Over 21 years? Why taking betaine HCl before meals could benefit your health

Saturday, November 23, 2013 by: Adrian Cooper
Tags: betaine hydrochloride, stomach acid, improved digestion

(NaturalNews) We all know that eating a healthy, balanced, natural diet is a cornerstone of perfect health, but what if all of that nutritious food is not being processed efficiently? Betaine hydrochloride, derived from beets, is a supplement for helping food to be fully dissolved and processed in the stomach for optimum nutritional benefits.

The stomach processes food both mechanically and chemically by breaking it down with hydrochloric acid into its basic constituents, which are then forwarded to the digestive system and blood for nutritional distribution

If food is not processed effectively by the stomach, it is as if the body is being starved of a healthy diet with the same potential health consequences due to an inefficient or sub-optimal immune system. All disease arises from either low immunity, abnormal immunity or auto-immunity, including cancer, the immune system as a whole being ultimately dependent on gut flora of the stomach and digestive tract.

Research has shown that, after the age of 21 years, the concentration of hydrochloric acid in the stomach begins to fall progressively with age, a condition known as "hypochlorhydria."

By the time people reach the age of 40 or 50, stomach hydrochloric acid concentration is much lower and attributable to age-related immune and auto-immune conditions, including diabetes, cancer and obesity - particularly abdominal fat - hence the so-called "middle age spread." Use of betaine hydrochloride has frequently been credited with flattening the stomach for this reason.

Note: Acid reflux is caused by lactic acid, a warning sign for too low of a concentration of hydrochloric acid, causing incomplete digestion of food. Acid reflux needs to be treated by increasing hydrochloric acid, not antacids which will neutralize hydrochloric acid, making reflux worse as well as other health consequences.

Low hydrochloric acid is a potential cause of cancer and other immune and auto-immune conditions

Everyone, without exception, has cancer genes, "oncogenes," circulating around the body. These cancer genes are normally kept in check by a healthy immune system, but in the case of cancer, the immune system can no longer suppress the cancer genes, which can then get out of control and multiply. The immune system responds by forming a tumor to contain the malignant cancer cells.

Chemotherapy may suppress cancer cells temporarily but also destroys the immune system, exposing the patient to a very wide range of additional diseases as well as additional types of cancer through immune-suppressed cancer gene expression.

If the "Th1" immune system is compromised or disabled, the "Th2" component of the immune system attempts to take over. Th2, not being equipped to function as Th1, perceives genuine body tissues as foreign invaders, attacking them as it would a bacterium or virus. Th1 suppression is also a root cause of auto-immune diseases such as allergies, celiac disease and arthritis.

How betaine HCl supplementation can bring valuable health benefits

Betaine hydrochloride (betaine HCl) increases the concentration of hydrochloric acid in the stomach relative to how much is taken before meals. This enables the stomach to much more completely dissolve and process foods right down to base nutrients, as well as produce methyl groups, an important element in preventing cancer and other diseases.

Taking betaine HCl before meals helps the stomach make optimum use of all dietary nutrients, also optimizing the immune system gut flora, without which, even with a healthy diet, many diseases including cancer can arise and propagate.

Note to vegetarians and vegans: Avoid betaine hydrochloride supplements that also contain pepsin, extracted from pig stomachs.

Sources:

http://www.naturalnews.com

http://scdlifestyle.com

http://www.modernherbalist.com

About the author:
Adrian Cooper is the best-selling author of the highly acclaimed book Our Ultimate Reality, Life, the Universe and Destiny of Mankind. For 7 years he was also the author of a 7+ page weekly newsletter on Spiritual, Metaphysics, Quantum Mechanics and Natural Healing and Health related subjects, read by over one million people around the world.

Adrian has extensively researched the super-whole food Spirulina, which he also consumes in large amounts daily, and is the creator and author of the Spirulina Magic website which reveals in great depth all of the health, healing and nutritional benefits of Spirulina.

A raw vegan and practitioner of Natural Holistic Nutrition, Healing and Lifestyle, Adrian is an experienced writer and practitioner in every aspect of these fields, including the use of natural plants, herbs, fungi and algae in the context of a balanced natural raw food diet.

Adrian is also a practitioner of Zen meditation and other Spiritual disciplines, and throughout his life, as today, lives very close to Nature where he spends as much time as possible walking, meditating and being completely connected to life and the Universe.