If you’ve taken chemistry in school, you’ll know that hydrochloric acid (HCl) is extremely dangerous and can burn your skin if it comes into contact with it. Luckily, your stomach produces HCL in your body to ensure that the food you eat is broken down properly and absorbed into your digestive system.

Boosts Stomach Acid

Many people suffer from indigestion, bloating and gas, but these symptoms could be due to low stomach acid. Taking supplemental betaine hydrochloride boosts stomach acid levels, helping you digest and absorb the nutrients in your food.

Stomach acid helps break down proteins and absorb vitamins. Without healthy levels of stomach acid, you may experience nutrient deficiencies that can lead to hair loss, muscle wasting, dull skin, brittle nails and more.

Betaine hydrochloride reduces the pH of your intestinal tract to help other aspects of your digestive system work properly. For example, a high gut pH can cause the ileocecal valve to stay open too long, allowing bacteria from the large intestine to migrate into your small intestine and trigger SIBO.

Betaine hydrochloride also helps lower homocysteine levels, a known risk factor for heart disease. It does this by providing one of the methyl groups needed to convert the amino acid homocysteine into methionine. It may also support the liver’s detoxification functions by helping it break down fats, thereby reducing their toxic impact on the body.

Supports the Immune System

The HCL in betaine hydrochloride promotes healthy digestive conditions by stimulating pepsin, an enzyme that helps digest protein foods.* It also may help reduce high homocysteine levels that have been linked with atherosclerosis and heart disease.*

Betaine hydrochloride creates an inhospitable environment for pathogens that enter your small intestine, helping prevent the onset of SIBO, or small intestinal bacterial overgrowth.* The acid in betaine hydrochloride also aids in the digestion of dietary fiber, which can be difficult for your small intestine to process without adequate stomach acid.

Betaine hydrochloride is an excellent option for people who suffer from low stomach acid, a condition known as hypochlorhydria.* Taking this supplement can help restore normal stomach acid production, improve digestion and reduce asthma symptoms.* It is also a powerful natural ingredient in Solgar's Digestive Support Formula, which also includes digestive botanicals and enzymes.* The Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database rates betaine hydrochloride as Possibly Effective for improving indigestion, belching and bloating and promoting general digestive health.

Helps Prevent Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth (SIBO)

A major cause of SIBO is having too many bacteria in the small intestine, which can make you feel gassy and bloated. Betaine hydrochloride can help keep the small intestine clean by killing unwanted bacteria.

HCl reduces the pH of the intestinal tract to keep other aspects of the gut working properly, like the ileocecal valve (the flap that separates the small and large intestines). A high pH in this area allows bacterial material from the large intestine to migrate back into the small intestine.

It’s also important to note that if you’re taking a proton pump inhibitor medication, such as Rabeprazole, it can create hypochlorhydria, or low stomach acid. Adding a digestive support supplement with betaine hydrochloride to your diet can help correct this problem. Be sure to take it during a meal, or half-way through your meal. Taking it before eating may trigger heartburn and turn off the production of stomach acid for that particular meal.

Supports Weight Loss

A betaine hydrochloride supplement can help boost your stomach acid levels, preventing issues such as SIBO. SIBO is a condition wherein unwanted bacteria grow in the small intestine, unlike in the large intestine where many good microbes thrive.

Besides helping to prevent SIBO, betaine HCl can also support weight loss by lowering body fat and increasing muscle mass. This is important because a healthy body composition consists of a healthy proportion of fat and muscle. A 2014 study found that people with higher betaine intakes had lower total body fat and visceral fat levels than those who drank less of it.

Betaine HCl is also known to reduce homocysteine, an amino acid that can cause heart disease. Homocysteine levels are often increased due to genetic disorders, gastrointestinal conditions, liver disease, inflammatory diseases and certain medications like antacids and antidepressants. Betaine HCl has also been shown to improve the performance of athletes by reducing acid reflux. It can also enhance fatty acid oxidation and reduce fat accumulation in the muscles.