A Simple Test for Low Stomach Acid
Dr. Berg’s Healthy Keto and Intermittent Fasting Podcast
Dr. Eric Berg
4.7 • 1.7K Ratings
🗓️ 11 September 2023
⏱️ 11 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Today I’m going to cover the best tests for low stomach acid and what to do for a deficiency in stomach acid.
The best tests for a stomach acid deficiency:
1. Riddler’s gastric acid reflux point test
Press on your rib cage one inch below your breastbone and one inch to the left. If the area is tender, you may lack stomach acid.
2. The baking soda test
Dissolve 1/4 tsp. of baking soda in eight ounces of water and drink it in the morning before eating. If you don’t have enough acid in your stomach, you may start burping within one to five minutes.
3. The betaine hydrochloride test
Take one betaine hydrochloride supplement before eating, and add more with each meal. If you have low stomach acid, your symptoms will be relieved.
Symptoms of low stomach acid (low hydrochloric acid):
• Indigestion
• Gas
• Bloating
• Acid reflux
• GERD
Another common problem people experience as they age is called atrophic gastritis.
Symptoms of atrophic gastritis:
• Mucosal atrophy
• Low hydrochloric acid
• Low B12 or folate
• Low iron
• Intolerance of red meat
• Indigestion
• Gas
• Cognitive decline
• Brittle nails
• Restless legs
• Thinning hair
• Acid reflux
• Muscle cramps or muscle twitches
• Rosacea
• Bad breath
Common causes of atrophic gastritis:
1. H. pylori
What to do:
• Consume sulforaphane
2. Low hydrochloric acid
What to do:
• Take betaine hydrochloride
• Take methylcobalamin and methylfolate
In some cases, you may need to fix the inflammation in your gut before you increase your stomach acid. You can do this by consuming cabbage juice, wheatgrass juice powder with water, zinc, and probiotics. It’s also important to get on a Healthy Keto® diet.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | There's a lot of people who have a deficiency of stomach acid that creates all sorts of issues. |
| 0:06.4 | There's a really simple test that you can do to figure out if you potentially don't have enough acid in your stomach. |
| 0:12.4 | I'm going to show you that. In fact, I'm going to show you three different tests. |
| 0:15.1 | Okay. The test is called Riddler Gastric Acid Reflex Point Test. and so since your stomach is kind of right up underneath |
| 0:25.3 | the lower part of the sternum and kind of going a little bit down below that what you can do is you |
| 0:30.1 | take your breastbone okay the bottom of your breastbone where it ends okay there's a little |
| 0:35.2 | piece of cartilage there and you go one inch below that, |
| 0:38.2 | okay, and then you go one inch to the left, and you'll hit your rib cage right at that point. |
| 0:43.9 | That is the location where you press into the rib cage and just see if it's tender. |
| 0:49.6 | If it is overly sensitive, it could mean that you have a deficiency of hydrochloric acid. |
| 0:55.4 | There's two other tests. One is a baking soda test. You get some regular baking soda in the |
| 1:00.7 | morning, on an empty stomach, and you take a fourth of a teaspoon in a glass of water like |
| 1:04.8 | eight ounces, dissolve it, drink it down. Okay. Now what's going to happen if you don't have enough of this hydrochloric acid in your |
| 1:14.5 | stomach is you'll start burping okay so if you start burping within one to five minutes then chances are |
| 1:21.2 | you don't have enough acid because baking soda is alkaline and it's going to start neutralizing |
| 1:26.6 | the acids but if you have enough acid |
| 1:28.4 | you won't have this burping and then the third test you can do is just to take some batine hydrochloride |
| 1:34.4 | which is the kind of the antidote or remedy for low stomach acid and then with a meal uh take one |
| 1:41.2 | right before you eat something chew the food could take another one and then what you do is you'd keep adding a little bit more of this betain hydrochloride with each meal okay so what's going to happen is if you have enough stomach acid okay and you drink this it's going to cause you to burp within one to five minutes, |
| 2:04.5 | okay? So if you're burping, that means you have enough stomach acid, okay? If you don't burp, |
| 2:11.2 | that means you probably don't have enough acid. So those are the three tests that you can do |
| 2:16.3 | to kind of figure out if you have low |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Dr. Eric Berg, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Dr. Eric Berg and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.