<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>>

Doctors are finally starting to get the message that antacids are NOT the
solution to heartburn.  The following Sept 10, 2003 Reuters Health article
acknowledges that stomach acid is absolutely necessary to properly digest
proteins, and using antacids to reduce stomach acid has its consequences
(you may need to register (free) with Medscape to read this article):

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New Study Links Antacids With Increased Risk of Food Allergy
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/461298

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Of course, it has been pointed out on this List in the past that LOW
stomach acid, hypochlorhydria, is a common problem in celiacs, heartburn
sufferers, and in people over age 40, in general.  For the last 30 years
Dr. Jonathan V. Wright has been making this point, and he has described it
well in his book, "Why Stomach Acid Is Good For You" (including a
discussion of food allergy risk caused by low stomach acid.)

The point that Dr. Jonathan V. Wright makes is that LOW stomach acid, not
HIGH stomach acid, is almost always present in people with heartburn
problems.  The "cure" is NOT JUST to AVOID antacids, but to SUPPLEMENT
meals with acid, like betaine HCL, so that the contents of the stomach
digest properly and don't backup causing the heartburn symptoms.  Dr.
Wright also theorizes the additional acid may generate a feedback signal
directing the lower esophageal sphincter valve at the bottom of the
esophagus to close so that the stomach contents do not backup.  There are
some natural supplements which can ease heartburn symptoms as well which
have also been discussed in the past on this List.

So those undigested proteins in your low acid stomach cause food allergies
after passing through your leaky, permeable intestines.  And intestinal
permeability, "leaky gut", is a VERY REAL problem in celiacs as this recent
abstract reveals.  Mix antacids with celiac disease and enjoy your food
allergies!  (Don't say you haven't been warned....)

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Clin Chem Lab Med. 2003 Aug;41(8):1056-63.

Assessment of hypolactasia and site-specific intestinal permeability by
differential sugar absorption of raffinose, lactose, sucrose and mannitol.

Hessels J, Eidhof HH, Steggink J, Roeloffzen WW, Wu K, Tan G, van de Stadt
J, van Bergeijk L.

Clinical Laboratory, Twenteborg Hospital, Almelo, The Netherlands.
[log in to unmask]

The sugar absorption test is a non-invasive test for investigating
intestinal permeability by simultaneous measurement of four probe sugars.
In this study, we evaluated the utility of raffinose, lactose, sucrose and
mannitol as probe sugars and calculated their urinary recovery as a
percentage of ingested dose (mol/mol) and the recovery ratios of
raffinose/mannitol, lactose/ raffinose and sucrose/raffinose. The reference
ranges for these ratios, established from 39 healthy volunteers, are 0.005-
0.015, 0.13-0.63 and 0.09-0.47, respectively. This sugar absorption test
was performed in three patient groups. i) In 109 patients with aspecific
gastrointestinal symptoms of whom intestinal histology was studied by
duodenal biopsies: the urinary raffinose/mannitol recovery ratio highly
correlated with gradation of duodenal damage; the sensitivity and
specificity of the raffinose/mannitol ratio for detection of intestinal
damage were 93% and 91%, respectively, using a cut-off level of 0.020. ii)
In 70 patients in whom intestinal lactase activity was investigated by the
lactose tolerance test: the urinary lactose/raffinose recovery ratio
provided high diagnostic accuracy for hypolactasia (sensitivity 81% and
specificity 89% at a cut-off level of 0.70). In analogy with the
lactose/raffinose ratio, we suppose that the sucrose/raffinose ratio can be
used as a marker of hyposucrasia. iii) In 40 patients with localized small
intestinal damage, Crohn's disease of the ileum (n = 21) and celiac disease
with histologically proven duodenal damage (n = 19): the raffinose/mannitol
recovery ratio was increased in 100% of patients with celiac disease and in
81% of patients with Crohn's disease; increased lactose/raffinose recovery
ratio (hypolactasia) and increased sucrose/raffinose (hyposucrasia) were
present in 89% and 95% of celiac patients and 19% and 0% of Crohn's disease
patients, respectively. The combination of the raffinose/mannitol ratio and
sucrose/raffinose ratio appears to be an indication of the distribution of
intestinal damage.

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