Hypochlorydia (or Low Stomach Acid to you and me!)

This condition is very under-rated. Most people think they have too much stomach acid, but actually that's not often true when you actually test. It can be confusing because you get the same symptoms of heartburn and indigestion if it's too low or too high. The trick is to know which.

Hypochlorydia means the inadequate production of stomach acid (betaine HCl) by the parietal cells in the stomach. Achlorydia means a complete lack of stomach acid production.

Some experts believe that about half of all people over 65 suffer hypochlorydia – and certainly it’s known that the amount of acid we produce gets lower as we get over about 40, although I have found it very often in much younger people.

It’s vital that we have enough stomach acid so that we can breakdown food and release nutrients, but also to kill off any opportunistic baddies coming into our bodies via the mouth eg yeasts and bacteria.

The symptoms of hypochlorydia can be exactly the same as having too much stomach acid. Often, a person who has acidity, heartburn or reflex actually has poor stomach acid production. This happens because the signal to stop producing it doesn’t get triggered because the acid level is too low, so the body simply carries on producing it and you then get acidity problems. Yes, too much acid in the stomach and gullet, but for a very different reason.

Most people taking antacids probably have this issue and aren’t taking the right remedy at all. In my experience about 1 in 10 people with acid problems actually do have too much stomach acid – the rest have hypochlorydia or a different problem such as a food intolerance.

Other clues of Hypochlorydia include burping, bloating, feeling too full after eating (unless you genuinely have eaten too much!), constipation, diarrhoea, fatigue, hair loss and weak and flaky fingernails. Acne can even be related.

Obviously, if you’re not breaking down nutrients in food properly, any symptoms could be related to a deficiency of a nutrient, or to toxins being produced by an opportunistic bacteria, mould, yeast or parasite.

So, why might HCl production be low? You might not have enough histidine, zinc and B1 to produce HCl, but you also need HCl to get enough of these so it’s a catch 22 situation.

Stress can impair production. Trauma such as emotional shock or a burn can stop it suddenly.

Alcohol and food allergy substances can damage the parietal cells in the stomach and this affects production.

Bacteria such as Helicobacter Pylori can affect stomach acid levels too – most often those with too much acid have this problem.

There are a couple of ways to test stomach acid. First, we can look in your eyesusing iridology  for a weak stomach ring. (If you can't get to me, send me a digital picture!) 

We can give you a bicarb test to see how much you burp once an alkaline substance is introduced to the stomach. (Your stomach should produce acid to re-establish the acid balance. If it does, you burp a lot within 10-20 minutes. If it doesn’t, you won’t). Ask me for a test sheet.

Lastly, we give you HCl capsules and see how many you have to take before you get a warm feeling in your stomach that tells us you’ve got too much.

There is also a new test where we can send a capsule on a string down into your stomach via your mouth and pull it back out and check. Sounds horrible, but it is easy to do yourself at home.

Whichever way you test for it, if you find it, that's a really important result. Remember: you are not just what you eat, but what you can absorb. No absorption over time means low nutrients, sluggish systems and early degenerative disease.

Simple to find. Simple to correct. But oh so important not to miss it!

Important

Remember - always check out with your health practitioner or GP before starting anything new especially if you are taking any other medicines, are pregnant or trying to conceive or have high blood pressure. See here for more advice on interactions with meds and general cautions.