There is a pepsin supplement which is Betaine HCl and Pepsin 1 as well as Swanson Vitamins Pepsin and Okra.
You can get more pepsin by optimizing your stomach's acidity by taking betaine HCl with Pepsin, eat protein mindfully, use natural acidifiers and avoid diluting your stomach.
Pepsin is only activated in a highly acidic environment and so you need to optimize your stomachs acidity.
Over the counter Betaine HCl supplements naturally mimic your stomach acid and lower the pH so that inactive pepsinogen can convert into active pepsin.
And eating protein at the start of a meal and chewing the protein into a consistency like applesauce also signals your stomach to produce more stomach acid and digestive enzymes.
Drinking some diluted apple cider vinegar or herbal bitters before your meals, can also help to jumpstart the stomach's natural digestive process.
And sip some water between meals, instead of just chugging the water while eating as large amounts of water and fluids will dilute the natural digestive juices.
If you have too little pepsin, what happens is your body struggles to break down the dietary proteins.
The inefficiency of too little pepsin, triggers a cascade of digestive issues, nutritional deficits and physical discomfort.
When you have too little pepsin, it leads to poor digestion, increased infection risk and nutritional deficiencies.
With too little pepsin, large protein molecules are not cleaved into absorbable peptides.
This also causes food to linger in your stomach, fermenting and producing gas.
And pepsin and stomach acid are also required to extract and absorb critical nutrients like iron, vitamin B12, calcium and magnesium.
Stomach acid also acts as the primary barrier against pathogens.
And low levels of pepsin and stomach acid makes your GI tract more vulnerable to bacterial overgrowth, like SIBO and infections.
Common symptoms of too little pepsin include.
Fatigue, brain fog and muscle cramps.
Weak, brittle nails or hair that thins over time.
Having undigested food particles in your poop.
Experiencing feeling of extreme fullness just shortly after starting a meal.
And bloating, gas and belching, especially after eating meals heavy in protein.
If your stomach stopped producing pepsin, your body would struggle to digest proteins.
This would lead to severe gastrointestinal distress, bloating, and potential long-term malnutrition, although your small intestine would attempt to compensate using pancreatic enzymes to break the proteins down.
Pepsin is the enzyme responsible for initiating the digestion of proteins into smaller peptide chains.
Without the pepsin, intact proteins can move into the large intestine where they ferment, causing significant gas, bloating, and discomfort.
Because protein isn't efficiently pre-digested in the stomach, your body may also fail to absorb essential amino acids over time, leading to potential muscle loss and malnutrition.
Pepsin also functions in a highly acidic environment driven by hydrochloric acid (HCl).
Together, this acid-enzyme combination plays a vital role in destroying harmful bacteria and pathogens ingested with your food.
Without pepsin and optimal acidity, your risk for gastrointestinal infections spikes.