An acid strong enough to digest nails…
yet it is made by your body!
Even if chemistry isn’t your favourite subject there is one acid that you should know about. Why? Because you can’t live without it!
Hydrochloric acid (HCl) or ‘stomach acid’ is secreted by specialised cells in the lining of the stomach. Stomach acid has a pH between 1.5 and 3.5 and could digest the stomach entirely if it wasn’t for the secretion of protective mucous by adjacent stomach cells.
Stomach acid has three crucial roles:
- It kills off pathogens we ingest with our food, protecting us from infection
- It unfolds complex protein molecules so their structural bonds can be accessed by digestive enzymes
- It activates digestive enzymes that break • food down into particles small enough for absorption
If stomach acid is insufficient, food is inadequately broken down and nutrients such as protein, iron and calcium may not be adequately absorbed. Over time deficiencies in these nutrients can increase the progression of many diseases, like pernicious anaemia and osteoporosis. Producing enough stomach
acid is vital to your short and long term health.
Can you have too much of a good thing?
In the case of stomach acid, it is unlikely. Stomach acid is often blamed for the symptoms of reflux, heart burn and indigestion, but this is pointing the finger at the wrong end of the problem. Stomach acid may be doing the burning, but only because the protective mucus membrane is damaged or the acid is in the wrong place, both due to other causes. To really solve a health issue you need to treat the cause of the problem and not just disguise its symptoms. In the case of reflux and heartburn possible causes include: obesity, smoking, over eating, pregnancy, hiatus hernias, food allergies and stress.
One traditional naturopathic digestive remedy has stood the test of time - apple cider vinegar. This remedy is itself an acid, but by an unexplained mechanism it is able to soothe digestive discomfort and strengthen digestion, regardless of whether too much or too little acid is the problem.
Radiance® ManukaGuard® Nutralize® combines apple cider vinegar with medical grade manuka honey (and an improved taste) to help soothe and heal your digestive sore spots.
Many people have experienced instant relief from their first dose of Radiance® ManukaGuard® Nutralize. Others have experienced relief from long term, debilitating digestive discomfort after only one week.
The bonus is, instead of reducing your stomach acid and ability to digest foods (as acid blockers and antacids do) apple cider vinegar actually enhances digestion and improves the availability of nutrients to your body, which is great for your overall health.
The digestive range from Radiance® offers support for many common digestive complaints. Choose Radiance® DigestEzyme for indigestion and over indulgence,Radiance® Digest Dairy and/or Radiance® Digest Gluten for when you can’t avoid the cake at a function, Radiance® DigestEze when you are experiencing digestive irritability or cramping and Radiance® DigestAid is there to top up your own stomach acid if it has been lowered by aging, stress or nutritional deficiencies.