Is it possible to neutralize acids with vinegar (e.g. when experiencing heartburn)? [closed]








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I would like to know if it is possible to neutralize heartburn with a shot of vinegar, or if one should only use basics (like edible soda). What I know from high school, is that you can neutralize acids only with basics, but someone I know claims, that you can neutralize acids with acids, which doesn't make a lot of sense to me, but maybe there is some trick regarding the human body.




This is bordering on a question asking for medical advice but at least the implicit claim should not be left undisputed. Neutralising acids with acids is something that only makes sense in the context of homeopathy — which I prefer to call homeopathetic methods to better underline their scientific valuability.


If you define ‘neutralising’ in the way it commonly is scientifically — namely removing the acidic/basic component from a mixture and moving the pH towards neutral — then additional acids will never neutralise significantly, unless you are using a weakly amphoteric acid to ‘neutralise’ a very strong acid. But no matter how hard you try, you will never arrive at a fully neutral pH using this method.


If you just define neutralising as changing the pH value towards 7, then indeed weaker acids will serve the purpose due to the principle of dilution: a more diluted solution of the same acid is less strong than a more concentrated solution. Or, in other words, $\pu{1l}$ of $\pu{96\%}$ sulphuric acid is stronger than a mixture of $\pu{500ml}$ of $\pu{96\%}$ sulphuric acid with $\pu{500ml}$ of glacial acetic acid. But as mentioned previously, you will arrive nowhere near a neutral pH using this method.


Whether using vinegar to combat heartburn makes sense medically — which I doubt since it is excess protons in a part of the body not designed to handle these — is off-topic here.


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