There are many digestive enzyme supplements out there but which ones are the best and what is the best way to use them? In this article, I’ll be covering my 3 favorite digestive enzyme supplements and the way I use them in my practice. I’ll also dispel some of the myths and misconceptions about digestive enzyme supplements.

Digestive enzymes are an important part of my practice because most of my patients have gut issues that are connected to their thyroid and autoimmune problems. I have found them to be a vital part of my gut healing protocols. Let’s jump in and cover the details of each product I recommend.

Betaine HCL

Supplemental betaine HCl helps to optimize hydrochloric acid levels in people with low stomach acid and can help to improve digestive function and comfort in patients of all ages. Many symptoms of digestive distress such as acid reflux, heartburn, gas, bloating or nausea after eating may be due to abnormally low or non-existent gastric acid secretion (hypochlorhydria and achlorhydria, respectively.) Endogenous HCl production naturally decreases with age but other factors such as illness, highly processed and acidic diets, overuse of antacids and high stress physiology in general may impair the body’s ability to generate healthy HCl levels. In addition to impaired digestion, hypochlorhydria has been associated with bacterial overgrowth, enteric infection, low vitamin B12 levels and an increased risk of gastric neoplasms.

Hydrochloric acid is secreted by parietal cells in response to the presence of food in the stomach. HCl activates the conversion of pepsinogen to pepsin, an enzyme required for the digestion of proteins. Gastric HCl also works directly on protein molecules to assist in their breakdown and helps to separate nutrients from their carrier compounds (e.g. releasing vitamin B12 from protein molecules, and cleaving calcium from carbonate.) By helping to support efficient breakdown of proteins, betaine hydrochloride can help to prevent large peptide molecules from entering the intestines where they may contribute to inflammation and leaky gut pathologies.

Adequate HCl levels in the stomach also help to minimize food sensitivities. In one study, 25% of patients taking acid-lowering drugs for dyspeptic disorders exhibited increased IgE formation towards commonly ingested foods. The same study suggested that food allergenicity could be reduced up to 10,000-fold by enhanced gastric digestion.

Gastric hydrochloric acid plays a role in immune defense by destroying foodborne pathogens and microbes such as Helicobacter pylori, implicated in the pathogenesis of stomach ulcers. Although stomach ulcers are typically associated with excess acid production and treated with acid-blocking drugs, insufficient gastric HCl may, in fact, be a predisposing factor in ulcerative pathology. H. pylori is, of course, only one biological organism that multiplies in the absence of sufficient gastric HCL levels. Many species of bacteria and fungi overpopulate in the high gastric pH environment caused by low hydrochloric acid production, contributing in turn to a variety of metabolic and dysbiotic symptoms both within and beyond the digestive tract.

Based on molecular weight, Betaine HCl is composed of 76.26% betaine and only 23.74% HCl. Hence we propose that the betaine component of the supplement may play a key role in its functionality. Nutritionally, betaine (also known as trimethylglycine) is obtained from beets an...