How to Correct Your Burping, Heartburn, or Reflux Problem

If you suffer from indigestion like burping or gas immediately after a meal, offensive breath, difficult bowel movements or a sense of fullness after meals you may be suffering from too little stomach acid.

As we discussed before, heartburn and gastric reflux can also ultimately be caused by too little stomach acid - a condition called hypochlorhydria. But, I never told you what to do about it. A couple of readers suggested I give them some more information that they could put to use.

Okay, I’ll cop to not being forthright, but my intentions were good. You see, the way to increase stomach acid which is called “hydrochloric acid” is to take a supplement that contains, you guessed it, hydrochloric acid. Taking such a supplement can either help or hurt, literally. That’s why I hesitated to post it earlier.

If you have the symptoms of hypochlorhydria you may want to try taking some “stomach acid in a pill.” Standard Process makes a very good supplement called Betaine Hydrochloride. If you don’t have an ulcer this product may help you. However, if you have stomach or esophageal ulcers, taking more acid is going to give you more heartburn. So, you have to be judicious. If you have more of the symptoms associated with too much acid in your stomach then it’s best to take a product to heal the ulcers first. I promise to post on this later.

If you don’t actually have ulcers it’s probably safe to give a supplement a try. I always recommend working through this with a clinician but if you want a little self-care project here are my suggestions:

Better Body Solutions Health Tips

1. If you experience symptoms of hypochlorhydria you may want to try a supplement to increase your levels of hydrochloric acid

2. Buy a tablet rather than a pill so that you can easily break it.

3. Bite off only 1/4 to 1/3 of the tablet

4. If you don’t experience heartburn or increased symptoms try taking more

5. If your symptoms go away or greatly improve take the supplement for one month

6. Notice what happens when you stop taking the supplement. If the symptoms come back return to this blog. I’ll post again in the next week about common causes of hypochlorhydria stomach problems and what to do about them.