Join the club – it’s one of the biggest in the westernized world. If you’re suffering from ulcers, stomach pain, acid reflux, food allergies, hemorrhoids, constipation, IBS, colitis … you’re probably in the market for digestive medication … you and at least 500 million others around the globe.

Mostly, this increasing need for digestive medication is directly related to our choice of foods and lifestyle – whether its a diet of nutritionally void highly processed foods, lack of fresh air, sunshine and exercise, the side effects of other medications (prescription and over-the-counter), cigarettes and alcohol, or excessive stress from family and/or careers. A combination of all is a common scenario.

Apart from the common cold, digestive disorders are the main reason for seeking a doctor’s advice and some form of digestive medication. In the US alone, it is estimated that this category of illness amounts to about $100 billion a year in direct medical fees, plus another $25 billion from the resulting 300 million days of lost productivity. Globally, the figures must be staggering.

So, what’s the world #1 pharmaceutical best seller? Enjoying top place for many years in a row, the digestive medication which brings the highest volume sales worldwide is for the treatment of ulcers. This category is worth about $20 billion – thanks in no small part to another form of medication on my List of Nasties – NSAIDS.

The popular digestive medication Zantac was the world’s #1 best selling drug for over a decade. It was later surpassed by Prilosec. There are no signs of this market declining – in fact, it seems to experience nothing but steady growth. This saddens me greatly, when the side effects of these drugs can be life threatening, and there are many natural alternatives which have been proven more effective, without the risks.

I am stunned by the statistics that in the US alone, every year every person spends over $500 on laxatives and fiber supplements. Of course, this is just an average – which means there are many folk spending many thousands of dollars every year on digestive medication to alleviate constipation. Again, there are so many effective, natural methods to relieve and prevent this particular digestive disorder – most of these medications are just a “band-aid”.

Before reaching for digestive medication, remember that ulcers, stomach pain, constipation, gastritis – and all related digestive disorders – are your body’s way of saying: “Give My Tummy Some Love. Take Care of Me.”

Knowledge is your body’s best digestive medication – not Prilosec.