Hello,

Would anyone know (maybe you certainly Matt because you are studying to be a nutritionist), whether there are substitutes to HCL supplementation?

I strongly suspect that I'm deficient in stomach acid; yesterday I ate some almonds which came out as I had chewed them - undigested.

Would this be a sign of low hydrochloric acid?

But due to the inflammed feeling in my digestive tract, I would rather take something else than HCL supplements. Is there such a thing as holistic methods to stimulate hydrochloric acid production?

Thanks

Hi Dechen,

The production of stomach acid requires a lot of energy and nutrients. Probably the most important nutrient for stomach acid production is zinc which is required by the enzyme (carbonic anhydrase) that produces the acid. If you have a zinc deficiency (as most people with Candida/gut dysbiosis do) this could be contributing to the problem and zinc supplementation may help. I'd certainly advise you to have your zinc levels tested.

Other remedies that are suggested include chewing food properly to get the digestive juices flowing (but it sounds like you do this already), or taking apple cider vinegar and/or vitamin C with meals. I'm unsure of the validity of these and unfortunately my time is too limited to check for you right now, sorry about that.

I will try to come back to this question when my time allows!