[sara]

sara asked the Naked Scientists:

Question - how can you increase levels of acid in the stomach? will drinking
vinegar really help? is vinegar the same kind of acid as found in the stomach?

What do you think?

[Don_1]

Yes, drinking vinegar or citrus fruit juice or eating citrus fruit will increase the acidity in your stomach for as long as it stays in your stomach. Once it has passed out, your acidity level will return to normal.

The acid in fruit and vinegar are not the same as the gastric juice your stomach produces.

I think you would find drinking vinegar very unpleasant. Excessive intake of such acidic products can be harmful to the stomach wall and my cause ulcers.

[BenV]

Is it possible that drinking vinegar would actually inhibit your natural production of stomach acid?  I'm not sure about the feedback loops involved, but could low pH stomach contents switch off the further production of acid, meaning that after the vinegar had passed through, you would actually be left with lower acid production?

[RD]

I've heard that athlete/bodybuilder types drink HCl to help digest the large amount of protein they consume,
 (to supplement their stomach acid).  I do not know if this is safe or effective.

They have to drink it through a straw as HCl destroys the enamel on their teeth. (similar to stomach acid eroding teeth in bulimia).

[Don_1]

Why don't they just drink Greek wine??? Same effect and taste!!!

[Karen W.]

A tablespoon of vinegar drank down the hatch relieves bad heartburn! At least that is what we do here to get rid of heartburn.. works well if you can go the spoonfull of vinegar!..LOL

[Bored chemist]

If there is anything like the normal amount of HCl in your stomach it will already be so acid that the acetic acid won't dissociate much. The effect of drinking vinegar on the acididty will be tiny.

[Karen W.]

You would think so.. but as far as it goes when we have used it. it has killed off the really bad heartburn very quickly.. I don't understand why but it works for us.. Thats a personal observation from using it.... I don't know why but it does!

[BenV]

If there is anything like the normal amount of HCl in your stomach it will already be so acid that the acetic acid won't dissociate much. The effect of drinking vinegar on the acididty will be tiny.

Fair enough, but I would guess that people who feel the need to drink vinegar would have less than normal stomach acid?

[Bored chemist]

The traditional aproaches to heartburn are things like calcium carbonate or sodium bicarbonate that neutralise excess acid. The more modern aproach uses drugs that reduce the rate of production of the acid. It's not that big a shock that it's acid that causes the burning.
Adding more wouldn't help.
However the body is very good at solving its own problems given time. so that might be all the vinegar is doing. Also compared to an overly acid stomach, vinegar is less acidic so it might help. A cup of water would probably do better.

[Evie]

Don't know the absolute validity of this since I also saw lots of sites saying vinegar doesn't help (is essentially a myth).

The lower esophageal sphincter (LES) forms the entrance to the stomach. Above it is the esophagus which serves only to transport food from the mouth to the LES. Once past the sphincter, acid begins breaking down the food. The muscles of the LES serve to open and close the entry to the acidic region. When food is swallowed, the LES opens. When no food is present in the esophagus, the LES stays closed.

The closed LES causes a pressure difference between the esophagus and stomach with higher pressure in the esophagus. If the muscles relax too much, the pressure equalizes and acid can enter the esophagus much more easily. A change in position, for instance, can cause a reflux of acid with the resulting heartburn. The pain from acid can make taking acidic vinegar for heartburn seem silly.

One of the things that trigger the LES to close tightly is acid. When acid is detected, the muscles pull tight to stay closed. If your stomach does not create enough acid or if you have eaten food that is very alkaline or just too low in acid, the muscles may relax. If that is the cause of your pain, the answer can be to drink a bit of vinegar for heartburn. A couple of tablespoons in a glass of water are enough.

Of course, drinking water alone can also help keep stomach acid where it belongs. Try some plain water first - you may not need vinegar for heartburn. Until you are sure that it works for you, you might want to take care in introducing acid to help cure an acid problem. Once you are sure it works, however, you can feel good about a daily dose of vinegar for heartburn if that’s what you want.

http://www.nilheartburn.com/vinegar_for_heartburn.html

[turnipsock]

I thought the purpose of putting vinegar on fatty foods was to help break down the fatty bits by increasing the amount of acid in the stomach. The same goes for drinking wine (though some people on here seem to drink wine just for the heck of it)