What is stomach acid? Chances are, if you suffer with acid reflux or heartburn, you have a pretty good idea of what it is and you probably don’t care a lot for it. But did you know stomach acid or hydrochloric acid is super important? Like super duper important. It is crucial for healthy digestion so let’s dive deeper.
What is stomach acid?
Stomach acid is a juice/liquid that resides in your stomach. It’s very acidic, obviously, and belongs in the stomach. When things are out of balance, which means a majority of the time that the acid level is low, one may experience heartburn or acid reflux. Let’s discuss 3 reasons why we need stomach acid.
1: Promotes digestion and absorption of nutrients
Proteins, iron, copper, zinc, calcium, B vitamins and folic acid all depend on adequate stomach acid for digestion and absorption. Stomach acid breaks down our food, making it available for nutrient absorption. If we have low levels of this acid, our food can’t be broken down and the nutrients from the food can’t be absorbed.
2. Helps digest protein
Pepsin is a digestive enzyme that is triggered to release by stomach acid and is required to be able to digest protein. If this is low, pepsin will also be low and proteins will not get properly broken down and absorbed. What does this mean? By not absorbing all essential amino acids, symptoms such as depression, anxiety and insomnia can appear. What does your body do with the protein that does not get digested? It may find its way into your bloodstream creating an unpleasant response from your body at the presence of “foreign invaders”.
3. Prevents bacterial and fungal overgrowth
Most bacteria cannot survive in an acidic environment. It is common for bacteria to enter our body through our nose and mouth and get “taken care of” when it reaches the stomach. When it is is low, this creates a space for bacteria to hang out and grow in a place where it is not welcome or designed to be.
What does this mean?
If you are someone who has low levels of stomach acid, you may be experiencing:
- heartburn
- reflux
- lots of burping after meals
- gas or bloating immediately after eating
- asthma
- allergies
- undigested food in stools
- nutrient deficiencies
- much more
Be sure to check out Part Two in this series: signs of low stomach acid. Have questions? Leave them in the comments. You can also set up a free gut health consult with me, as I work with my clients to get rid of acid reflux and improve gut health. Book a spot here.
Talk to you next week!
