Before you reach for an antacid the next time you experience heartburn…
Keep in mind that LOW, not high levels of stomach acid are often an underlying cause of digestive discomfort, even if it seems counter-intuitive!
Stomach acid (HCl) is your body’s front line of defense, so low levels make you more susceptible to infection from Salmonella and other bugs in food and water.
A lowered level of HCl also leads to malabsorption, poor assimilation, and ineffective distribution of essential nutrients, such as sodium, iron, calcium, and magnesium. Fifteen minerals, eight essential amino acids, and numerous vitamins depend on HCl for absorption!
You might be surprised just how many signs of low stomach acid there are…

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Is your stomach acid low? Take the HCl Challenge to find out!
Here’s how it works:
Take a hydrochloric acid (HCl) supplement (500 to 550 mg betaine hydrochloride and 150 mg pepsin) with a meal. I recommend HCL+2 from UNI KEY Health
Observe your body’s response. Extreme warmth means you have sufficient stomach acid—don’t add more!
If you have no relief from digestive problems or feel no pain or warmth, double your HCl dose at the next meal.
Continue adding HCl until you feel warmth or experience relief.
After reaching your limit, take one less tablet with meals, and after 3 to 6 months, try gradually reducing your dosage.
*If you have a weakened stomach lining, ulcers, or hiatal hernia, these conditions need to be addressed with your health care practitioner and healed before you try the stomach acid challenge.
Turn the heat down on heartburn and poor digestion
Optimizing the body’s HCl levels can help restore comfortable digestion. HCL+2 is a quick delivery and absorption HCl supplement formula that contains hydrochloric acid (HCl) with pepsin and ox bile for healthy digestion of protein and fat, as well as digestion of acid-based minerals calcium, magnesium, and iron.
Taking an HCL supplement may help:
- Act as a natural solution for acid reflux.*
- Alleviate indigestion, GERD, gas, belching, bloating, constipation, and diarrhea.*
- Serve as a first line of defense against harmful bacteria, yeast, parasites and other pathogens in the GI tract.*
- Break down and metabolize protein and minerals, such as calcium and iron.*
- Neutralize byproducts of drugs and toxins.*
- Eliminate the cause of body odor, gas, bad breath, and offensive urine and stool odors.*
Tricia says, “I used to have bloating after meals but not any more! Taking HCL+2 before meals has really helped my bloating and I can feel my digestion is working better!”
Kathy says, “I have struggled with acid reflux for years. I had heard that the issue was low stomach acid but has never found a product that worked. Until now. As soon as I started taking regularly my acid reflux decreased until it was not existent. Very happy with this product!”
I had gastric bypass (roux-en-y) about 11 years ago. I seem to be experiencing GERD even though it is rare in gastric bypass patients. I’m very interested in trying the HCL test to see if HCL+2 will help me. Do you know if it’s safe to use that supplement after a gastric bypass?
It’s best to check with a health care practitioner in this case, but if you get the go-ahead, we would recommend starting with a very small amount — like 1/2 tablet and see how your system reacts.