Do antacids have calcium hydroxide in them?

Answer 1

No, some have calcium carbonate or magnesium hydroxide, but not a strong base such as calcium hydroxide. However, medical doctors have prescribed calcium hydroxide as an antacid for severe acid reflux and severe heartburn.

Interestingly, when a molecule of calcium hydroxide collides with a molecule of carbon dioxide at room temperature, it readily becomes calcium carbonate plus water:

Ca(OH)2 + CO2 → CaCO3 + H2O

However, when a solution of calcium hydroxide enters the human stomach, the primary chemical reaction is:

Ca(OH)2 + 2HCl → CaCl2 + 2H2O

[Calcium hydroxide reacts with hydrochloric acid at room temperature to become calcium chloride plus water].

Calcium hydroxide is water-soluble. Calcium carbonate is not neutral-pH-water-soluble at room temperature. However, calcium carbonate is acidic-water-soluble at room temperature.

Because it is relatively harmless, calcium hydroxide is used as a preservative for glucomannan foods such as shirataki noodles and konnyaku cubes.

Calcium chloride is also relatively harmless and is used as a preservative in many foods. Although not quite as delicious as real salt, calcium chloride gives foods a salty taste and greatly reduces or completely eliminates the need for sodium chloride in pickles.

Calcium carbonate is the best-selling calcium supplement because it has a low price and also because it blocks about 65% to 70% of the absorption of heme iron, a cancer-causing and artery-clogging pro-oxidant. All other forms of calcium supplements can block only about 10% to 20% of the absorption of heme iron. People who swallow 300mg to 600mg of calcium daily as calcium carbonate are about 25% to 30% less likely to develop colorectal cancer than people who swallow other forms of calcium supplements or no calcium supplements at all.

Caution: Do not swallow more than 600mg of calcium from calcium supplements daily. Numerous scientific studies now say that people who swallow more than 600mg of calcium from calcium supplements daily are almost twice as likely to die of cardiovascular problems compared to people who don't swallow any calcium supplements.

Note: If you already suffer from calcified arteries, then eat a small amount (3oz is more than enough) of the Japanese fermented soybean food called, natto, every day. No other food and no prescription medicine can reverse arterial calcification. About half of all people with cardiovascular disease have calcified aortas when examined by chest X-ray.