An indigestion suggestion

Around this time of year there is a good chance that you will find yourself overindulging at the food trough and a touch of indigestion might ensue. More holistically minded types will reach for the slippery elm, pre-prepare their digestion with a bitter tonic, or perhaps adopt the Venus position to facilitate the movement of the excess culinary luggage. There are also many though who will make use of an antacid and according to a new study there is at least one reason why this may be a bad idea.

Antacids usually fall into two categories. Either they are proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) or histamine 2 receptor anatagonists (H2RAs). Both categories result in reduced production of hydrochloric acid in the stomach. This might ease indigestion but it could theoretically also cause problems like vitamin B12 deficiency due to poor absorption.

For the study the researchers compared 26,000 people with vitamin B12 deficiency to 184,000 people without vitamin B12 deficiency. They found that people who were given a two year supply of wither PPIs or H2RAs were at increased risk of vitamin B12 deficiency.

Of those with newly diagnosed B12 deficiency, 12 per cent had been given a two-year supply of PPIs. This compared to only 7.2 per cent of patients who occasionally took PPIs in the control group. Similarly, 4.2 per cent of B12 deficient people had a two-year supply of H2RAs compared to 3.2 per cent in the control group.

There could be other factors at play here but there does seem to be a link between long term antacid use and lack of vitamin B12. This matters because vitamin B12 is required for a healthy brain and nervous system as well as blood cell production.

So rather than routinely reaching for an antacid try adopting the Venus position instead; you’ll help digestion and look rather fetching into the bargain.