How do antacids reduce indigestion?
(Lansing State Journal, October 26, 1994)


Gastric juice, the digestive juice used by our stomachs to digest food, is quite acidic -acidic enough in fact, to digest zinc metal!  Our stomachs have a special lining that normally can handle these conditions by constantly shedding its cells and replacing them.

Occasionally, however, such as when we eat something that is difficult to digest (like pizza with everything on it) or when we are under a lot of stress, our stomachs produce more acid than they can handle.  The excess acid causes the stomach to shed the cells of its protective lining faster than it can replace them.  If this happens occasionally we feel the discomfort of indigestion.  If it happens a lot we can wind up with an ulcer.

To take care of the excess acid, we can take an antacid.  Antacids contain weak bases.  Bases neutralize acids by reacting with them to form water and a salt.  The reason weak bases are used instead of strong bases is because strong bases would neutralize too much acid and would most likely kill you.

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