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Hypochlorhydria: what are the natural remedies for heartburn

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Hypochlorhydria is when the body has either stopped producing or isn’t producing enough hydrochloric acid (HCl). With age, the stomach produces less and less hydrochloric acid, which however is indispensable for good digestion. At around 60 years of age on average, we produce no more than one fifth of the amount we produced at 10 years of age. So what are the symptoms of hypochlorhydria? And are there natural remedies?

What are the symptoms of hypochlorhydria?

When a person suffers from hypochlorhydria, the stomach can no longer assimilate nutrients in the normal way – particularly proteins. Here are the most common symptoms:

  • feeling unwell and/or fatigued after meals
  • heartburn and stomach cramps
  • non-digested food in the stools, constipation
  • vaginal infections
  • flatulence, bloating, reflux

In two out of three cases, heartburn is caused by the lack or absence of hydrochloric acid.

Test to see if you are hypochlorhydric

Mix a teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda in a glass of water and drink it on an empty stomach.

If your stomach is producing enough hydrochloric acid, you should belch within the next 3 minutes. If not, it indicates that the stomach is not producing enough (or any) hydrochloric acid.

Natural remedies for a lack of stomach acidity

Here are two natural remedies for hypochlorhydria.

Organic apple cider vinegar

Take a tablespoon of organic cider vinegar before your meals at midday and in the evening. Rich in acetic acid, the apple cider  vinegar will reinforce or complete the effects of the hydrochloric acid in the stomach, also allowing for better digestion, with no heartburn.

You can take it as a cure to treat heartburn, but apple cider vinegar is more effective if taken preventatively, before heartburn appears.

Iodine

If your hypochlorhydria is linked to hypothyroidism, the best natural remedy for treating it in the long term involves doing an iodine cure. Ask the advice of your doctor or your pharmacist. 

Iodine is a micronutrient that is essential to the functioning of the human body, particularly the thyroid hormones, which play a role in:

  • the regulation of body temperature
  • the regulation of the metabolism, reproduction and growth
  • the production of blood cells
  • the development of the nervous system
  • the functioning of the muscles

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