Digestive support
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TAKING DIGESTIVE SUPPLEMENTS Betaine Hydrochloride capsules need to be taken at the beginning of meals to work properly. You have to check first if you tolerate them without getting symptoms of burning or indigestion, in which case you should stop them immediately: your stomach is probably producing too much hydrochloric acid, which can cause the same symptoms as too little. As a preliminary check, take one capsule at the start of a good sized meal one day and, as long as you don’t experience burning or indigestion, take two capsules with a similar meal on the next day. Provided you still have no adverse digestive effects, try three capsules with an equivalent meal on the third day. If you get an improvement of digestive symptoms, the number of capsules causing this improvement is probably enough and that dose should be taken with each meal, e.g. if two capsules remove your previous symptoms of wind or indigestion, take two capsules at the start of each good-sized meal and one capsule at the start of a light meal. If you had no digestive symptoms to start with and still don’t get adverse symptoms with the test doses suggested above, take 1-3 capsules at the start of each meal depending on meal size. If three capsules caused some adverse abdominal symptoms, but one or two didn’t, take 1-2 capsules at the start of each meal.
Although the original recommendation was to take pancreatic digestive enzymes at the end of meals, many people find them more beneficial if taken at the start of the meal. Be prepared to establish by trial and error what timing suits you best - it could be anywhere between 15 minutes before |
a meal to 20 minutes afterwards. You should not need more than one capsule for a small breakfast-type meal, two for a larger more substantial one, and at the very most three for a big slap-up dinner. Many people will find that to take one only before a meal, which contains foods to, which they know they react is quite sufficient. It is quite possible to carry a few in your handbag or pocket against emergencies. Side effects and reactions to these are rare, but if you should have any contact us immediately. Remember that most digestive enzymes nowadays are plant enzymes and are not destroyed by stomach acid. This is why they can be taken at the beginning of a meal. If the pancreatic enzymes are from an animal source, they may not survive the acid in the stomach and it is probably best to take them at the end of or after a meal.
Finally, especially if you have bloating symptoms after meals, you can try half a level teaspoonful of sodium bicarbonate in water 20 minutes after a meal and, if it helps the symptoms, you should continue to take it in that way.
It is not known, at the beginning of treatment, how long people will have to take these supplements. For some it may be lifelong but others will start to normalise the production of hydrochloric acid and digestive enzymes as their general health improves. There are also some nutrient therapies which seem to stimulate their production. Initially you will need to take the digestive supplements for at least three months. After that, depending on your response and well-being, we have to try and assess when to test, by a trial of withdrawal, whether you are still going to need them for longer. The timing of any such withdrawals is best discussed with us first. |