January 20, 2011 (Thursday)
Remember the joke we used to tell as kids? One fellow says, “Farewell, Adieu, Adios.” The other fellow asks, “What does that mean?” “The first guy says, “That’s ‘goodbye’ in English, French and Spanish.” “Well, Carbolic acid!” says the other guy, “That’s ‘goodbye’ in any language.”
Yesterday I wrote about spilling hydrochloric acid in the garage, and how it ate up the concrete. It’s very strong stuff to do that. Guess what? The main ingredient of stomach acid is hydrochloric acid! No wonder we get heartburn, indigestion, and reflux pain.
Many of us have stopped trying to figure out why we are bothered with stomach problems; we just take pills that prevent the problems.
Since baking soda neutralizes acids, a lot of folks take soda for indigestion, etc. That’s O.K., I guess, but if you take a little too much, then the acid cops in your stomach declare an emergency and turn the hoses onto the soda. Result: you’re worse off than before. Besides that, I’ve heard stories through the years about people who took a strong dose of soda and died. Not sure what the reason might have been.
You know, when your stomach gives you problems, probably the best thing you can do for it is to go to the doctor. Since I am a confirmed do-it-yourself kind of person, I do a lot of self-medication. I’m not commending that course of action, mind you. I think you should go to a physician when you are sick.