First, what would cause low stomach acid?
Well, you'd need a reason to have low stomach acid for it to cause your chest pain. This could be caused by aging, disease or a host of conditions. Here's in excerpt I found:
"Normally, stomach acid kills harmful bacteria, working to keep diseases at bay. People with low stomach acid have a higher than average incidence of illness such as candida because harmful bacteria ends up in their small intestine, rather than being killed off by HCL in their stomachs. Often, without knowing why, people with low stomach acid simply never feel good. This is hardly surprising since many health problems are associated with low stomach acid."
Conditions Linked to Low Stomach Acid include:
- Allergies
- Asthma
- Autoimmune diseases
- Celiac Disease
- Chronic candida (low stomach acid can cause candida)
- CFS
- Chronic hepatitis
- Chronic hives
- Dry skin
- Eczema
- Gallbladder Disease
- Gastrointestinal (GI) infections and parasites
- Hypoglycemia
- Lupus
- Osteoporosis
- Psoriasis
- Reduced night vision
- Rheumatic arthritis
- Rosacea
- Thyroid disorders
- Type I and II diabetes
- Vitiligo (a skin disorder characterized by white patches or spots)
- Weakened hair, nails, and skin
Next, how would low stomach acid cause your chest pain?
Okay, hang with me. If your stomach acid is low due to any of the reasons above, your food will not digest properly since it doesn't have enough acid to break it down, especially bigger meals and protein. So for those who's chest pain gets worse after eating, listen up- this is about you! -)So the stomach cannot digest the food without enough acid, so the food gets hard in your stomach, causing more pressure in your chest. You have 2 valves in your stomach, one on top and one on the bottom of it. And since the stomach is trying to digest the food and cannot push the food through bottom valve and into your intestines, the pressure on the top valve gets crazy bad. And that, my friends, is what can cause pressure in your chest, and worse pressure when sitting down, if you have low stomach acid. As per the burning, if you have low stomach acid, it can mimic the conditions of too much acid when you eat certain spicy foods- however, it can simply be low stomach acid. Crazy, right?
So how do you find out if you have low stomach acid and what do you do?
It's cheap and easy to snag product called Betaine HCL. It's the acid your stomach may not be able to create. So to those who want to test this idea, you simply take a pill at the beginning of your meal and see what happens. If you get acid reflux, simply drink water to dilute the acid and drink some pepto, and then you'll know that your stomach has plenty of acid and this theory ain't for you. However, if you don't get a warm feeling in your stomach, or acid reflux, you should jump up and down and do a little dance, cause it means that you're on to something. Which leads me to a side thought about glucosamine and apple cidar vinegar- both of these calm the stomach acid situation, so if you take or drink either of those and notice that your pain is less, trying the HCL is a great option. I use THIS HCL.
Wrapping it Up...
In conclusion, there you have another option to try my friends. Hugs to all, I pray you are doing well. I won't lie, I've had a rougher week for multiple reasons. And I keep pushing to get better, not being patient enough...but tomorrow is another day. And if we wake up, my friends, that makes it a good one. I will share this though, so my hubby is always throwing out ideas for me to do at home...sweet man is always trying to help me not feel like I'm not a useless bump on a log...and his latest idea is that I should tell children stories on You-Tube, and sing kids songs and do skits and stuff. I could not stop laughing, I don't do crafts, I suck at cooking, and I don't want to be Barney on You-tube. That is all.
Lucy the log
