How Does an Antacid Work?

When you have a stomach ache, you might take an antacid tablet for relief. An antacid is not really a drug, but a common chemical substance, most often the same sodium bicarbonate that we find in baking powder.

Stomach pains are often the result of too much acid in the stomach. Your stomach has acid in it all the time, which it uses for the digestion of food. But sometimes this acid builds up and causes discomfort.

An antacid enters your stomach and mixes with the acid. A chemical reaction then takes place that changes both the acid and the antacid into other chemicals — harmless gases and liquids.

So when you take an antacid, you're really starting a chemical reaction in your stomach that gets rid of, or neutralizes, stomach acid!