HCl acid experience?

[julesmoz]

I suspect that my digestion may not be completely up to par, and I'm thinking of trying some HCl supplements (in definite moderation) for a while. Does anyone have any experience with these? Any cautions or warnings?

[faith4u]

You know I was just thinking after I saw this and your other post on losing so much weight.....

Victoria B. talks in her book about people that get too thin having a HCI acid problem.

Do you do green smoothies? She said that it helped the people to gain weight that needed to gain weight.

[veganman]

Julesmoz -

I have been doing some research on this. I think HCL is mostly important when digesting protein. Most books advise a HCL challenge - start with I capsule/tablet at a meal, then increase to two, etc at the next meal until you feel a burning sensation. Then, at the following meal, go back to the amount before you had the burning. I was up to 4 and no burning, but I began to wonder about the process. Apparently we have two "bins" in our stomach. The first one is where food starts to digest for an hour or so before it is dropped into the bigger stomach where the HCL is. Certain foods digest better away from the acid (starches and sugars), whereas proteins need the acid and pepsin.

To make a long story short, I stopped the HCL while I continue to learn about the digestion process. Please keep me informed on what you learn - I am very interested!

[julesmoz]

Veganman -

I had learned the same thing about HCl - that is was mainly only needed for protein digestion. That's why I haven't done it yet. Interesting that you had some similar reactions as I did . . .

I do at least one green smoothie a day, and a lot of blended foods, so maybe HCl supplementation isn't the answer for me.

[veganman]

I do a green smoothie every day and still note a green tint in my stools. I am wondering if I was absorbing appropriately if there would be no color.

Have you found any sites or books helpful on this?