Betaine HCL

Everyone in this sport counts protein going in. Almost nobody thinks about the part where it has to be broken down and absorbed. High protein diets require high stomach acid and sufficient pepsin — a proteolytic enzyme — to digest and assimilate protein fully and rapidly, and a diet built around 200 grams a day asks considerably more of both than a normal one does.

WHY STOMACH ACID RUNS LOW

Low stomach acid is more common than most people assume, and it is rarely something you would connect to digestion at all. It can result from:

• Stress
• H. pylori infection
• Long-term use of antacids and proton pump inhibitors
• Poor gut health and dysbiosis
• Aging

None of those announce themselves. What you notice instead is feeling heavy after a big meal, or bloated on a diet you are otherwise handling well.

ACID AND ENZYME, TOGETHER

HD Muscle Betaine HCL is a highly bioavailable source of hydrochloric acid. Gastric juice needs that acidity to chemically break food down, protein most of all — and gastric acid does a second job on top of it, promoting the formation and activation of pepsin, the key enzyme for protein digestion. Supplying pepsin without the acidity it depends on is half a solution. Each capsule carries 700 mg of Betaine HCL and 50 mg of Pepsin A (1:10,000 — 500,000 FCC Pepsin Units).

NOT JUST PROTEIN

Optimal gastric acidity is also what allows calcium, vitamin B12 and iron to be absorbed from food. It is the step before everything else, which is why it tends to be the quiet limiter rather than the obvious one — and why a stack built on protein, minerals and a multivitamin can still underdeliver if this part is not working.

TAKEN WITH MEALS, AND NOT BY EVERYONE

One capsule with a high protein meal, up to three times a day. Do not take it on an empty stomach. Because this product supplies hydrochloric acid, it is not suitable for everyone: avoid it if you have an ulcer, gastritis or reflux, or a history of any of them, if you have a current H. pylori infection, or if you take NSAIDs, corticosteroids, or an acid-reducing medication such as a proton pump inhibitor or H2 blocker. If any of that applies to you, speak to your doctor before taking it.