Drinking apple cider vinegar with meals

[CathyA]

I have had GI problems for a long time. In the past year, the bloating, belching, etc., after eating has just been awful. I started thinking maybe I didn't have enough HCL acid in my stomach. My food stays in my stomach for hours after I eat.
So I started drinking about 2 Tablespoons of apple cider vinegar in a little water with each meal, and it seems to help. I tend to have heartburn easily, but get none from the vinegar.....which I find amazing.
I follow each drink of it with water, so I don't hurt my esophagus.
I'm looking into taking Betaine, but I don't want to rock the boat.
Anyone else take vinegar or Betaine?
Any ideas what might be the culprit, if I'm not making enough HCL? I wonder about the small amount of metoprolol (beta blocker) I'm on, since when I was on a higher dose, I had no saliva either.
Anyhow.......don't particularly care for drinking vinegar, but it seems to definitely help with digestion.

[Simpler at Fifty]

You can add a tsp of honey with it. It masks the taste of the vinegar a bit.

[pinkytoe]

Have you read the book called Wheat Belly? Surprising to me, but the author (a cardiologist) claims that eating wheat products can cause a lot of GI problems for some people.

[CathyA]

Thanks Simpler at Fifty and Pinkytoe!

[Rosemary]

So many people report things that they say have really helped their reflux. I have tried many of them. Vinegar is not something I will try. I am very sensitive to even the amount of vinegar in salad dressing (instead of swallowing vinegar, start meals with a salad perhaps?) Dr Jamie Koufman's research indicates that pepsin (digestive enzyme) molecules remain in the tissue of the esophagus following reflux episodes, and can be kept active with consumption of acidic foods. She recommends that people with "silent" reflux avoid foods (and beverages) with pH < 5 for 2 weeks, and pH < 4 indefinitely.
http://www.voiceinstituteofnewyork.com/us-patients/