Love Your Guts
Hello Friends,
I’m going to chat with you about a product we have talked about before but is worth talking about again, because honestly, it applies to all of our health and wellness. I’ll start with a 3 sentence summary. You decide if it’s worth it to you to read on after that :)
Stomach acid is the most important factor in our bodies for digestion. You need a lot of it to properly absorb your nutrients, & to stop any parasites or bugs from getting to your intestines and setting up shop.
As we age, our stomach naturally begins to produce less acid, so our food is not actually being digested as well as it should be. Slow digestion leads to food rotting in the stomach, and creating its own acids– this is what causes acid reflux, not an overproduction of acid in your own body.
Zypan is a Standard Process product created in 1958 that aids in better digestion, starting in the stomach. It is created from betaine hydrochloride (acid) and bovine pancreatic tissue– which means digestive enzymes.
Okay, maybe I fibbed a little, because that’s actually a little more than three sentences. But you get my point: stomach acid is fundamentally important for everyone. Let me expand those thoughts a bit.
Digestion is a top down process, as it starts in your mouth with chewing (the pH of your saliva is important too but that’s not today’s point), and promptly enters your stomach. Your stomach has a very low pH of about 1 (meaning that it is VERY acidic), and that’s on purpose. That acidity activates the enzymes that are sent there from your pancreas, and causes your food to begin digesting. Well digested food is better absorbed in the small intestine, and flows through more easily. The acid also properly frees vitamins and nutrients from the food you are eating, making them usable to the body. Lastly, it is meant to be low enough to kill any bugs or parasites that might have entered the stomach in your food. Those are three very important jobs!
When there isn’t enough acid in the stomach, the food you eat will actually begin to rot before it digests all the way. That putrefaction causes its OWN acids, which is what will cause acid reflux. A lack of stomach acid can also cause issues with digestion in the lower digestive tract (your intestines) because things were not properly digested (or killed!) in the first place. Lastly, you are likely missing out on some essential nutrients in your food! Even if you eat quite healthy, it won’t matter if your body is not absorbing those nutrients.
There are several things that might cause you not to produce enough acid. One that is true for all of us, is age. By the time you are 65, you produce about 25% of the amount of acid that you did in your 20s. The other major one, however, is a lack of the vitamins and minerals that your body needs in order to produce that acid. This is a perpetual cycle. If you don’t get enough B vitamins and zinc, your body will not produce as much stomach acid. If it doesn’t produce enough stomach acid, you don’t absorb your B vitamins and zinc. And round and round it goes.
So Abbey, what am I supposed to do? I am so glad you asked! The answer is Zypan! Now, I am not advocating that you simply take a supplement and don’t change anything else to get to the root of your issue. Your health and wellness does not come from us simply masking a symptom. However, I AM advocating that you likely need extra support to allow your body to produce the acid that it needs. Zypan is great because it lowers the pH of your stomach acid using betaine hydrochloride, and feeds your stomach digestive enzymes from bovine pancreatic tissue. It’s made from things that are food. It’s not a medication, and it doesn’t have side effects. If digestion is an issue for you, even if it’s been one for a long time, this is the best place to start. Give your body the chance to start healing with this one simple change. I don’t want you needing supplements forever. I want you to start absorbing the good things you are already eating!
If you are wondering whether or not Zypan is right for you, come chat with me. I’m happy to do a quick nutritional check to see if it might benefit you. And I always keep it on the shelf in our office!
Cheers to your better health & wellness,
Abbey, BS, CNC, CTWFN
Image by Eduardo • Subscribe to my YT Channel❤️ from Pixabay