Betaine HCl provides betaine hydrochloride and pepsin in an easy-to-swallow UltraCap™ to support healthy stomach acidity, gastric function, and protein digestion.†
Size = 250 UltraCap
Serving Size = 2
If pregnant, nursing, or taking prescription drugs, consult your healthcare practitioner prior to use.
Distributed by an FDA-registered Drug Establishment.
Recommendations Take 1 or 2 UltraCaps™ at the beginning of each meal, or as directed by your healthcare practitioner. Do not chew. Not recommended for use if peptic ulcer, gastritis or heartburn is present.
Nutritional Information
Serving Size: 2 UltraCaps
Amount/Serving
%DV
Betaine HCl
1.3
g
*
Pepsin (acid-stable protease)
260
mg
*
*Daily Value (DV) not established.
Other Ingredients vegetable capsule (modified cellulose), cellulose, magnesium stearate, and silicon dioxide.
Contains No sugar, salt, yeast, wheat, gluten, corn, soy, dairy products, artificial coloring, artificial flavoring or preservatives. This product contains natural ingredients; color variations are normal.
Notes If pregnant, nursing, or taking prescription drugs, consult your healthcare practitioner prior to use.
This is one of the very few products I've found which is pure enough that I can tolerate it - I'm allergic to gluten and I react to the trace amounts that... more...
Sep 24, 2009
Introduction: It is well established that numerous factors are capable of affecting the function and structure of the gastrointestinal system. Recent research has demonstrated that the healthy production of hydrochloric acid and gastric enzymes are uniquely vulnerable to the effects of stress, occasional sleeplessness, and the aging process.(1)(2)
Nutritional supplements are available that support healthy hydrochloric acid and digestive enzyme production.* Betaine hydrochloride has been used for over 100 years to safely support gastric acidity.*(3) Supplements containing digestive enzymes have been in use since the 1930s when Dr Edward Howell, an Illinois physician and scientist, began his study of food enzymes and human health.*(4) Since that time researchers, nutritionists, and other healthcare practitioners have steadily increased both their understanding and use of enzyme supplements.
How Does It Work?: Hydrochloric acid (HCl) is an inorganic compound produced by the parietal cells in the mucosal lining. Highly acidic with a pH of 1.6, hydrochloric acid breaks down proteins, activates important enzymes and hormones, and maintains a sterile environment in the stomach.(1) Adequate amounts of HCl are needed for the absorption of vitamins, increasing the bioavailability of minerals, and converting inactive phytonutrients into biologically active compounds. Hydrochloric acid is also needed to convert pepsinogen into pepsin, a proteolytic (protein-breaking) enzyme that converts protein molecules into smaller subcomponents.(2) Betaine hydrochloride (betaine HCl) is a supplemental nutrient that delivers HCl to the gastrointestinal tract.*
Enzymes are organic compounds, frequently proteins, able to accelerate, or produce by catalytic action, change in substrates for which they are specific.(1) Digestive enzymes are secreted by mucosal cells within the digestive gastrointestinal tract. Their chief function is to metabolize nutrients from food for digestion, absorption, and utilization. Pepsin is a powerful enzyme found in stomach acid that breaks up proteins from food, splitting them into usable amino acids.2 Nutritional supplements containing pepsin have been shown to support healthy digestion.*
The following chart details research findings involving hydrochloric acid, betaine hydrochloride, and pepsin:
Ingredient
Benefit
Betaine hydrochloride
Normal and expected changes occur in the gastrointestinal tract's production of HCl with advancing age. (5)(6) Researchers have demonstrated this begins in the second decade (ages 11 to 20). (7) HCL production can also be influenced by hormonal changes, occasional over consumption of food, liver health, intestinal tract integrity, and overall health.(8-11)
Pepsin
While human gastric secretions contain many protein-digesting enzymes, the pepsins represent approximately 70 percent of these enzymes. (12) Pepsin is a powerful enzyme that breaks down proteins from food into usable amino acids.*(12) Research has shown that HCl levels, liver health, commensal bacteria balance, and healthy stomach mucosal integrity support healthy pepsin production.(14-17)
Conclusion Formulated from clinical research findings, case studies, and supplementation Betaine HCl is a safe and effective means of supporting healthy gastric acid levels and the enzymatic action of pepsin.*
Recommendations: Take 1 or 2 UltraCaps™ at the beginning of each meal, or as directed by your healthcare practitioner. Do not chew. Not recommended for use if peptic ulcer, gastritis or heartburn is present.
Precautions: Do not chew. Not recommended for use if peptic ulcer, gastritis or heartburn is present. If you are pregnant, nursing, or taking prescription drugs, consult your healthcare practitioner prior to use.
How Is It Supplied?:
126001; 100 UltraCaps
126002; 250 UltraCaps
Storage Recommendations: Store at controlled room temperature, 59° to 86°F (15° – 30°C).
References:
Guyton AC, Hall JE. Gastrointestinal physiology. In: Textbook of Medical Physiology.11th Ed. Philadelphia, Pa: W.B. Saunders Company; 2005: 718-723.
Porth CM. Secretory function of the gastrointestinal tract. In: Pathophysiology: Concepts of Altered Health States. 7th ed. Philadelphia, Pa: Lippincott; 2004: 824-827
Murray MJ, Stein N. A gastric factor promoting iron absorption. Lancet 1968;1:614.
Russell RM, Krasinski SD, Samloff IM, et al. Correction of impaired folic acid (Pte Glu) absorption by orally administered HCl in subjects with gastric atrophy. Am J Clin Nutr 1984;39:656.
Xiao ZQ, Li J, Majumdar AP. Regulation of TGF-alpha-induced activation of AP-1 in the aging gastric mucosa. Am J Physiol Gastrointest Liver Physiol. 2003;285:G396-403.
Trey G, Marks IN, Louw JA, Jaskiewicz K, Sipponen P, Novis BH, Bank S, Tigler-Wybrandi NA. Changes in acid secretion over the years. A 30-year longitudinal study. J Clin Gastroenterol. 1997;25:499-502.
Majumdar AP, Fligiel SE, Jaszewski R. Gastric mucosal injury and repair: effect of aging. Histol Histopathol. 1997 Apr;12(2):491-501.
Sica DA, Wood M, Hess M. Gender and its effect in cardiovascular pharmacotherapeutics: recent considerations. Congest Heart Fail. 2005;11:163-6.
Nakamura K, Ogoshi K, Makuuchi H. Influence of aging, gastric mucosal atrophy and dietary habits on gastric secretion. Hepatogastroenterology. 2006 Jul-Aug;53(70):624-8.
Varis KS. Peptic cells. Prog Clin Biol Res. 1985;173:177-84.
McCloy RF, Arnold R, Bardhan KD, et al. Pathophysiological effects of long-term acid suppression in man. Did Dis Sci. 1995 Feb;40(2 Suppl):96S-120S.
Cichocke AJ. What are enzymes? In: Enzymes and Enzyme Therapy. New Caanan, Conn: Keats Publishing;1994: 5-11.
Howell E. Food Enzymes for Health and Longevity. Twin Lakes, WI: Lotus Press, 1994.
Schumann KM, Massarrat S. Changes in total pepsin activity and pepsinogen I in human sera under stimulation and inhibition of gastric acid secretion. Hepatogastroenterology. 1991;1:33-6
Roberts NB, Sheers R, Taylor WH. Secretion of total pepsin and pepsin 1 in healthy volunteers in response to pentagastrin and to insulin-induced hypoglycaemia. Scand J Gastroenterol. 2007;42:555-61.
Roberts NB. Review article: human pepsins - their multiplicity, function and role in reflux disease. Aliment Pharmacol Ther. 2006 Sep;24 Suppl 2:2-9.
Walker V, Taylor WH. Pepsin 1 secretion in chronic peptic ulceration. Gut. 1980;21:766-71.
