We will first consider superacidity because it is usually the first disorder that appears in consequence of wrong eating. It is commonly known as "sour stomach."
The chief cause of superacidity is a wrong combination of foods; and particularly an excess of starchy foods and sugars. The starch and sugar breaks down under the action of fermentation, and develops lactic acid. This further inhibits—or prevents—the normal secretion of hydrochloric acid, and, as a consequence, the albumen molecule is insufficiently converted—the transformation of the protein into peptones and proteoses is incomplete.
As with all acid fermentation, gases are produced in the stomach, which give rise to belching and eructations. This fermentation sometimes occasions a feeling as though there were a solid lump in the stomach. This may come on immediately after eating. And then again, it may not come on for two or three hours after the meal—depending entirely upon the activity of the enzymes that are responsible for the fermentation.
HYPERCHLORHYDRIA
Occasionally the hyperacidity is caused by the presence of a superabundance of hydrochloric acid in the stomach. This condition is called hyperchlorhydria, and gives rise to a boring, gnawing sensation in the pit of the stomach, together with an abnormal desire for food.
SUPERACIDITY—THE CAUSE
The chief causes of superacidity are—
1 Too great a quantity of food
2 Wrong combinations and wrong proportions of food
For instance, a diet consisting of an excess of acid fruits, or sweets and starches, and at the same time an insufficient quantity of other nutrients
3 By poisoning from the use of tea or coffee, liquor, tobacco, and the various stimulating and narcotic drugs used by civilized man
4 An excess of hydrochloric acid