How Does Hyperacidity Or Acid Reflux Lead To Weight Gain?

Medically reviewed by Shanmukha Priya, M.Phil and Ph.D. in Food Science and Nutrition

Your digestive system is the core of your physiology and so is the abdomen the core of your physical self.

The food you take is broken down into small particles and the nutrients are absorbed to provide energy. The undigested residue is discarded as waste.

Table of contents

• What is hyperacidity?
• Symptoms
• General causes of hyperacidity
• Acidity and weight gain
• Usefulness of Fat
• Blood pH and body weight
• Imbalance of pH and weight gain
• How to restore pH balance?

What is hyperacidity?

The food you take is processed in your stomach and intestine. To do so, certain juices and acids are produced in the system.

If the acids in your stomach are in excess of requirement, you start suffering from hyperacidity or acid reflux. This is also known as heartburn informally, though it has nothing to do with your heart.

Symptoms:

The symptoms of hyperacidity are many; some of the few common ones include:

• Sour taste in your mouth
• Burping
• Discomfort in the upper abdomen
• Burning sensation in Chest, Stomach or in your Throat.
• Heaviness after having meals.
• Indigestion and nausea.
• The rigidity of the stomach.
• Obesity or abnormal weight gain.
• Arthritis and muscle pain.
• Dehydration.
• Mood swings with irritable and nervous behavior.
• Impaired metabolism and low absorption of nutrients.
• Life of low energy.

General causes of hyperacidity

Many things can cause hyperacidity. Knowing them would help you to check them. The common causes are:

• Consumption of fatty and spicy food.
• Not maintaining regular food routines.
• Missing regular meals and eating junk food to make up.
• Drinking too much alcohol.
• Smoking cigarettes.
• Excessive drinking of tea and coffee
• Stress and anxiety
• Drinking carbonated drinks.
• The absence of physical activity.

Acidity and weight gain:

Can acid reflux cause weight gain?

Hyperacidity is the root cause of throwing your normal body processes off balance. Acidity severely impacts your ability to get rid of toxins from your body. As a result, your health is put at risk by causing an imbalance in your pH level.

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Additionally, your excess body weight hampers reduction of acidity by impairing digestion. It is to be understood that the acidity of your body and the quantum of fat in your body is closely interconnected. Fat in the body is the first defense protecting the pH of the blood in your body.

When your body fails to remove sufficient toxins from your body through sweat, urine and bowel movement, more fat cells are produced to store them. This is the most common basis for gaining weight. In a round-about way, acid reflux does cause weight gain.

Usefulness of Fat:

You tend to believe that fat is harmful to the body. On the contrary, some amount of fat in your body is essential to maintain the normal functions of your system.

It helps in sustaining your organs like the nervous system, bone marrow and muscles. It also provides energy to the body.

Blood pH and body weight

Studies have shown that the ideal pH of your body should be between 7.3 and 7.4 which essentially mean that your blood is alkaline. If your pH is anywhere below seven, your blood becomes acidic.

There is a low supply of oxygen to the cells creating an environment in which you are prone to suffer from diseases. The chart below is indicative of the pH measurement and what it means to the sustenance of life.

• 7 to 7.5: Healthy
• 6.8: Metabolic acidosis
• 6.4: Improper digestion and difficult to lose weight.
• 6.0: Oxygen deficiency in cells
• 5.5: Extreme acidosis and degenerative diseases
• 5.0: Extreme oxygen suffocation and a threat to life.

It is thus evident that maintaining the correct pH balance is crucial to a life of good health.

Imbalance of pH and weight gain:

By now, it is amply clear the acidity and weight gain are closely related and without finding a solution to the problem of hyperacidity, it is difficult to lose weight. Obesity also aggravates the symptoms of hyperacidity.

The answer therefore to the question: can acid reflux cause weight gain is yes, it can. It is thus important to lose weight. Some experts lately have emphasized the need to restore pH balance in the blood in order to maintain a body weight that allows you to lead a healthy life.

How to restore pH balance?

The first step toward achieving this goal of reducing the acidity of your body and restoring pH balance is a suitable change in your diet and lifestyle.

It is extremely important to keep in mind that dietary changes are not arbitrary and contain a blend of both alkalizing and acidic foods. Eating healthy natural food and incorporating oxygenating exercises into your daily routine is a great way to begin the procedure.

The trick is to shun all the foods that you relished so far and gorged on and start taking those you particularly detested. You may adopt the following measures:

• Eat fruits and vegetables, especially leafy greens and legumes, as they are alkaline foods.
• Eat Soybeans, tofu, nuts and seeds which are all alkaline promoting foods.
• Citrus foods should be eaten in moderation.
• Dairy, eggs, meat, most grains are acid promoters and can be eaten in moderation.
• Eat lentils and beans.
• Eat a lot of green salads but not with vinegar dressing.
• Processed, packaged, convenience and canned foods should not be eaten.
• Drink a lot of water as it will help rid your body of toxins through urine and sweat.
• Do not indulge in drinking tea and coffee.
• Avoid alcohol.
• Stop smoking.
• Avoid stress factors and meditation is a good mean to counter the causes.
• Avoid sedentary lifestyle and indulge in physical activities daily.  Exercises, cycling, swimming, jogging etc. are all good for your health to burn the excess calories and fat.

Conclusion:

Weight gain and hyperacidity are self-promoting and mutually sustaining. However, by restoring the pH balance you are creating an environment that will enable you to combat obesity and lose weight to your desired level.

With a judicious intake of beneficial foods, appropriate changes in the lifestyle and maintenance of alkaline pH, the necessity of the body to produce protective fat cells will be absent.

This will help maintain a optimal body weight and in the process, eliminate the health hazards that is inherent to these conditions.

The benefits of reducing acidity and maintaining pH balance are extensive. It makes you live a life full of energy with good health and contentment.

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