“All Disease Begins in the Gut” ~ Hippocrates

You may have heard, “You are what you eat.” Actually, you are what you absorb and assimilate. Your second brain is through the gut. The majority of serotonin, 95%, is made in the gut, not the brain. If your gut is inflamed or not functioning optimally, production of serotonin will be impaired and the end result is depression. 

Consider this: an inflamed gut = an inflamed brain = depression and dementia. With one in four American women on prescription drugs for stress, anxiety and depression, addressing gut dysfunction should be of priority and cannot be overlooked.

Hydrochloric acid (HCL) is essential to protein digestion and the assimilation of B12, folate and 15 minerals. Many people with low stomach acid (hypochlorhydria) or no stomach acid (achlorhydria) often complain of bloating, belching, a feeling of heaviness in the stomach after eating, or feeling full after eating only a small amount of food. Individuals with low stomach acid may experience constipation, while others have diarrhea. And then, there are those with little or no stomach acid who experience no symptoms at all.

More often than not, people with gut dysfunction have low levels of essential amino acids and low levels of nearly all minerals. The two main causes of poor digestion and HCL deficiency are aging and stressful lifestyles. The older we get, the probability of hypochlorhydria or achlorhydria are more common than not. HCL deficiency is very common after age 50 with HCL levels down to 15% of average levels by age 25. By age 65, 35% of people are achlorhydric.

Insufficient HCL cause carbohydrates to ferment and protein to putrefy in your body. HCL deficiency inhibits your body to breakdown and use food or your supplements to be absorbed at the cellular level creating an environment of malnourishment. In addition, if you’re not digesting food properly, your risk for Candida and other health conditions increase.

Advertising suggests that heartburn and indigestion are caused by too much stomach acid. This is hardly ever the case – actually, it’s just the opposite, not enough stomach acid. It’s unfortunate that many doctors fail to recognize how serious a health problem hypochlorhydria and achlorhydria are.