Improving Digestion

Is Betaine HCL something we can try if we have week digestion or is there too much of a risk?

I have weak digestion and I was looking try the Standard Process Betaine. I have been taking one capsule of Culturelle probiotics for over a month now and they have helped a bit, but not as significantly as I would have hoped.

Also, does over dosing in magnesium apply to all types of magnesium? I take magnesium citrate, Natural Calm, before going to bed every night. Is there a max amount in milligrams that one should take?

There are a couple schools of thought for weak digestion, below is the one that I have followed.

Green juices have been shown to increase the ability of your stomach to prep your food for better digestion. It works in a similar way that the bentaine HCL caps do but in a more natural way and with the added benefit of a lot of nutrients we all miss. The second thing that I did was incorporate an ancient mayan treatment for poor or weak digestion and that is raw chocolate, which also helps with your adrenals. Other than probiotics and garlic there is not much else I think would be important to take to get your digestion to normal. I would suspect 1-2 months.

I drink ginger tea on a regular basis (squeeze a bit of ginger into hot water). Thats been shown to improve digestion and circulation. Ginseng and Ginger tea (combination) is also really nice and refreshing. When I have ginseng, I often drop a bit of ginger in there to improve the taste.

Cheers
Lux

http://www.marketamerica.com/flowerboy/index.cfm?action=shopping.wpProductNoShop&prodID=1282
This is the link for the aloe juice.
I cannot recommend it enough. You must try it. Strawberry Kiwi is the best flavor. Read the uniqueness of the product. I take a cap full every morning regardless. But there were times when I had eaten something that was constipating me, making me feel tired, and I took some aloe juice and within 10-15 minutes started feeling the difference and soon enough I dropped whatever was constipating me in the toilet. I would say this product is excellent for digestion. I even take a very expensive isotonix probiotics formula but it really doesnt make much of a difference in digestion to me where I can actually feel it. Aloe Juice does, and it kills bacteria aswell.

echoing your point, it occurred to me that aloe works well for this. personally, I am using kyodophilus, but prior, it was aloe. That said, aloe has additional benefits.

Aloe concentrate or extract is a little known blood sugar reducer, it works well even in difficult cases.

Betaine HCL is definitely a good way to go to get things rolling. Stomach acid (or the lack thereof) is a trigger for the rest of the digestive process including such notables as the release of pancreatic enzymes and peristalsis. To understate, it is important. I would start there and see what happens. I'd buy smaller caps (like 250 mg) and increase as needed. It shouldn't hurt unless you start going above 1500 mg. But you would feel it (a warm tea sensation) long before it would do damage. Also, make sure to get one with pepsin added.

Another thing to consider is that your digestion may be poor when you eat starch. Although moderate amounts of starch are the ideal source of glucose for the body, people with compromised digestion cannot tolerate it until digestion is improved.