Ever wonder why your dog can eat all kinds of the most compromised food, look up at you, wag its tail, and not only survive but thrive? 

The answer is that dogs have more acidic stomachs than we do… and they don’t take antacids. 

The pH of the acid in their stomach is about 1.5 to 2, compared with 2 to 3 for us. 

So the answer to digestion issues is more stomach acid, not less. Yet most people take highly advertised antacids which mask the symptoms and the underlying problem until stomach cancer appears. 

We have discussed this many times because it is so important. The pharmaceuticals make billions selling people antacids that cure no one. 

But the long-term consequences of chronic gastritis is serious. 

If the basic problem of indigestion is not addressed, one may expect the following sequence of events: 

• organic acid fermentation first irritates the mucous

membrane of the stomach 

• the irritation becomes inflammation of the stomach lining 

• then ulceration 

• then thickening and hardening 

• which ends in cancer and death 

When foods don’t digest, there is putrefaction (rot). Septic poison enters the circulatory system. Chronic septic poisoning is called cancer. 

Malignancy occurs in toxemic people who have had a continuous state of gastrointestinal indigestion from decayed food. 

All of this begins not with too much acid in the stomach, but with insufficient acid. 

The mass advertising has misled us to believe that the problem with heartburn or indigestion is too much stomach acid. 

Of course, believe this at the risk of your life. 

Antacids such as Tums do alleviate symptoms because they neutralize the organic acids. But they aggravate the underlying problem by increasing the alkalinity of the stomach. 

Wouldn’t you say that the antacids business is indeed the perfect crime? 

It’s perpetrated on everyone because when our stomach pH begins to rise as we get older toward alkaline, we experience indigestion and heartburn. The reason is that food is not digesting. It is putrefying and thereby producing organic acids of fermentation with symptoms of heartburn. 

Because of clever advertising, most people mask the symptoms until the body is full of rotten food and poison. 

Acid in the stomach is inorganic acid. 

Acid in the tissue is organic acid. 

One is life and assimilation and one is pollution. 

As we get more acid accumulation in the tissue it means a shortage of oxygen and a shortage of breath. 

Most cells die in an acid environment but some cells survive by becoming abnormal cells. 

This is cancer. 

To get more oxygen and to dispose of acid waste, we drink alkaline water and eat an alkaline diet. The amount of organic acid accumulation is directly related to the amount of oxygen we have. 

The more acid you have, the less oxygen your body has—and the more potential for disease. 

When the environment for the cells in your organs becomes too acidic, there isn’t enough oxygen to go around. In order for some cells to survive, they selectively change some cells to take in CO2 and give off oxygen, O2. This sets the stage for cancer. 

But in the stomach, you need acid; specifically, the stomach needs hydrochloric acid (HCL) to digest amino acids properly and for the extraction of vitamin B12 from the foods that contain it, which are mostly protein (i.e., made up of amino acids). 

Hydrochloric acid also contains the stomach enzyme pepsin. Pepsin, the most important peptic enzyme of the stomach, is most active at a pH of 2 or 3 (extremely acid) and is completely inactive at a pH above 5. 

Note that antacids raise the pH of your stomach to 6 or higher. 

Antacids also destroy the acid producing cells of the stomach and the symptom is chronic gastritis. 

Don’t we see clearly how this hoax compounds our stomach chemistry, calling for more and more antacids and more billions for the pharmaceuticals and the cancer industry? 

It is essential to know that a low pH is necessary for pepsin to digest proteins. After the acid producing cells are destroyed, a supplement is needed to make or restore normal function. I doubt if the stomach chemistry can be reversed to normal, but a supplement or supplements can give you normal digestion. 

First, your diminished digestive capacity can be compensated for with betaine hydrochloride (HCL), which you should take with meals. 

Betaine will stop gas and bloating, and help digestion. But, as Dr. Jonathan V. Wright points out in his book Why Stomach Acid is Good for You, be careful “if you take any anti-inflammatory medicines. Examples of those are: corticosteroids, aspirin, Indocin, ibuprofen (Motrin, Advil) or other NSAIDs. These drugs can damage the GI lining and supplementing with HCL could aggravate it, increasing the risks of bleeding or ulcer.” 

A better idea would be to stop taking these drugs and use natural pain-relieving nutrients like MSM, papain, and especially omega-3s. 

Another good habit is taking one or two teaspoons of whole apple cider vinegar in a glass of water before meals. This food helps you assimilate nutrients from other foods, and its anti-bacterial properties may help break down plaque and kill bacteria that cause halitosis and even a sore throat. 

Both of these will help you produce more stomach acid and digestive enzymes, as is proper in the body. 

I’ve said it before and it cannot be repeated enough: The body is not a dumping ground for drugs. 

The best way to good health, including good heart health, is through superior nutrition. There should be no trade-off or choice between a drug, such as antacid, that allegedly benefits one organ while destroying most others. 

A chemical or drug response is most often immediate. This is exactly why people favor drugs. It is the silver bullet syndrome. A biological response is a nutritional response. It is very slow because it is a biological restoration of balance. 

People get impatient with nutritional therapy because of the slower response. However, the nutritional therapy is far better for longer term wellness with no risk of dangerous side effects as with drugs. 

There is no magic pharmaceutical bullet to replace good, wholesome food and products made from good, wholesome food. Good food — good nutrition — is what the body needs.