Stomach Acid

When a person vomits, does this automatically get rid of stomach acid?  If someone vomited once or twice, would they still have enough stomach acid required for regular digestion?

[selmaS]

Hi...I have never heard this was a possibility...when we smell food we begin to salivate which has acids to help with digestion.Our saliva can actually help when we have too much stomach acids.

I do know vomiting will bring up acids especially if there is nothing else in there...are u asking if vomiting with an empty stomach?


Very good question

"selma"

[harrald]

A physician can answer you questions about stomach acid much better than I.

However, I will try to explain about stomach acid. Stomach acid, known as gastric acid or gastric juice is concentrated hydrochloric acid and can destroy metal in a few minutes if it were collected from the stomach. The reason stomach acid does not destroy your stomach is because your stomach is lined with mucus membranes. Stomach acid is not like the advertisements  that show the acid in a container and a TUMS is added to the container and the acid is neutralized. Your stomach has acid pumps that spew acid  whenever food or liquid is added in your stomach. I do not know how many acid pumps  there are in a human's stomach, but enough to attack whatever is added to your stomach for digestion purposes. Substances like dairy foods contain Calcium that turn-on the acid pumps. Nicotine from cigarets activate your stomach acid pumps, etc.

If you vomit, some of the stomach acid is within the vomit. If you vomit again, more of the stomach acid is used up. Since your stomach acid pumps will probably be turned on, it is hard to determine how much acid is consumed in the vomit. When I had a perforated ulcer, I was constantly fed a bland diet. My ulcer healed and I have photographs of my stomach-ulcer scar to prove it. Thank goodness for technology, because in 1964 milk and cream were the diets prescribed for ulcer treatments. It was not realized then that calcium in dairy foods activate your stomach to produce more acid.

Harrald

[lynxgal]

That is interesting about the calcium.  I am on 1500mg of calcium a day for bone health.  It is a capsule with liquid calcium inside that I take 3x's a day.  I wonder if this is contributing to my problem.  hummmmm.  

[jackie376]

Wondering more if your stomach was full, how much acid you would be losing?  Perhaps you would not notice as much if you were throwing up food as well?

[selmaS]

Hi...I knew to avoid dairy ...especially at night when u have reflux as it also can slow the LES and allow the acids up where u do not want them, but to know they help produce the acid as well...thanks : )

Jackie...yeah, I really do not know....I am thinking that the acid pumps would activate when u ate more....