HCL Challenge

[veganman]

Has anyone here done an HCL Challenge like Victoria Boutekno talks about in the Green for Life book? I have been trying it and am up to 3 Betaine HCL pills per meal with no burning.

I am wondering if this is part of my problem....low Hydrochloric Acid.

Any thoughts or experience?

[veganman]

No HCL Challengers out there?

[Sunshine9]

Heya,
I've been trying to increase my HCl as well. I've been doing this by taking in lots of greens juice, green soups, HCl capsules, and digestive enzymes. I notice it helps a lot.


How are you doing with it veganman?

~*Sunshine*~

[veganman]

Hi Sunshine -

I am trying to ascertain whether I have a problem or not. How did you know?

[cornvalley]

If you think about long enough, a problem will develope.

[Sunshine9]

I decided to start taking them on the recommendation of a friend, because I was experiencing bloating. I think HCl is a good thing to improve and that likely could become even better if one has ever eaten cooked food. Cooked things are very hard on the digestion, and I think we can always do things to make our digestion better and stronger than ever. So I think taking some HCl or even just doing a shot of lemon or ACV before a meal is very beneficial for a few months.

[julesmoz]

Sunshine,

I'm so glad you started this post! I've been wondering a lot about this very subject the past several days.

I suspect I may have low HCl because I've lost an inoridnate amount of weight in the 4 1/2 months I've been raw. So I would like very much to hear more about this challenge. Can you please elaborate?

I've been considering taking the tablets, but I didn't know if there were risks, side-effects, etc. Especially if I'm not sure I need them . . .

Looking quite forward to your reply!

[veganman]

Sunshine,

I'm so glad you started this post! I've been wondering a lot about this very subject the past several days.

I suspect I may have low HCl because I've lost an inoridnate amount of weight in the 4 1/2 months I've been raw. So I would like very much to hear more about this challenge. Can you please elaborate?

I've been considering taking the tablets, but I didn't know if there were risks, side-effects, etc. Especially if I'm not sure I need them . . .

Looking quite forward to your reply!

Hi julesmoz.

I know your questions were addressed to Sunshine, but I thought I would give you the info that I know. The way understand it, you start of by taking one HCL tablet with a meal and seeing if you had any burning. If not, you increase the next day to 2 tablets at each meal. You continue increasing each day until you get burning. At the next meal, you back off one tablet.

I am up to 3 tablets and no burning. I am considering going to 4, but wanted to see if anyone knew more about this process. For instance, will I eventually rebuild my system with raw food and be able to stop the added HCL? Is there any problems with this process?

[julesmoz]

thanks, Veganman. I'll let you know if I find anything more.

[JMD]

Veganman~~

Just wanted to let you know I feel i am HCL challenged too---b/c I have IBS and cannot tolerate eating more that 3-4 simple foods at a time. I tried HCL tabs in the past and had some success. I actually went up to ten and had NO adverse reaction :eek: --your post reminds me maybe it is time to try again.

[lane]

drinking 5-6 cups of green smoothies (with mostly greens- very little fruit) dramatically increased my HCl levels. When I first began drinking them, my bowel movements were green. After about two weeks, they changed overnight to brown- which is what many others experienced during Victoria's study and is apparently indicative of an increase in acid.

[veganman]

I am still looking into this topic. For those that have used HCL tablets, when did you take them and how did you determine the timing? Was it before the meal, at the beginning of the meal, during the meal, or after the meal?

I have been reading about digestion and it sounds like food stays at the top part of your stomach for @ 1 hours before going into the hydrochloric acid produced by the stomach. Therefore, I am trying to ascertain the best time to take HCL, especially if also taking enzymes, which deactivate when coming into contact with HCL.

Any thoughts?