I suggested this before but I'm not sure if you noticed it. I highly
recommend the book "Why Stomach Acid is Good for You" by Dr Jonathan Wright.
It goes into detail about the process of digestion, especially the role of
HCl in the stomach and how low HCl can cause a host of problems. If I am
remembering correctly, they don't understand exactly why people develop low
stomach acid but it is known that HCl diminishes with age. There is a test
that can be done to measure stomach acid production and determine if low
acid is in fact the problem. Since HCl is naturally produced by the stomach
as part of digestion, taking HCl tablets is simply supplementing with
something that naturally occurs. It's a lot less worrisome, from my
perspective, than a lot of other things a person could take. I also use it
along with digestive enzymes and probiotics. Without them I have major
gastrointestinal problems. When I was eating paleo without these digestive
aids I felt a lot better than I did when I was eating high carb non-paleo,
but with them I feel almost back to "normal".

Daily eating:

breakfast - 3 oz protein (eggs meat fish chicken)
1/4 cup blueberries

Lunch and dinner - 4-6 oz protein , 4 oz veggies either salad with oil and
vinegar dressing or steamed or stir-fried veggies (no root veggies), 1/3 cup
blueberries or 1 oz almonds

bedtime snack - 1 oz almonds

I have to tightly control my carb intake in order to control my type 2
diabetes. I am losing about 1 lb a week eating this way.

Jean