Written By: Bhavyajyoti Chilukoti | Published : February 17, 2017 5:31 PM IST
Is your stomach hurting? Pop an antacid. This is the most common thing that almost every one of us does when feeling acidic without thinking about the cause. Although popping a pill for acidity once in a while is not a bad idea but taking it everytime you feel acidic is not good for health as it causes numerous side-effects on the health. Luke Coutinho, Holistic Nutritionist and Integrative and Lifestyle Medicine expert, Mumbai, in his Facebook Live explains how antacids work and what happens if you pop antacids now and then.
How do antacids work?
The stomach is highly acidic in nature, i.e., it has a pH of 3. The food you eat breaks down into carbohydrates, proteins and fats in the stomach at this pH. The predigested food then passes through pancreas to the intestine, where the pH is slightly alkaline. At this stage the assimilation of nutrients into the blood and cell takes place.
But if you are on antacids, it works by neutralising the stomach acid and no longer helps you in the process of digestion. As there's no acid in the stomach, it hinders with the digestion. As a result, undigested food and larger particles reach to the intestine, tearing a hole into the wall of the intestine. And hence, the food particles gets into blood leading to leaky gut or IBS or autoimmune disease. Here's more on why taking antacids very frequently is not good for you!
What happens if you overload antacids
If you have a habit of popping antacids every time you suffer from acidity, it is important to know that the next time you take it, you either have to take a more powerful one or take more antacids to soothe the problem. A lot of antacids contain aluminium. So everything you pop an antacid the chances of increasing your aluminium load and having aluminium toxicity is high. And as you might be aware that excess aluminium can cause kidney problems, osteoporosis and Alzheimer's disease. It also contains magnesium that impacts the kidney and also leads to diarrhoea. So you end up taking a pill to treat diarrhoea or constipation caused due to antacids, thus loading up on your medications.
Antacids also block the absorption of iron in the body. This causes low haemoglobin and ferritin in the body, causing you to take iron supplements. And an excess of iron supplements causes sluggish liver, which makes it difficult to lose weight as the body can't burn fat. Also, prolonged use of antacids leads to fatty liver.
How to deal with it?
The only way to deal with it is to stop popping antacids like candy and eat healthily. Also, make few changes in your lifestyle like chewing your food as it aids in digestion. Do not consume fruits on an empty stomach, with meals or post meals as it makes you more acidic. Also, do not eat under stress as high cortisol levels make you more acidic. Drink more water but not when having meals. You can even try 10 home remedies for acidity for quick relief!
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