with dangerous drugs that not only won’t solve the problem… they can actually make it worse in the long run (while putting the rest of your body at risk to boot).

That’s no way to treat a friend!

Now, a leading consumer group is calling on the FDA to put black-box warnings on proton pump inhibitors such as Nexium, Prilosec and Prevacid because of all those risks — including the notorious “rebound” acid problems.

Public Citizen says people who take these meds often end up in a cycle of dependency: When they try to stop, that rebound kicks in — leaving them more miserable than ever. Eventually, what started as a short-term remedy becomes a lifelong addiction.

And even if the drugs manage to keep the reflux at bay for a little while, they’re slowly and silently doing far more damage in your gut than the drug industry will ever admit.

PPIs can destroy the delicate balance of stomach acid and gut bacteria, block the absorption of key vitamins and nutrients, and set you on a collision course for problems far worse than acid reflux.

Long-term use of these meds has been linked to severe and potentially deadly conditions such as magnesium deficiencies, heart problems, bone breaks, and infection.

PPIs can actually increase the risk of ulcers in hard-to-treat regions of the small intestine when taken with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.

Despite all those risks, these are some of the nation’s best-selling meds. And the worst part? Most of the people who take them don’t even have the stomach conditions they’re prescribed for.

One recent study found that up to 70 percent of all PPI prescriptions are completely unnecessary. That number might sound high, but I’d say it’s more like 100 percent, because the fact is, you don’t need to turn to risky drugs to get your stomach under control.

Alternative medicine pioneer Dr. Jonathan Wright literally wrote the book on this. It’s called “Why Stomach Acid Is Good for You,” and the dozens of five-star reviews on Amazon.com should tell you everything you need to know about his advice.

Despite what you’ve heard, most people don’t have too much stomach acid — they have too little!

For more information, visit Dr. Wright’s website — and start treating your stomach like a friend again.

The commercials promise instant, soothing and almost magical relief from a condition that can literally ruin your life.

No wonder millions of people take heartburn meds.

But here’s a reality you’ll never see in a TV ad: These drugs can offer you some pretty permanent relief… from everything.

The FDA is warning that people who use some of the most popular stomach acid meds–proton pump inhibitors, or PPIs–face a higher risk of a frightening magnesium deficiency called hypomagnesemia.

The condition’s warning signs include muscle spasms, seizures, and heart problems that range from an irregular heartbeat right up to death itself.

And there’s one sign of hypomagnesemia that’s even worse than all that: Nothing at all.

Some people have no symptoms–until it’s too late.

One day, you’re happily taking your PPI… the next… well, stop taking that PPI now and hopefully you won’t find out.

Of course, you won’t hear that advice from the feds–even as they add this new warning to PPI labels, they won’t urge anyone to stop taking them.

Sadly, that’s not even surprising.

But here’s something that’s even more outrageous: The FDA won’t even urge a PPI user who develops hypomagnesemia to quit–only that they “may” have to stop taking the drugs if a magnesium supplement doesn’t correct the deficiency.

You can read the full warning–and get the full list of drugs affected–here. Take a good look, because odds are someone you know is taking one of these meds.

And that’s not the only bad news about PPIs.

These drugs can interfere with the body’s ability to absorb calcium, putting you at risk for a bone break later in life. And they can alter the balance of your stomach’s chemistry, putting you at risk for a battle with bacteria.

Some of these side effects are so bad you could end up wishing for the “good old days” when all you had to worry about was a stomach acid problem.

Yet somehow, these are among the best-selling drugs in the world.

I just don’t get it–because there’s a better way.

Dr. Jonathan V. Wright literally wrote the book on how to deal with heartburn, reflux, GERD and many of the other problems that most people (even doctors) blame on too much stomach acid.

It’s called “Why Stomach Acid Is Good for You,” and if you read it you’ll see why the mainstream has it backwards: The problem usually isn’t too much stomach acid… it’s too little.

Learn more by reading the book, which is available in major bookstores and online, or visiting his Web site.

Ask most doctors, and they’ll tell you that when it comes to gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), you have one of two choices: drugs or surgery. But a recent study should have them – and you – considering a third option.

After following patients for 12 years, the researchers determined that “both treatments leave room for therapeutic improvement.”

That’s one way of putting it. Of the patients who had surgery, only about 50 percent remained in remission, and only 40 percent of the patients on meds remained in remission.

But even then, postoperative difficulties had many patients trading one set of symptoms for another: heartburn and regurgitation for difficulties in swallowing, excessive flatulence, and the inability to belch or vomit. And to make matters worse, many of the surgery patients (38 percent) eventually had to go on drugs anyway.

If you think this makes acid-suppressing drugs like Prilosec look like the best possible option, you’re not the only one. Dr. Sutart Jon Spechler of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas said, “I find it difficult to fathom why a typical GERD patient would opt for a potentially hazardous surgery to fix a problem managed almost as well by a reasonably safe medication.”

Of course you’d expect him to say that. The study was funded by AstraZeneca, the maker of Prilosec.

If this study was all you had to go by, you might come to the same conclusion. Fortunately, there’s plenty of other information on this drug.

For starters, Prilosec is only approved for short-term use. The manufacturer itself doesn’t recommend using beyond 14 days. Could that be because long-term use of the drug in rats led to an increase in gastroinstestinal cancers? Or maybe because it can cause joint, muscle, and leg pain? Or possibly it’s because of the diarrhea, abdominal pain, and nausea?

Whatever the reason, I can’t think of one person who only took this drug for 14 days. The study itself examined patients who had been taking it for 12 whole years! Even if patients tried to stop taking the drug, they’d be on it again before long because it doesn’t fix the problem. Once you stop taking it, all of your old symptoms are likely to flare up again in less than a week.

The bottom line is that drugs like Prilosec will come up short every time. It’s part of a class of drugs called proton pump inhibitors that work by reducing stomach acid to around 10 percent of normal levels. Problem is, you need stomach acid. And in reality, many of the people who have reflux problems are actually suffering from too little stomach acid – not too much. Which is why, as contradictory as this might sound, you should actually be looking for ways to increase your stomach acid levels.

One of the great pioneers of stomach acid is Dr. Jonathan Wright, and you can learn more on the real causes of heartburn, acid reflux and GERD from his website, www.wrightnewsletter.com. For a more detailed explanation – and a solution – pick up his book, “Why Stomach Acid Is Good for You.” It’s widely available from bookstores, online booksellers and libraries. v In the meantime, try some DGL, or deglycyrrhizinated licorice. You can find it in a vitamin shop or health food store, where it’s often sold as a chew. Just don’t confuse it with sugary licorice candies – they’re definitely not the same thing.

Many people who use DGL get the quick relief they’re looking for… with none of the problems of meds.

The only thing worse than the dangers of many prescription drugs is what happens when you combine them.

On their own, many of these meds are plenty bad.

But they can bring you through a whole new world of hurt with some of their interactions – many of which we still don’t really know about.

Take the latest research on a popular med given after certain heart surgeries. This drug works to prevent blood clots, especially after patients have had stents surgically inserted.

Now, you’d think we’d already know how a common drug like that interacts with some of the more popular heartburn meds.

Turns out we don’t. Experts at the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions said at their annual meeting, held in May, that their research shows that when these drugs are combined, patients face an increased risk of heart attack and other cardiovascular conditions.

Since these folks are already dealing with heart conditions, that’s the last thing in the world they need.

One study presented at that same meeting found that this combination of drugs can cause a 70 percent increase in heart attack risk, a 48 percent increase in stroke risk, and a 35 percent increase in a risk for the need to repeat a coronary procedure.

Yet one expert said “this is not an emergency situation.”

Who was that expert, so out of line with what appears to be the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions’ new line of thinking?

Only Dr. Steven R. Bailey, who happens to be president of the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions. That’s right – the very same group that’s uncovered the problem. They sound the alarm, and he’s trying to unring the bell.

No wonder so many doctors are so confused.

They look to these medical bodies for sound advice, and they get conflicting information.

While they’re right when they say more research is needed, you can’t ignore the evidence we have so far. And it says that right now, there’s no way you should you even consider combining these meds.

Dr. Bailey is concerned that if forced to choose between the two, patients will keep their heartburn meds and ditch the anti-clotting drug. But the truth is, the heartburn drug is the one you really don’t need.

Jonathan Wright, MD, has long ago shown that the problem with most people (about 95%) who suffer from “stomach acid problems” is not that they have too much stomach acid, but too little.

As a result, heartburn meds end up making the condition even worse in the long run, by lowering stomach acid even further, making it even harder for your body to properly digest food.

And that applies to everyone, not just heart patients. For more on how to cure your heartburn without meds, take a look at Dr. Jonathan Wright’s book, Why Stomach Acid Is Good for You.

Not only is his advice good for your stomach, but it might turn out to be good for your heart, too, if it keeps you away from a dangerous combination of drugs.