My Personal Wake-Up Call

During a gut health training with the amazing Emma Lane – with 30 other health-conscious practitioners, we performed a simple stomach acid test using a diagnostic string. Shockingly, 95% of us had no stomach acid, and the rest had virtually none. This was in a room full of people eating well, living mindfully, and already prioritising their health.

That experience confirmed something I often see in clinic: low stomach acid is extremely common, often hidden in plain sight behind vague symptoms.

What Is Stomach Acid & Why Is It Important?

Stomach acid, primarily hydrochloric acid (HCl), plays a crucial role in digestion. It helps:

• Break down protein into amino acids

• Absorb key nutrients like B12, iron, magnesium

• Kill off harmful bacteria and pathogens from food

• Trigger bile and enzyme release for further digestion

• Keep the gut microbiome balanced

Without enough acid, digestion slows down and the entire system becomes compromised.

Why Might You Be Low in Stomach Acid?

There are several reasons why stomach acid levels can drop, and it’s rarely just one factor. One of the most common is simply age. Stomach acid production tends to decline naturally as we get older – often starting around the age of 40 – making it harder to digest food and absorb nutrients efficiently.

Chronic stress is another major player. When we’re constantly in a state of “fight or flight,” our body downregulates non-essential functions like digestion. This leads to a significant reduction in stomach acid over time. If you’re eating on the go, under pressure, or in a heightened emotional state, your digestive system won’t function as it should.

A less commonly discussed but very important cause is infection with Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori). This bacteria can suppress acid production and disrupt the stomach’s delicate environment. Many people carry it without realising, yet it can have a huge impact on digestive function. We frequently test for H. pylori in clinic and often find it linked to reflux and other gut issues.

Nutritional deficiencies, particularly of key minerals, are another underlying issue. Your body needs adequate levels of magnesium, sodium, and chloride to produce strong stomach acid. Without these, even if everything else is working well, your acid levels can drop. This is why we also assess for mineral imbalances in our clinic.

Lastly, modern dietary and lifestyle habits can play a role – eating too quickly, drinking too much fluid with meals, or long-term use of medications that reduce stomach acid all gradually contribute to a weakened digestive system. These habits may seem harmless on the surface but, over time, they can significantly reduce the body’s ability to produce and maintain adequate stomach acid levels.

Symptoms of Low Stomach Acid

Low stomach acid can look like reflux or heartburn, bloating and burping after meals, a feeling that food is just sitting in the stomach, constipation or undigested food in stool, fatigue, brittle nails, thinning hair, frequent infections, poor immunity, and even unexplained weight gain.

Why You Might Be Misdiagnosed

Many people experiencing reflux are treated with acid-blocking medications -but in the case of low stomach acid, these can actually make things worse. Reflux can occur not because of too much acid, but because the acid is too weak to close the lower esophageal sphincter properly.

What You Can Do

If this sounds familiar, the first step is proper testing. At our clinic, we assess for:

• H. pylori and other bacterial imbalances

• Mineral status

• Digestive function and stress load

Support can then include targeted minerals, digestive support, mindful eating practices, and reducing underlying stress.

Listening to Your Body

One of the most empowering things you can do is start paying closer attention to how your body feels before, during, and after meals. Do you feel heavy or bloated after eating? Do you burp a lot, feel like food lingers, or get tired right after meals? These can all be signs your digestion isn’t firing properly and stomach acid might be a key piece of the puzzle.

For some people, a gentle way to explore this is by experimenting with betaine HCl (a supplement form of stomach acid)  ideally under practitioner guidance. When taken just before meals, it can support the digestive process and give insight into whether low stomach acid is contributing to symptoms. It’s not about long-term dependency, but rather about restoring the conditions needed for proper digestion and helping the body relearn how to produce acid on its own.

As always, it’s important to approach this with care  especially if you have a history of ulcers, gastritis, or are on medications  so working with a qualified practitioner is key.

Low stomach acid might just be the hidden factor behind your lingering gut symptoms, nutrient deficiencies, or energy crashes. It’s incredibly common, totally correctable, and often overlooked.

If you’re curious whether this could be affecting you, feel free to reach out or book in for a session –