Stomach Acid – Friend or Foe?

Did you know that stomach acid is supposed to be good for you, and that most of us don’t have enough stomach acid to properly digest our food? Would you consider taking HCL (hydrochloric acid) supplements? Well, that’s what the authors of the book “Why Stomach Acid Is Good For You: Natural Relief from heartburn, Indigestion, Reflux and GERD” think.

This semester, along with pre-reqs for PA schools (and other health-care Master’s programs), I’m also pursuing my Nutritional Therapy Practitioner certification from the Nutritional Therapy Association. I was going to go the route of a registered dietician, and I still may, but I feel that this certification would work well along with a PA degree. I hope to one day be able to dispense nutritional advice to patients coming in for “well visits.” I really love this program, because it focuses so much on whole, real foods and ancestral diets. Some may say it isn’t science-based, that simply isn’t true. I just finished the digestion module and am going on to the module about blood sugar regulation. This part of the course is very challenging as well as fascinating. I also think my science pre-reqs and eventual Master’s coursework is quite science-based!

As part of this course, we have to read a mountain of books, ranging from Anatomy and Physiology textbooks, nutritional tomes and books that are a bit more alternative in their approaches to health. One of these books is “Why Stomach Acid Is Good for You: Natural Relief from Heartburn, Indigestion, Reflux & GERD,” by Jonathan V. Wright, M.D, and Lane Lenard, Ph.D.

When I started the book, I didn’t know what to expect. As someone who suffered from reflux when I was pregnant, I always thought that stomach acid was something “bad,” something to get rid of! I mean, why else would pharmacy shelves be full of antacids, and why would doctors give you acid-blocking medications when you have heartburn?

Let’s just say reading this book was eye-opening. As I mentioned previously, I’m currently taking Physiology along with this course, and the professor sped through the lectures on digestion. But clearly in the lecture, she stated what the author of this book asserts: Stomach acid activates pepsin from its proenzyme form, is needed for proper digestion and triggers the secretion of secretin from the pancreas, and so on. But of course, she ended the lecture with a discussion about Zantac, Prilosec and other means of stopping stomach acid.

According to the authors of this book, apparently, we’ve been fighting the wrong culprit all along! The stomach is supposed to be highly acidic. HCL is needed to digest lipids and carbohydrates, and to activate pepsin to digest proteins. An acidic environment in the stomach also ensures that the chyme entering the small intestine will be coated with bicarbonate from the pancreas, as HCL triggers the pancreas to secrete secretin. Without a proper amount of stomach acid, the stomach is unable to properly digest food.

According to the book, when the stomach is in a hypochloridic, or low acid state, proteins, fats and carbohydrates will remain in a semi-digested form and will begin to putrefy. In the small intestine, where nutrient absorption is supposed to occur, this either won’t happen or the nutrients won’t properly be taken up, since the bolus of food is not properly broken down. This putrified, rancid, fermenting, undigested matter then enters the large intestine, where it shouldn’t. This leads to bloating, gassiness and problems with elimination.

The authors also state that without enough acidity, the stomach is not protected from opportunistic pathogens like H. pylori. This leads to a host of problems, such as stomach ulcers, tears and more. The acidity of HCL usually kills such pathogens.

The main cause of reflux, according to this book, isn’t actually stomach acid, but a problem with the lower esophageal sphincter, which should be closed tight after the bolus of food leaves the esophagus and enters the stomach! When it doesn’t close properly, acid leaches into the esophagus, which isn’t protected by a mucus coat like the stomach is.

The book goes into much more detail about this, and the authors, who are medical doctors themselves, recommend people take HCL and pepsin supplements, after consulting with a naturopathic or regular physician to ensure it’s safe to do so. This runs completely counter to what I have been told my whole life! We are supposed to TAKE acid pills, to increase our acidity? Apparently, the author thinks so, as most of us have stomachs in hypochloridic states.

I haven’t rushed out to buy HCL supplements, nor have I consulted a physician about this, but I do wonder if I have enough stomach acid to properly digest my food! What do you think? Have you read the book, and would you consider taking HCL supplements?

If you want to know more, here’s a link to the book on Amazon.com.