Low Stomach Acid: Belching, Gas And Constipation

Low Stomach Acid: Belching, Gas, and Constipation Explained

Dawn (00:00):

Hello and welcome to the Gastric Health Show. My name is Dawn Boxell and this week’s topic is low stomach acid, belching gas and constipation explained. We’re going to dive into some digestive issues that are very common after surgery and really just with a lot of people. So this is something that I think has been a problem for a long time and you could lump heartburn in here with it as well because you can get that same symptom.

Dawn (00:41):

But in essence, when you put these three symptoms together, the belching gas and constipation, it is a red flag for low stomach acid. So that’s why I want to talk about it. I want us to have this conversation on digestion so that you can kind of understand, hey, maybe I do have an issue with the amount of stomach acid I have and maybe I need to look into that.

Dawn (01:07):

So let’s dive in and hopefully you can determine if you need to check things out a little further. Although these symptoms are embarrassing and uncomfortable to discuss, they can be a cause that is often looked over of low stomach acid. But what exactly is low stomach acid and what causes it? I think that’s the biggest thing you have to understand. So what is low stomach acid hypochlorhydria or low stomach acid occurs when the stomach doesn’t produce enough acid to break down the food and absorb the nutrients. And when that occurs, you will soon find out there’s going to be lots of symptoms that come with that. When that acid piece just that one thing is off, then there’s definitely going to be issues.

What is low stomach acid?

Dawn (02:10):

Now, stomach acid aids, digestion and nutrient absorption as well as protecting the body from harmful bacteria and pathogens. And this can come from food or just your environment and a lack of stomach acid can cause indigestion, malnutrition, and sometimes bacterial overgrowth, which you’ve heard me talk about many times. Small intestinal bacterial overgrowth, we can even talk about it as in the colon as well. There is a property that can be in the colon as well as well as many other digestive symptoms. So you can see that stomach acid does really play a vital role in your ability to maintain health.

Dawn (02:58):

So it’s not just about the constipation, the belching, you have to think further and deeper, and that involves your absorption of nutrients. So that perspective of malnutrition is very real because if you’re unable to absorb the nutrients that you are consuming, guess what? You’re going to have a hard time maintaining your health because that’s what your body lives off of, the food that you fuel it with. So again, I think you have to consider all angles in which stomach acid plays a role.

What are the symptoms of low stomach acid?

Dawn (03:37):

So what are the symptoms of low stomach acid? It can be belching or burping after meals, and it would be not just occasionally, it would be kind of excessively like it’s definitely a symptom that you can’t control gas after a meal and everybody has gas, but maybe you feel like after you eat is when you experience more of it or it’s more pronounced bad breath fullness after a meal.

Dawn (04:07):

And this means after eating just a small amount of food so you don’t even have to consume much and you just feel really full because what’s happening is you don’t have the digestive properties to start breaking down the food. So it just kind of sits like a brick. It just sits really heavy whenever you eat. The next one is constipation, and then the last one is unable to digest heavy protein meals and all of these symptoms.

Belching/Burping After Meals:

Dawn (04:38):

And there are definitely more, but these are the ones we are kind of focusing on today so that you can kind of get a good perspective and understanding of if you need to dig deeper. So let’s discuss the belching. Burping after meals, even though it’s common, excessive belching can be a sign of low stomach acids and researchers have found that hypochlorhydria can cause incomplete food digestion resulting in a stomach gas formation.

Dawn (05:10):

And this excess gas buildup can result in frequent belching after meals. So again, if like I’m saying, if you consume a meal and it just sits really heavy and you just start having a lot of belching and gas, then that should be a red flag. In one study, the researchers found that low stomach acid levels were associated with increased belching in patients with gastroesophageal reflux or gerd. So again, and you’ll see in a little while that connection with GERD and gas.

Dawn (05:48):

So you’ll see that where heartburn can play as a symptom as well to low stomach acid after a meal. Gas can be uncomfortable and embarrassing after a meal. Low stomach acid impairs the breakdown of carbohydrates in the stomach contributing to the gas formation, and then as the food travels through your digestive tract, the fermentation P can begin because your body hasn’t broken down those foods.

Gas After a Meal:

Dawn (06:18):

So now you have unbroken down food particles that are in your intestines that are supposed to be ready to be absorbed and they’re not. So what happens is your gut bacteria start fermenting on those and creating even more gas and bloating and discomfort. Again, you one leads to more. And then furthermore, the gas can put pressure on that lower esophageal sphincter, which is at the bottom of your esophagus. So this is the flap that goes seals at the bottom of your esophagus into your stomach.

Dawn (07:04):

So that’s supposed to be teal sealed tightly. And what can happen is that gas can put pressure on that sphincter and now it’s not tightly sealed and it’s seeping into your esophagus and that’s where you get gerd, you get heartburn. So again, that gas formation is huge when it, and it’s coming from a variety of things, but it’s really coming from digested food and the fermentation of that.

Dawn (07:35):

And that gas formation just again, just creates that problem with the bloating and the gas and the belching. And then of course, heartburn and reflux. A study has shown that low stomach acid levels may increase the risk of functional dyspepsia, a condition characterized by upper abdominal pain, bloating and early satiety. So again, similar symptoms. Number three, bad breath. So bad breath can be caused by low stomach acid. A fermentation process in the stomach can result in the release of foul smelling gases that can be expelled through the mouth when the food ferments.

Bad Breath:

Dawn (08:14):

So again, when you’re having mal digested food that is in your stomach, that passes through into your small intestines, and now that gut bacteria’s fermenting, it creates this environment of odor causing gases. Low stomach acid levels can allow the bacteria to grow in the intestines causing an overgrowth of bacteria and bad breath.

Dawn (08:45):

So again, small intestinal bacteria overgrowth. You could think about bad breath, BNA side effect of that as well. A study found h pylori infections, which cause low stomach acid and we’ll get into that in a minute. Were associated with bad breath among patients with functional dyspepsia. So again, maybe the only symptom that you have is bad breath. You really don’t recognize other digestive symptoms. So again, when you have these symptoms and you really can’t associate it with any dental problems, I would go to the gut, I would go to low stomach acid and dig deeper into like a bacterial overgrowth or things like that.

Fullness After a Meal:

Dawn (09:30):

So if bad breath is an issue for you, you would want to think of, you would want to connect the dots with the digestive problems. Number four, fullness after a meal. Insufficient stomach acid can make you feel overly full after eating even if you just ate a small amount. And again, kind of that feeling, that heavy full feeling and making food sit like a brick and it makes it hard for you to really be able to get adequate amount of nutrients in because you just don’t have the ability you have to do really small frequent meals in order to get everything in that you should.

Dawn (10:13):

So inadequate acid levels slow down the digestion process leading to delayed gastric emptying. And as a result of delayed emptying food remains in the stomach long for longer periods resulting in a feeling of fullness. A study found that low stomach acid levels led to delayed gastric emptying and excessive fullness. I have talked about this before in previous podcasts in low stomach acid in relation to heartburn after gastric bypass. And you can find that on our website in the links are in the notes.

Constipation:

Dawn (10:48):

And then also the advantages of digestive enzymes. I talk about that with low stomach acid. Number five is constipation. Low stomach acid can also cause constipation and a lot of people may not associate this. If food is not properly digested in the stomach, the intestines will lack nutrients and hydration leading to constipation. But for most people, I would say the low stomach acid levels can cause the bacterial overgrowth in the small intestines causing constipation and altered gut motility.

Dawn (11:25):

And that comes with a intestinal methane overgrowth. So that can be in your small intestines, that can be in your large intestines or your colon that you have archaea, which this is not necessarily a bacteria, but it is a form. You can think of it as a, it’s more of like a Phyla that you are. This archaea is what alters your gut motility, slows it down and moves things at a slow rate because of the aia. And a study showed that low stomach acid levels were associated with constipation in Parkinson’s patients.

Dawn (12:07):

So again, this is a classic symptom for early, not early onset, but an early sign for later discovery of Parkinson’s disease. So they find that most Parkinson’s patients have constipation. Another study investigated the relationship between low stomach acid and bacterial overgrowth in the small intestines. And the results showed that low stomach acid levels were associated with an increased risk of bacterial overgrowth in the small intestines.

Dawn (12:41):

And I have covered this several times actually on small intestinal bacterial overgrowth after bariatric surgery, it’s somewhere between 40 and 80% of bariatric patients will get some form of bacterial overgrowth, can be hydrogen, can be methane, can be a combination. Again, this is where you truly want some testing and this is where you truly want to work with a professional to help you hone in and treat it optimally. Another study found that proton pump inhibitors or PPIs were associated with an increased risk of bacterial overgrowth.

Dawn (13:22):

And it has been suggested that restoring normal stomach acid levels may reduce your risk and severity of bacterial overgrowth and related GI symptoms after taking PPIs. So if you’ve been on PPIs, you need to first talk to your doctor and ask, Hey, is this something that I could get off of? And then two, work with someone who can help you accomplish that.

Unable to digest heavy protein meals:

Dawn (13:46):

And then three, restore your stomach acid levels. So number six is unable to digest heavy protein meals. Digesting protein requires adequate stomach acid. You want to think of stomach acid as equivalent to almost battery acid at its pH level. And I have talked about this again in some of my previous podcasts and posts and stuff, but it is capable of liquefying food and that is its purpose. It is one of its purposes, but truly it triggers and signals your other organs to start doing their job.

Dawn (14:28):

Your gallbladder, your level liver to release bile, your pancreas to release all the enzymes, the pancreatic enzymes, and then also your stomach to release pepsin and then your small intestines to start releasing additional digestive enzymes that are going to be working on digesting the food further when it gets into the small intestines. And the first thing that kind of triggers this is chewing.

Causes of Low Stomach Acid

Dawn (15:00):

So this is something that you have to be very intentional about. So especially when it comes to proteins, animal proteins are very difficult to digest and if you aren’t chewing them well and you’re only chew, chew for three or four or five times and then you swallow, you’re going to have a higher likelihood of that not getting digested Well, especially if you have a low stomach acid because again, that chewing is the beginning, really the smells and the thoughts of food and eating.

Dawn (15:36):

But then the chewing is what really signals everything to start flowing. And for you to digest the food better, you also have to be in a parasympathetic state. This is in relation to stress and I will tell you, I’ve talked about sympathetic and parasympathetic many times that sympathetic is your fight or flight. Parasympathetic is rest and digest and you will not digest foods well if you’re not in that parasympathetic state.

Dawn (16:07):

Additionally, the release of stomach acid triggers the other organs involved in digestion to release pepin bile, pancreatic to enzymes and many digestive properties that are necessary to ensure adequate absorption of the nutrients that you consume. So again, this is a vital piece of your health and you miss out on this and it is a cascade or snowball effect of what happens in your health. So what are some of the causes of low stomach acid? Now, there really can be several causes, but to identify and resolve the underlying is issues it’s in it’s essential to understand the causes.

H. pylori Infection:

Dawn (16:48):

So number one, an h pylori infection and helicobacter pylori or h pylori is a bacteria that causes inflammation and damage to the cells that produce the stomach acid. And this is all done in the stomach lining. This is where those cells live in the stomach lining and it is common and it is a common cause of the low stomach acid.

Dawn (17:16):

So if you have a breath test or a stool test that says you have h pylori, which I’m going to preface this with saying everyone has h pylori, but if you have h pylori at a level that is too excessive, that’s when it’s a problem. So you don’t always have to treat, if you see someone has in the stool test, like in the GI map that I do, if I see that someone h pylori one, it shows you the virulence factors as well. But if you have h pylori.

Dawn (17:56):

we’re going to really pay attention to your symptoms and what you’re experiencing. And then some of the other bacteria and other information that will give me guidance into knowing, hey, I do need to treat this h pylori. It is overgrown and it is causing some of their symptoms. So again, it’s that’s the art of some of these tests.

Dawn (18:22):

You have to interpret them. But h pylori, again, not all h pylori is and should be treated. That is where working with a practitioner like myself who can really help you understand if this is part of the problem, but you have to treat it. So here’s the thing, if you have h pylori that’s left untreated, it can lead. If it goes on for long periods of time, undetected at high levels, then you are at risk for stomach cancer. That is how they understand that stomach cancers do start to develop. So it’s not something you ignore. Here’s the cool thing, if you’ve had bariatric surgery, I would say the majority of practitioners or surgeons or bariatric programs should be testing.

Dawn (19:15):

You should be doing a breath test in your pre-op testing. I know that is something that all of our patients did. They did an h pylori breath test. If you were positive, then you had to do an h pylori treatment where you take a whole bunch of pills to kill that off. So again, and I don’t want to say kill it off, that’s probably a bad way to say it, but lower the abundance. So we want to get it to more normal levels at a level that isn’t going to be causing any problems or further inflammation and damage to the cells.

Medications: PPI Use:

Dawn (19:56):

Number two, medications. P P I use proton pump inhibitors. They’re often prescribed to treat things like reflux and ulcers and unfortunately they’re pretty freely given or prescribed or recommended to purchase over the counter for heartburn. Indigestion. I don’t have issues with people taking this short term. Now I will say that if you read the information on these PPIs like nm, omeprazole, Prilosec, prevacid, those type of medications, these they say two weeks. Now there have been studies that I have seen that have gone all the way to six months for ween off and people have been okay.

Dawn (20:50):

Now that doesn’t mean that there isn’t some side effects that do occur in some people during that six month time where you could get bacterial overgrowth or you start having some of these issues because of the low stomach acid. But again, and I know in the protocol if we had a patient that had a positive breath test pre-surgery, omeprazole was part of the treatment.

Dawn (21:18):

So this was something that is used. So I’m not against using these PPIs, I’m just against people being prescribed these and then never taken off. I mean, I have family that have been on this for decades and that’s their own journey. And unfortunately working with family is complex and not something that I have learned that you tell people they need to be seeking it out. You can make reference and say, Hey, you might want to consider getting off of that.

Dawn (21:59):

How long have you been on that? That’s not good again. And everybody takes the information a as they’re ready. So again, and I have patients that come in and they’re like, I’ve been on this for decades and I never knew. And I can tell you that the issue lies in the practitioners are just not trained to use other things and they feel like that’s the only thing that will work.

Dawn (22:30):

They’re not asking questions into why do you have heartburn and digestion? What’s going on? What has changed that Now all of a sudden you’re having heartburn and a digestion, let’s dig into that and then let’s decide do you really need a ppi? Because sometimes you do need a ppi. So again, I think you just have to one, if you’re taking a P, you need to have those conversations with your practitioner and say, okay, okay, how long are we doing this? Because this isn’t something I want to stay on forever.

Dawn (23:02):

And you can just really, I mean, I have tons of information on chronic PPI use and the side effects. I’ve covered that in other podcasts and blog posts and information on that. So again, I think it’s start asking questions, advocate for your health because there is no one that is going to advocate or truly look at your whole body like you would.

Dawn (23:31):

You’re the one living in it and you need to be proactive in asking for different options and not being afraid to fire and rehire a new practitioner that will listen. So again, I think it’s if you’ve got to be on it, be on it, but then get a boundary. Say, okay, how long are we doing this? Okay, I have an ulcer I want, we’re going to use this to heal it. Great. There are alternatives where you don’t have to use those. But again, if you do nothing wrong with it, just get a plan of how am I getting off of this and how long am I being on it?

Dawn (24:10):

Some studies have shown that prolonged use of PPIs can lead to a decrease in stomach acid levels, therefore medications should be taken under supervision and for the prescribed amount of time. And again, if you read the inserts and you read the information on these PPIs, it’s two weeks, not 20 years.

Autoimmune Reaction Against Parietal Cells:

Dawn (24:34):

Again, here are some of the, if you want to learn more about PPI and low stomach acid and side effects and that I talk about ’em in the three causes of digestive issues after weight loss surgery and gastric surgery and heartburn considerations. So those are two great resources to refer to if you need to dig deeper. Number three is the autoimmune reaction against the peral cells. And the peral cells is what produces stomach acid. So in some instances, the stomach linings, peral cells are mistakenly targeted and attacked by the immune system.

Dawn (25:14):

And these cells produce the stomach acid, hydrochloric acid, and due to the immune system’s attack on these cells, they are unable to produce adequate amounts of stomach acid which results in low stomach acid levels. This condition is known as an autoimmune atrophic gas. So if again, just saying, Hey, I have these heartburn, belching, gas, constipation, I have all these symptoms for your doctor to just put you on a PPI is really not enough because he’s just putting a bandaid on those symptoms and not truly looking at, Hey, do I have something bigger going on this autoimmune reaction on my peral cells?

Chronic Stress:

Dawn (26:04):

And that’s decreasing in the low stomach acid. So if you just put a bandaid on it, guess what? You’re going to be stuck on that. And then you’re going to have all of these problems because you’re stuck on this because no one dug deeper into why do you have all of these symptoms all of a sudden, what has caused this? So number four, chronic stress. This is something that a lot of people really don’t think about, and I had alluded to earlier about you need to be in rest and digest state to be able to release adequate stomach acid.

Dawn (26:47):

So many patients, if they have a lot of digestive issues, I will encourage them to do slow deep breaths before a meal to turn on that parasympathetic rest and digest nervous system state so that they can actually have adequate stomach acid. And if they’re chronically stressed, just pausing before you eat and before you start shoveling in just taking one minute and just do slow deep breaths, even if you did it three or four times in a minute, can make a huge difference.

Dawn (27:30):

It can totally change your whole shoulder tension, your whole mindset. It can just really slow you down and it’ll help you be present at the meal and not be in fight or flight. So this is an important piece and you can’t medicate and supplement and eat or exercise stress if stress is never addressed. If you don’t find strategies that turn on the chill and turn off the crazy, you are going to have problems with digestion and problems with bloating and belching and constipation. So this is important.

Hypothyroidism:

Dawn (28:19):

You definitely have to question yourself and really evaluate how am I eating? Studies have shown that psychological stress significantly decreases the amount of gastric acid secretion in the stomach and stress management tan techniques and lifestyle modifications can support LD digestion. So that’s why it’s super important to keep your stress in check. Number five, hypothyroidism and underactive thyroid can contribute to low stomach acid levels.

Dawn (28:52):

In addition, it also regulates your metabolism of various tissues. Thyroid hormones also affect the GI tract. Research suggests that hypothyroidism can impair gastric acid secretion leading to low stomach acid, and it is important to address this underlying cause with proper thyroid management and treatment. So if you do have a low thyroid level, which would mean your tssh is elevated, or in the high above two, optimal is one to two no higher than the twos. So if it’s in the threes and the fours, what’s going on?

Decreased Vagal Activity:

Dawn (29:33):

And you would want to kind of watch that trend and make sure that, hey, something’s not going on here. But definitely addressing your thyroid levels with your appropriate practitioner would be advised. Number six, decrease vagal activity. And we just talked about vagal tone and how your vagus nerve plays such a huge role in your health and your vagus nerve regulates gastric acid secretion as part of the autonomic nervous system.

Dawn (30:06):

And we talked about this on my post, the vagus nerve, a key player in health with some activation tips, that’s the title of it. And a decreased vagal tone can result in decreased stomach acid production. So this is a communication from the gut to the brain. So that’s the 80% your the communication is telling your brain, Hey, it is time to release some digestive enzymes and stomach acid to help digest the food surgical procedures.

Dawn (30:45):

So this is what I kind of talked about in that post surgical procedures that involve vagotomy, which is cutting or severing of the vagus nerve, have been found to decrease gastric acid output significantly, and it affects the vagal activity. So again, it’s super important to stimulate your vagus nerve. And if you’ve had procedures, find out, read the op note, did they nick or sever or cut that vagus nerve and when they did the bariatric surgery, because that matters.

Aging:

Dawn (31:20):

That could be why you’re having all the digestive issues because it’s been severed, it’s been injured. So that’s why it matters. Number seven is aging. As we get older, say 60 and above is when your gastric acid levels lower. You don’t secrete the same amount when you’re in your sixties and above. So this is something that’s important to consider. So if you work in healthcare, you will understand this potentially if you don’t, but if you don’t, you maybe have had a family member or maybe even yourself who has had issues with B12 as they got older.

Dawn (32:14):

So usually as we age, your practitioners are going to be checking your B12 levels because that’s when that absorption is different. Now, if you’ve had bariatric surgery that you don’t absorb B12 like you did previous to your surgery, so your body doesn’t have that intrinsic factor, it doesn’t have that to break down the B12 from the food in supplements and get adequate amounts just from your food.

Dawn (32:51):

So supplementation is important after bariatric surgery, no matter what, no matter how far out you are. But as you age, this will again become an issue because you have less stomach acid. And again, that is where that B12 absorption occurs or conversion occurs is in the stomach with the intrinsic factor. So again, this is an important piece that one, if you have family that are older that you maybe haven’t ever asked, Hey, are you having your B12 checked or are you taking b12? I would encourage them to, but it doesn’t just affect b12.

Dawn (33:35):

We’re talking lots of minerals and vitamins can be influenced by this low stomach acid level. So all minerals, think of magnesium, calcium, zinc, those are all big players in the mineral field. That stomach acid is required to break it off to be able to be absorbed. So that’s where it matters. So again, keep this in mind. If you’re not in your sixties, keep this in mind that you will want to make sure that these levels are checked and observed as you get older in life.

Dawn (34:15):

Age related low stomach acid may contribute to digestive issues and nutrient deficiencies in older adults. So regardless if you’ve had bariatric surgery or not, I would encourage you to work with a practitioner that can help you identify the right well to draw the right blood work so that you can really determine if you need to be doing some additional supplementation or just adding like some digestive enzymes or some bidders or something in that category that would help improve your stomach acid release. So let’s move into solutions.

Low Stomach Acid Solutions: Restoring Optimal Digestion

Dawn (34:57):

How can you restore optimal digestion by improving your stomach acid levels? One of them is apple cider vinegar. Now I have talked about this in regards to blood sugar and how it can really blunt that blood sugar spike. You could take it 20 minutes before a meal. You could take it with a meal, you could take it right before the meal kind of as a shot diluted in water. All of this would be diluted in water. I would not do apple cider vinegar on its own. I would do it in a shot or mixed in water always so that you don’t have that potential for burning and all of that. But apple cider vinegar is one way that you can increase your stomach acid levels.

Apple Cider Vinegar:

Dawn (35:53):

One study concluded that vinegar, including apple cider vinegar may enhance stomach acid production. And sometimes I can have patients say, oh yeah, I had some heartburn after I drank some apple cider vinegar and water. It seemed to give me a little heartburn. And that’s why because it can increase the acid. And that’s something you wouldn’t want to combine with other solutions. You would’ve want to do one or the other.

Dawn (36:24):

So you wouldn’t want to do apple cider vinegar and digestive enzymes because then you’re more likely to have some reflex or heartburn from that. But one tablespoon of apple cider vinegar in a glass of water before meals can stimulate acid production and aid and digestion. However, before using this, make sure you check with the practitioner, somebody like myself or check with your doctor and see if they have any issues with it. The number two is bean hcl l.

Betaine HCl:

Dawn (36:54):

Now, I have covered this a few times on utilizing Betaine HCL. I am a fan of using this, and I do find that is super he super helpful for bariatric patients because you guys do have low stomach acid, so you don’t have as many peral cells. Your acid levels are low. That’s been shown time and time again in several different studies that the pH of your stomach is elevated and which means it’s not acidic, it’s more alkaline, which doesn’t create the optimal environment for great digestion and absorption of nutrients.

Dawn (37:32):

So this I do find supplementing with HCL can support good proper digestion because it’s providing that extra hydrochloric acid that your body needs. This is just a supplement form of hydrochloric acid or stomach acid. So here’s the thing, you not everybody should take Betaine HCL because this is something that doesn’t work for everyone and should be avoided in anybody who thinks they might have an ulcer, has an ulcer, takes NSAIDs, which most bariatric patients know to not do that.

Dawn (38:14):

But again, that doesn’t always happen because you will quickly get an ulcer with taking Betaine HCL with an nsaid, but then also other medications can interfere with taking betaine HCL. So this is something where you truly need guidance from a healthcare practitioner who is skilled this, and I would say your dietitian, maybe this is something that I’ve been trained in and have a lot of training in, but not every dietitian is trained in this.

Dawn (38:46):

So I would say your functional integrative dietitians, you definitely can get some guidance from them. They would be more skilled in this. Your traditional hospital dietitian probably is not going to have the experience. Maybe even probably your bariatric dietitian may not have experience with using Betaine HCL and understanding the appropriate use and not. So again, I like using them in our gastric health supplement.

Dawn (39:15):

I do include hcl in our digestive enzyme formula because I do find that it is a great fit, but again, it’s not for every person and working with someone or just get on our email list and you can always reply to any of the emails to ask any questions or just call us or hit the contact us and send us an email. And I’d be happy to answer any questions regarding using our gastric health product line because that is important to me that you have the right product match.

Dawn (39:53):

So I don’t offer these supplements for any other reason than to have a good formula that makes sense for bariatric patients. These formulas are specifically designed for bariatric patients. I’ve put a lot of research into understanding the right type of combinations that work great for bariatric patients, but again, not all of our gastric health product line is going to match with every person.

Dawn (40:27):

So feel free to reach out if you have questions about using Betaine HCL before purchasing. The next one is digestive enzyme supplements and supplementing with digestive enzymes can really help improve your digestion, especially if low stomach acid interferes with protein digestion. A study found that the use of digestive enzyme supplements in patients with low stomach acid, they found that supplementation with proteases, so the digestive enzymes had proteases in them, can improve symptoms associated with low stomach acid and improved protein digestion.

Digestive Enzyme Supplements:

Dawn (41:10):

So there are several different formulas of digestive enzymes. Like the gastric health digestive enzyme includes all the proteases, lipases, amylase plus it supports all the organs that are involved in digesting food. So it supports your liver and gallbladder, your stomach, your intestines, all of the organs so that you can have kind of the whole round well rounded areas so that you can get optimal digestion.

Dawn (41:46):

But not all digestive enzymes have Betaine HCL. Not all digestive enzymes have ox, and there are certain times that you want to use products that don’t have ox bile or Betaine HCL. So there are digestive enzymes that literally just have all what we’ll call “ase’s”. So it has all the proteases, lipases, amylase plus all of the ones to break down different plant fibers. Cellulase, lactase the milk sugars. So it literally has 10, 15, 20 different “ase’s” that will help break food down. And there are even chewable formulas of these.

Dawn (42:33):

So again, it is dependent on the person is dependent on the product that is needed. So for some of my patients, I want them to do, especially some of my more severe digestive patients that have a lot of digestive issues and a lot of healing to do, they may do a chewable form because that’s going to have all of at least the properties needed to help digestive food so they don’t feel so miserable when they eat.

Probiotics:

Dawn (43:05):

So again, work with someone that can help you determine the best fit. Number four, probiotics taking probiotic supplements can help support healthy digestion and a healthy gut microbiome. Studies have shown that the lactobacillus am bifidobacterium strains will enhance digestion and gut health. So bifidobacterium and lactobacillus strains are pretty common in most but not all. Sometimes they don’t put those together for specific reasons. So like my SIBO patients, I don’t want them on lactobacillus at all. It can make their symptoms worse.

Dawn (43:48):

but I don’t mind them utilizing maybe our sacra mises belardi or utilizing a soil-based organism that has more the bacillus sub subtilis in it. Those types of strains are going to be okay when they’re having a bacterial overgrowth, which would correlate with a low stomach acid. So probiotics from fermented foods and supplements are all great for digestive health. People who have histamine issues genetically or because of bacterial overgrowth is another thing that maybe you wouldn’t want to do.

Dawn (44:28):

Those probiotic foods, the fermented because they will increase histamine. So again, working with somebody who understands this is important because it’s not all equal. So when I have somebody say, yeah, I tried that, but it didn’t work for me, well, who did you work with to help you pick that out? And that’s usually my questions because it’s like, okay, so they’re not utilizing the right products for you. They’re just giving a blanket one. So again, that’s where I think you have to work with someone who understands this so that you can choose the right products.

Lifestyle Modifications:

Dawn (45:06):

Number five, lifestyle modifications. And these are super important. These can be even more impactful than most people even give it credit. So we talked about stress management, and this is definitely something that plays into this. So this lifestyle modifications is part of stress management. Eating mindfully for proper digestion, you have to chew your food well and eat in a relaxed environment.

Dawn (45:42):

So if you’re like rush, rush, rush, eating really quickly, guess what? It throws not only your digestion off, it can throw your blood sugar off, and that will lead to throwing your insulin level off. And I did this yesterday. Yesterday I had to do, I just had a busy day, we’ll put it that way. I had a busy day, but I had to pick someone up from the airport and get them back before I had a patient. So the timing was perfect and it worked out perfectly.

Dawn (46:22):

But I was trying to get some things done prior to going to the airport and I was in a hurry and my mind was busy and my eating was quick and it showed up on my C G M. So when I scanned later that afternoon, I was annoyed because this meal that I’d had several times, I’ve had it before many times, and I’d had it the day before and it was a quick lunch, something simple.

Dawn (46:58):

I had all the ingredients, I had everything I needed, and I’d had it and. I’d gotten a meal score of 10, which is perfect. And both times that I’d had it that week, I had gotten a meal score of 10, which was perfect because my blood sugar responded appropriately was not spiking. And it was great. Well, I had it yesterday and it wasn’t great. I think I got a meal score of five, I think it was five.

Dawn (47:25):

So I got half of it because the only reason why was because I was rushed and because I was not mindful at my meal, I was more worried about get the food in. So I’m not hungry anymore or my blood sugar doesn’t drop and not really into enjoying the meal and truly being present at the meal. Again, it spills over into other areas of our life when we don’t take the time at a meal.

Dawn (48:05):

So eating mindfully, and this is a work in progress for every person. We are going to have times when we’re great at it and we’re going to have times when we really suck at it. And to me that’s okay because the majority of the time I do really good with my meals and stopping and pausing myself, maybe even taking a few deep breaths and just really pausing and getting that rest and digest or that parasympathetic state turned on before I have a meal. I’m good at that, not perfect.

Dawn (48:41):

So again, yesterday’s example is a perfect example of how life can just, you can let your mind take over and you start being mindless about your actions. So eating mindfully is so important. And then managed stress, again, stress reduction strategies are important. And just overall trying to have a lower stress response, more resilient to stress is important.

Dawn (49:12):

Additionally, avoid trigger foods. So if you’ve kind of identified that, hey, anytime I have caffeine and alcohol or greasy foods, I have symptoms, I have problems, then try to lower that intake or avoid those foods completely until you can heal, and that may help truly improve that stomach acid level better and your symptoms better. And then lastly, the smaller meals, one, evaluate. Are you just overeating? Maybe you’re eating too quickly, but then you’re also overeating.

Dawn (49:48):

Just truly evaluate how much am I getting in and is that good? And if you need a dietitian to evaluate it, get your dietitian involved. If you don’t have one, hire one, get someone to help you evaluate what you’re doing and is this adequate for your needs? But for some people, you might need smaller, more frequent meals just to heal. You might need that to get you back to normal.

Seek Professional Guidance:

Dawn (50:17):

And then finally number six is seek professional guidance. And really this should have been number one, you need guidance when it comes to these digestive issues. These are not things that I find people do well at diy. Now, don’t get me wrong, there are sometimes simple fixes and you can get it on social media, you can get it in an email, and I’m all for that. What I typically see though is that when people finally come to me, they’ve tried many things and

Dawn (50:57):

then they get to where they’re just so frustrated because nothing is working. Whereas if they would’ve just started with a professional like myself and maybe done the proper testing, you would’ve saved for some people hundreds or thousands of dollars because you did the right testing first and you figured out exactly where the problem lies. So get insight from people who are trained in digestive issues.

Conclusion:-

Dawn (51:28):

If this is your problem, if you are struggling with belching gas and constipation, hire a dietitian like myself. They can help rule out low stomach acid or are these combination of symptoms something else? Because Lord knows we know that these digestive sys symptoms cross into other problems. So it’s not that they’re exclusive to just low stomach acid, they’re not. They are in many other problems. So work with someone who can help you hone that in a little faster. So let’s wrap this up. Bell chain gas and constipation are unwanted guests at the digestion table that reveal a stinky culprit, low stomach acid,

Dawn (52:18):

and you can regain digestive harmony by understanding the causes and implementing simple solutions. So don’t ignore your symptoms, seek out professional guidance and get these symptoms resolved. So I hope you guys have enjoyed this topic. I haven’t talked about some of these digestive issues for a while, and I know we have some new followers and some new members. So I wanted to kind of circle back to some of these to see if this is something that you are struggling with and you need solutions to.

Dawn (52:53):

So feel free to check out our gastric health membership. It’s a great way to get that one-on-one connection with a experienced registered dietitian and providing you guidance and a plan. I develop a plan for you tons of recipes. We do things as needed and we keep working through until we get to your solution.

Dawn (53:25):

That takes time. So that’s why the membership is there at an affordable cost. Plus, you get all the benefits. If you do need testing, you get 40% off of those. You need supplements, you get free shipping. If you need supplements outside of our basic core gastric health supplement line, I use full script dispensary as well as doctor’s data who have a variety of different supplements that we use for healing, rebalancing, restoring all of that matters, and you get a 10% discount on those supplement companies. So again, check out our gastric health membership. We’d love for you to join us. And you guys have a great week and we’ll see you next time. Bye-bye.

Listen, Learn, Enjoy…

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