Welcome to Part 3 of this blog series on stomach acid! In case you missed it, be sure to read Why Stomach Acid Is Important and Signs Of Low Stomach Acid to familiarize yourself with this topic.
Remember, it is IMPORTANT to get to the root cause of your low stomach acid. Whether it’s an H. Pylori infection, food sensitivities, or something outlined in the list below, getting that squared away will help you find healing. Let’s chat a little about common causes before we dive into ways to improve stomach acid naturally.
Common Causes of Low Stomach Acid
- H. pylori. This bacteria is super common in many people and depletes stomach acid. Most peptic ulcers are caused by H. pylori. The best way to test for this will be a breath test, stool test or scope test. Your doctor can order these for you or certain functional medicine health practitioners can order a stool test.
- Food allergies and sensitives. Continually eating foods that are causing inflammation in your body can cause the cells lining in the stomach to shrink and produce less acid.
- Nicotine/smoking. Can weaken the function of LES causing it to open when it’s not supposed to which means stomach acid will go up into your esophagus causing burning and pain.
- Alcohol. (some wine can be OK but higher proof alcohol can be hard on your stomach) Heavy alcohol use can damage the lining of your stomach.
- Fluoride and chlorine in water.
- Aspirin & NSAIDS. These wear down the stomach lining and reduce hydrochloric acid (aka stomach acid).
- Age. Acid production decreases as we age.
- Chronic stress. This impairs the digestive systems ability to produce HCl and other digestive juices. Good digestion depends on us being in a state of rest and digest but chronic stress makes us give into our fight or flight state.
Ways To Improve Stomach Acid Naturally
- Digestive bitters before a meal. Bitters are natural stomach stimulants that can restore normal stomach function in many cases. It is preferred to try bitters before HCL and pepsin.
- Chew your food well, eat slowly and stop snacking all day. Digestion starts in the mouth. When we chew our food well not only does it help out the stomach with breaking it down, it also releases enzymes needed to digest. When this happens it triggers the release of acid. Stomach acid is most potent after a large amount of food so by snacking all day, our body is constantly trying to produce HCl.
- Supplement with HCL with pepsin. (unless you have H. pylori or a peptic ulcer) *use caution when doing this. If you have H.pylori, you will NOT want to take HCL. I advise ruling it out before you just start supplementing with it!
- Take 1-3 teaspoons apple cider vinegar in 2-4 oz water right before eating. Vinegar is acidic which can help stimulate and provide some support.
- Take a digestive enzyme after a meal. This will help with enzyme production that happens in the pancreas after acid is working. Good chance if your acid production is low, so will your enzyme production since stomach acid triggers the release of digestive enzymes.
If you think you have low stomach acid levels, reach out to me! I work one on one with women needing to improve gut health in my practice. I personally had to overcome low stomach acid levels in my own gut healing journey. Please book a free gut health consult with me and let’s work together to do some root cause healing and get your belly feeling groovy again! Book a consult here or learn more about my consulting services here. If you missed it, be sure to read part one: why stomach acid is important and part two: signs of low stomach acid to get the most from this mini stomach acid series.
