“The gut is at the center of our health. Healing your gut is the first step for optimising health and healthspan,” said Tanya Malik Chawla, a digital creator and “biohacker,” in an Instagram reel, and suggested taking a one-minute test to find out whether you are prone to acidity. The test involves taking baking soda with water on an empty stomach. Baking soda (an alkali) will mix with stomach acid to produce carbon dioxide (gas), leading to burping. The time you take to burp is used as an indicator to decide whether a person has low stomach acid. In her video, Chawla challenged a common misconception—that acidity is caused by excess stomach acid. Instead, she claimed that low stomach acid causes food to sit undigested in the gut, leading to fermentation and acid reflux (GERD).   To verify Chawla’s claim, we consulted Meenu Balaji, chief nutritionist at Pragmatic Nutrition, Chennai, who told us that the test is a popular home method for assessing stomach acid production. Story continues below this ad “Our stomach produces hydrochloric …