TUMS for tummy troubles - Is there a better way?

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For those of you, like myself, who experience almost regular moments of acid indigestion, Tums calcium carbonate chew tablets are usually the no. 1 American's choice to curb the effects of heartburn in a pinch. But going on day after day and taking these anti-acid tablets is only prolonging a more serious issue. Putting anti-acids in your system might work for a short time but over a long period of time, you might just get an ulcer. What would you rather do, stop eating the foods that cause your tummy troubles? Or keep on making your heartburn a regular thing and continue to take Tums and Rolaids and other chewable antacids for the rest of your days? The thing that I realized, after stopping eating late at night before bedtime was that I didn't always have that recurrent heart burn and acid indigestion. I still have a bottle of Tums on my end table and I do sometimes forget and have a chocolate bar right after guzzling down a cold beverage like cola or iced tea. These are the types of things that trigger acid in the stomach. I basically either have to sit up for a few hours after a late night snack before going to bed to sleep for the rest of the night, or I will indeed have some heartburn. What do you do?