Uncovering the Health Benefits and Side Effects of Betaine HCl

Hi Lisa from Thousand Oaks, Ca, Usa: Can you let me know the Betaine/Pepsin that you are using contains filler ? If no, can you email me the brand name to hellobc82 at yahoo.com. Thanks

Hi Susan, Actually, my betaine with pepsin does have fillers. After listening to the audio I had posted regarding fillers in supplements, I resolved that on my next purchase, I look for betaine without any. When I find a really good quality one, I will be sure to post or email you about it. Best to you, Lisa

Susan, It's actually a N____'s S_____ product, called FOOD ENZYMES: it contains... Betain HCL, Alpha Amylase, pepsin, bromelain, papain, bile salts, pancreatin, lipase, gelatinaand water, cellulose, magnesium stearate and silicon dioxide. Hope this helps.

Hi, I have gas, acidity, belcing, flatulence, indigestion problem. I wanted to take Betaine hcl tablets. How many months I have to consume it so I can reduce my all the problems permanently.

Does Betaine HCL relieves the problem permanently or temporarily?

Thanks, Sanjay

Dr. Art Ayers says that Betaine HCL does not acidify the stomach because its a ph neutral compound. I added betaine hcl to some cooked pork in a glass jar (with pepsin) and nothing happened, nothing was digested.

So how does betaine HCL work? is it effectively a "bitter" that triggers the stomach to produce more HCL?

Bill, you stated:

Betaine HCL / stomach acid..."triggers the secretin hormone which makes the pancreas secrete important digestive enzymes and alkaline bicarbonates into the duodenum(upper intestines) for Main Stage digestion to successfully occur. The duodenum should be at an alkaline to neutral pH – not acidic -- for proper digestion otherwise the pancreatic enzymes won't work."

So shouldn't one take the betaine HCL an hour or two away from the pancreatin?

Or take the pancreatin maybe a half hour or hour before eating?

for Bill,

I have systemic candida, now I am on candida diet. I lost a lot weight.

My tongue is very white, sinusitis, dry and itchy skin and eyes.

I started candida cleanse. I can not take a lot supplement because my stomach.

I use:

1.Morning

Aloe-vera + slippery elm1 tsp coconut oil, krill oil, b12, vit b3-5000, vit c-500 mg

2. betaine 650 after meal + 1tsp coconut oil

3.enzyme pancretin with meal+ 1 tsp coconut oil+probiotics

4. I don't know if I have to take a betaine if I eat grain with fish.

if I understand betaine is only taking with meat, but I eat only on dinner.

Also, my big problem, my muscle started to be painful and knot.

I started to take magnesium Cl + epsom salt bath and spray my foot with magnesium oil, I am scared to use on my body because my skin is very dry.

I bought lecithin and sublingual vit b.

I dont know how many time I have to expect to see an improvement?

Get yourself checked for Celiac Disease, low acid is a symptom.

Thank you, Colleen. I took Betaine HCL tonight, felt really good for a while, but tonight I have a mild tummy ache, not at all usual for me. So maybe it's the pepsin. It helps to know that. I'll try to find Campbell-McBride's formulation. I'm also up at 3:30 am, and I've heard that Betaine can cause insomnia.

YEA, Betaine HCl a gift from God.

HI MIKE,
Thanks a lot for posting about betaine HCL on the earthclinic website. I have learnt a lot from your postings. In fact I have gain lots of improvements by taking betaine hcl capsules.

BETTER BUT WITH SIDE EFFECTS

Hello, I was hoping to share my experience with betaine hcl and get some feedback. I started taking it over a year ago and at first I had no success. I tried after meals, in between meals, right before a meal, nothing really worked. I think at the time I was taking about 700 mg/ with a different amount of pepsin depending on the brand I was using at the time.

Before betaine started working for me, I had a HUGE stomach, I'm a 25 year old male, thin frame, but my stomach looked as if I was carrying twins, not an overstatement at all. I had been taking other supplements (whole foods multi, fish oil, I've probably tried 50 different supplements) but nothing helped. I had tried digestive enzymes but they did nothing on the stomach, they just made my already thin frame look even thinner, which was not a good thing. I discovered my stomach didn't start going away until I would take 2 betaine tablets 20 minutes before a meal, and they had to be tablets.

4 months later a lot of the stomach had gone away and it was now in good proportion with the rest of my body, the issue is though, I had lost too much weight. The betaine had started to really thin me out, after about 5 or 6 months I started having bad insomnia that I'm still battling. I quit taking any sort of supplement that could lead to excess energy, tried a bunch of different things for sleep, but nothing helped. Finally I started thinking it was the Betaine HCL and the fact that I was now under weight causing my insomnia.

I started to play around with the timing of the dosage but just as I suspected, if I don't take them 20 minutes or so before the meal my stomach just starts expanding again. I started taking 1200 mg which is double what I had been taking after the first bite of a meal, and that's been an alright compromise, I'm building muscle better, very slightly though, but the belly slowly starts to build up. I'm not sure about my current weight as there's no scale in the house, but to give an example, at my worst before the betaine I was 170, normal weight was about 147 or so for me. Using the betaine I dropped down to 131, I'm 5'6. So I'm kinda stuck here. If I were to just stop taking betaine, I would have an obese stomach within a week. I ran out for one day, and the difference between my stomach was night and day, isn't that crazy!? The only thing that works for me keeps me too under weight so I don't know what to do here.

I've read that some of you take a crazy amount of capsules or tablets? Should I be doing the same? Maybe go from 1200 mg to 2400? Any suggestions or comments would be much appreciated. Thank you.

The description of your bloated stomach sounds like a potential parasite problem. Often with chronic situations Hcl gets low, and then allows parasites/fungus to thrive. You might want to research intestinal parasites and fungus, and/or look into food-grade Diatomaceous Earth, which is a nice non-toxic way of dealing with some intestinal critters.

It doesn't seem right that the betaine Hcl could be repsonsible for the weight loss--but bloating and weight loss are certainly signs of worms/parasites (among other things. ) What is your elimination like?Could you have contracted giardia or some other bug?

One common way to determine how much Hcl to take is to the "challenge test. " That is, take a tablet before a meal, and each meal add one more tablet until you get to the point where you feel "heat" in the stomach.

The "heat" feeling is the too-much indicator, so back off to the previous number of tablets.

Hcl is mostly for digesting the food in the stomach. The amount of bloating you describe sounds like it's coming from the intestines, so you likely have more going on than just low stomach acid. You might want to get a stool test, but they do often come back with false negatives, at least in the US. If you can get a complete digestive panel done, that might be useful to rule out IBS etc.

Hi Mola, I'm from Malaysia, too! I've been actively hunting for Betaine HCl in Kuala Lumpur, but to no avail! Frustratingly so. Apparently, you seem to be able to get them!

Perhaps, you can help me. Kindly, list down the places or shops that do stock them. And if anybody out there can help out too, please do. Buying over the internet involves massive customs issue, and may eventually not be released!

Thanks a lot.

Regards, QChan

Can anyone advise me as to whether or not there is an HCl that does not have pepsin in it? I have been taking it with pepsin for 2 years with great success, after being diagnosed with Barrett's Esophagus. (My gastro has done 2 repeat endoscopies and says he can no longer find evidence of BE! ) I also have celiac disease and was not able to tolerate the drugs prescribed for BE. I have been using Betaine HCl, DGL, and powdered slippery elm mixed in warm water with great success. However, now I have a pork allergy and it is my understanding that gel-caps and pepsin are derived from pork. Will HCl be affective without the pepsin in it and is there a form other than capsules? If so, what brand? Thanks much for your help.

Andrea

Thanks, Mike, for your recommendation, however, I contacted Natural Factors and the Betaine HCl with Fenugreek gelatin capsule does contain pork. So glad I double-checked.

Lets face it Andrea you will never be able to avoid pork in your whole lifetime since how many other food products do not list pork as one of their ingredient ? If the reason for avoiding pork is religious then you have to weigh religious belief against your own vital personal health. Mike

Premier Research labs has a premier HCL that is Beet Derived hydrochloric acid and a vegetable capsule. AND there are plenty of supplements that you can take and STILL avoid pork. Look for V-caps or vergetable capsules or supplements made for vegetarians or vegans.

Actually, Pharmax brand betaine HCL does not contain pepsin and is a vegetarian capsule. My son cannot take pepsin does better with vegetarian capsules.

Hi Andrea, I just being diagnosed with Barrett's Esophagus, could you tell me please dosage (number of pills) by meal/day and when to take HCL, many thanks in advance. I know it's individual, but I need to start somehow. Pavel.

Hi Andrea, I just being diagnosed with Barrett's Esophagus, could you tell me about you mixture of slippery elm, DGL and HCL?

Update:

After stopping the acid reflux drugs for Barrett's Esophagus because they caused asthma, I used the slippery elm powder to relieve any heartburn that I had. I put 1 tsp. of Slippery Elm powder in a pint jar, added 1 cup of very warm water and shook it until it is mixed, and then poured it back into a coffee mug to sip on. It works very well. In addition, I did not eat anything for 4 hours before lying down.

Since my original post, two other gals I know used Slippery Elm and were told that there was no evidence of Barrett's Esophagus after their next upper endoscopy. It is important to know that each one of us had been diagnosed with celiac disease at the same time as Barrett's and we all strictly adhere to a gluten-free diet, the only medically prescribed treatment for celiac disease. If you are having other digestive issues, in addition to heartburn (and even if you're not), consider getting tested for celiac disease because that could be your problem. Important: DO NOT start eating gluten-free until after testing is completed as it will affect your test results. Also, be aware that sometimes the blood test can be negative and the small bowel biopsy can still be positive, which is currently the gold standard of diagnosis.

Hey Bill, thanks for the help! I will look into iodine. Very interesting.

Very interesting results for producing adequate HCL. But I wonder if it will work for me ? There has to be a better reason for low iodine production in the body other than a lack of it in the diet. I wonder if it has anything to do with aging?

Hey guys, I just ordered some Lugol's iodine. Until then I have added a little bit of salt and have started taking kelp supplements along with my trusty betaine hcl. The salt is making me bloated and I have alot of gas. So I am going to cut back on that a bit. I should receive the iodine by this weekend so I'll give an update soon.

Yes! Keep us informed I might try it but first I will see how it works out for you.

Very well described and I totally agree with you on your last paragraph!!

"If you have a healthy intestines then this means that by keeping your Digestion, Absorption and Excretion pathways in good shape in your body, which also includes the liver and kidneys, then this will act and heavily contribute towards promoting your own good health."

May I also add that many terminal cancer disease of the digestive system could be detected at a much earlier stage just from regular stool analysis alone.

Question for Bill from San Fernando, can you clarify from your posting regarding iodine, " 3 drops daily can lead to toxic symptoms" ? I saw this in the article from your link.

Hi Paul123... The "3 drops daily can lead to toxic symptoms" quote reference lugol's iodine intake comes at the end of the Howenstine article, and is probably there to prevent prosecution according to the current rules of the FDA.

I myself have taken over 50 mgs (8 drops) of lugols for a short period with little apparent effect apart from perhaps a little insomnia(which went away quickly after I started taking only 2 drops a day). Your kidneys should easily be able to excrete the excess iodine fairly quickly.

At the start of the Howenstine article, he recommends up to 8 drops of lugols iodine per day for particular chronic ailments.

There was also an article written by Dr Abraham from the Iodine Project, whose current purpose is to investigate the historic medical uses of lugols iodine and to verify them by research. He also wrote an interesting article concerning the current fear of internal iodine use which was perpetrated by poor or spoiler research which culminated in the Wolff-Chaikoff report in the 1950s and 1960s. The purpose of this report was simply to demolish Lugol Iodine's useful medical reputation in order to perpetuate the use of other synthetic, expensive and more dangerous drugs from the drugs industry.

Using current and past research together with dietary patterns of high iodine intake demographics, here is where Dr Abrahams, from the Iodine Project, thoroughly rebutts and completely demolishes the Wolff-Chaikoff report, thereby destroying the case for 'Iodophobia':

www.optimox.com/pics/Iodine/IOD-04/IOD_04.html

This should help alleviate some of your fears concerning the internal use of Lugol's Iodine.

Try taking transdermal magnesium oil. Magnesium activates the enzyme responsible for the production of stomach acid.

I put a capfull of ACV. In a glass of 5/1 dituted pure lemon juice sweetened with honey. and have been drinking it once a day for about three months. The lemon Juice is Hcl. Which is the same acid as stomach acid. The Acv is Acetic... But when it breaks down its an acaline ash so apparently does the honey which is used to sweeten it. So thats two natural cleaning fluids that go into the blood in small amounts over a long period the effects seem to be aculmulative.

The left ear was deaf for at least ten years probably more after a bad head cold where some small amount of blood and pus came out of it. When I started the ACV the ear seemed to try and come back in fits and starts, but with the lemon juice added it just got better and better, its slightly down on the other one but I think the right ear has improved as well. All the red patches on my hands have gone back to normal skin, and the liver spots have gone. I just have normal glasses to operate the computer where before I had to use reading glasses.. But i'm taking a spoonfull of blueberries a day as well which apparently helps the eyes. But the eyes improved before I started that. Im a bit weary of saying its a panacea but its the best thing ive tried so far. I also take 3mgs of Boron and a kelp tablet plus a zinc and potasium. Ive dropped most of the other supplements, as from trying them over a period im sure the synthetic ones are bad for the health as side of the mouth ulcers have appeared twice whilst on them.. and disapeared after I stopped.

The last batch I made up I put the zest in as well, by using a fine grater. Digestion is better, which is obvious by well formed stools. I could go on and on, but give it a try for a few weeks, the heart seems to strengthen up as well with not a hint of a palputation.

I too have found significant benefits in raising HCL levels. Betaine HCL is without a doubt the most convenient way for me. May I point out that while ACV (acetic acid) and lemon juice (ascorbic acid) are both excellent ways of stimulating the production of HCL in the stomach they are not composed of HCL themselves.

Hi, I understand the benefits of HCL acid. I've ordered probably the wrong vertion of it, it is liquid in drops. I have pills coming too in a week probably. Anybody knows how to take HCL acid drops correctly?

I got up as high as 20 HCl capsules per meal (only meals including protein) and not only my reflux went away, but my sleep apnea also went away. I am now down to 8 or 10. I think that shows that the stomach can re-learn how to produce its own acid with a little nudge.

I don't like to see dairy and soy advocated, but to each his own. Just do research before you eat dairy or soy.

Also Gavin: lemon juice is CITRIC acid, vinegar is ACETIC acid. What aids in digestion and provides all these other benefits to health is HYDROCHLORIC acid. Very different animal. You can go to the hardware store and buy it (muriatic -label covered with warnings) to clean the caliche (hard water buildup) out of your pipes and inside the washer and stuff like that, but if you drank it you would die. Just thought I'd mention that. I love lemon juice and vinegar, but it's not good for your teeth if not diluted. And I doubt it helps with digestion very much if at all.

Happy eating yall!

Lisa, Do you buy Betaine HCL with pepsin or alone? I only seem to find it combined with pepsin.

Didn't you also say at one time that acupuncture helped you with bloating? Thanks.

Hi Elsaeasterly, I buy the betaine hcl with pepsin. It helps incredibly with bloating and that unending full feeling.

And yes, acupuncture has helped me with a myriad of issues, one of them being stomach issues. My acupuncturist says many problems begin in the stomach. I have had amazing results with acupuncture. Take care, Lisa

Hi, I am new to this, so excuse me if I have posted in the wrong place.

I have been reading about hcl betaine and pepsin. I want to try this, but I do suffer with what I think is acid reflux (I don't get it all the time, more when I am under stress, which I am now). So I want to try with the hcl, but if I get burn without supplementation how do I know what level to go to, as I read you are supposed to go to the burn level, but I have that anyway. Sorry if I haven't explained that well any advice is appreciated.

Thank you, Sarah

Hi Sarah, I never followed that rule and have been taking betaine hcl for almost two years now on a regular basis after learning about it here on EC. It has been incredible for me taking care of acid reflux, slow digestion, bloating, etc. I take 2-3 with each meal during the meal and it works beautifully. Hope this info helps, Lisa

Thank you Lisa. So you didn't increase the dose just stuck at two? Yes that is helpful. Also some things say only take with protein meals and some say every meal, does seem a little confusing. Hopefully I will settle on something that works.

Thanks again....Sarah

Hi Sarah, I usually take 3 betaine hcl with pepsin. Occassionally, only 2 but 3 seems to be the magic number for me. Just experiment. I started with just one and that didn't make a dent! Since 3 works, I just stay there. Try not to get too confused... Lisa

That is great, thanks again. I will experiment and see if I can find a dose that works.

I have been having GERD with no heartburn, no burning, and my stools are fairly normal. I am 32 years old, and eat very healthy. I know that taking HCL with an ulcer is dangerous, and I'm wondering, would I know if I had an ulcer? Also has anyone cut out carbs, and sugar to help rid the stomach of bacteria? How, or how not has this helped?

I know I should see a doctor, but I have no insurance, AND all they want me to do is take Prilosec, which I read is bad because it drops your PH level in your stomach to 0!!! I just picked up HCL with Pepsin today, and I'm anxious to start taking it. I have also have had occasional bloating. Any advice would be greatly appreciated : )

The best way to learn if you have an ulcer is to get an upper GI scope (endoscopy). I was convinced I had an ulcer from my myriad of symptoms to learn after an endoscopy that there was nothing. What is helping me now until I can finish get doctor tests completed is ACV diluted in water (2 tsps) before each meal. It's not a cure yet but a band aid until I can figure out what is causing my chronic heartburn. Good luck to everyone!

Thank you for your post. I have suffered with digestive issues, weight gain and atrophied muscles my whole life. I am going off gluten and dairy and just started taking HCL Betaine. I have gone up to 5 pills per meal so far with no burning. I will keep going and am trying it in combination with wheatgrass, moringa, multivitamins, concentrated red berry powder, phood, glucosamine methylated b12 methylfolate etc. Etc. I really appreciate your sharing and will try to keep you posted.

Drink 1/2 or full glass of Kefir before breakfast... Also use the Kefir WITH the fat in it. It will set up your body to absorb nutrients.

Hi there, I have low b12, have positive parietal cell antibodies and am on b12 injections. My question is, would betaine hcl and pepsin help with digestion and absorption of b vitamins? Can hcl be harmful? Thanks