For me personally this stuff did nothing. I think it's a placebo and a scam. Like many many herbal remedies out there. It's expensive too. Waste of money for me at least. After using it for six months, I saw no change what so ever, and dumped a big wad of cash on that junk.

I had good success with Pepzin when I was taking it regularly. I just wondered what was meant by it being a 'band aid". I'm not sure what zinc does for us.

http://www.meta-ehealth.com/site/office/custom-wellness/article.jsp?path=fm_wellness_center/healthAtWork/stress_management&id=14&category=healthAtWork

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1856764/

Zinc carnosine is not a supplement but a drug that was engineered in Japan for this specific purpose, and numerous studies confirm that it works as intended.

John, you are entitled to your personal opinion, however it contradicts scientific evidence. If zinc carnosine does not work for you, maybe your problem is not one it can address, or maybe you're doing (or not doing) something that results in complete negation of its effects.

For example, taking zinc carnosine without proper acid management will be 100% useless.

@littlemart: It appears you are going in circles in your line of questioning. Maybe you should start keep track of the answers, so when a similar question arises in the future, you can just look it up.

If you want to know exactly what it does, read the NIH study I posted in above post.

Thank you shihonage. Please understand, I have MS which causes some cognitive problems, including memory and comprehension. I went to your link, but could not take it all in. The technical stuff blows my mind. That's why I rely on people like you to give me simple, accurate information. I don't mean to repeat my questions, but sometime there is someone new who has a different way of explaining. I do copy and save some of the threads that mean a lot to me. Doesn't mean I will always remember them, but I can go back to the ones I save. Thanks so much.

"Scientific evidence underlying these claims is, however, limited." was a highlight in one of your links.

This being the key to most studies that are claimed to have been done with zinc carnosine. I mean most doctors wouldn't acknowledge it for the healing of gastritis. it has been around for a long time and if it was so effective I'm sure someone in the cash crazed pharmaceutical industry would have jumped on it by now.

Zinc is actually an acid aid. It helps produce stomach acid. A zinc deficiency often leads to a lack of stomach acid production. i'll keep my stomach acid low thanks.

Carnosine is very helpful to the body, helping to aid degenerative diseases like diabetes and can even work as an anti aging agent. However, you don't need to take a pill to get this stuff. It's found in most anything that contains amino acids. There is no real evidence, no big studies, showing that the combination of zinc and carnosine have any special healing effect on the stomach. Though you can see how taking carnosine would be a good idea here.

I disagree that my opinion contradicts scientific evidence.

On top of which, I log all my foods, all my progress. I have made steady progress for a long time, and with the addition of pepzin gi, there was no change what so ever. only thing I noticed was a slight increase in gas pain in my chest.

I haven't been using pepzin gi for a while and am doing better now than at any time. I lifted weights all this week, have been riding my dirt bike, and even went skateboarding on a few occasions. Been recording music this week as well, which is very hard on my stomach because of all the heavy vocals involved with the type of music i play.

Though it may have worked well for you, keep in mind that everyone responds differently and suffers differently, especially with this particular disease. Even the foods each person can tolerate are sometimes totally different. So please don't assume that I am simply wrong and you are right. I may catch some heat for saying that but that is clearly what you implied here.

to your question littlemart..

" Zinc is one nutrient which can cause nausea or digestive discomfort, and this is almost certainly more likely to be the case if stomach acid levels are low."

So from this part i took from an internet article I would gather that anyone who is keeping their stomach acid low, should not be taking zinc.

google "zinc and the stomach"

BUT zinc is also good for digestion. That is also why it works in a sort of partnering relationship with stomach acid. It is especially useful in the digestions of certain protiens.

Zinc is used in almost every part of the body, liver,kidneys, muscles, brain, and reproductive organs especially. Semen is especially high in zinc, and it has to do with dna and rna i think but i don't really remember. I used to know all of this stuff when i was still bodybuilding. Now however my time is spent studying other things..like netflix and great classic novels like call of the wild :P

A mix of zinc and carnosine isn't the same thing as "zinc carnosine". I had bad grades in chemistry but even I understand that.

As for the rest of your reply, john, it is frankly baffling. You ignore the studies I cited (there are more, mostly done in Japan, if you look for them), and claim there are no studies!

You also claim it is a "scam".

Seemingly impervious to logic, by not keeping your emotions in check, you're poisoning the well for people who may otherwise benefit from zinc carnosine. Which, by the way, is recognized as a real drug in Japan and is prescribed there by doctors.

I'm sorry that you had to spend lots of money on it (its cheap in America), but that's no reason to spread misinformation.

John i have my doubts too sometimes but then again i tend to "flare" a lot due to overeating and trying to gain my weight and I noticed I dont need to get on potatoes/oatmeal diet for a while. I am fine the next day but ive been taking pepzin gi like x4 double dose always so its like x8 a day along with careful chewing and careful cooking my flare is gone the next day and im back to +1500 cal a day.

I think pepzin gi in my case is just a coating agent, so the stomach can heal im not sure about promotin regrowth but you can do the test for example try to space out your meals by taking pepzin +1 or +2 hours after your meal see how that works.

The worst flare i had was a month or 2 months ago? when i ate at 6am 9am 12pm 3pm 6pm 9pm 12 am 2am and back to 6am lol....then again it took less than a week for it to calm down and i stayed faithful to my bland diet...too.

Not sure if its placebo or not but its the only medicine im taking i dont think pepcid does much to me and i know zantac does i wish i could take it thats why it gives me more side effects (heart problems) too. at this point i dont care whats placebo or not i just wanna heal really and fast !

Right now im trying to space out my meals by 5 hours I tried 6 hours but pepzin gi didnt help there it does help me to space it out to 4-5 hours though 5 hours being risky.

i think its importanta to let the stomach/the mind rest too, this 3-hour interval and snacks kill me i dont want my life to be dominated by food i just wanna eat anything and move on i got ^%$* to do ! and pepzin gi helps me with that so far i think!

"A mix of zinc and carnosine isn't the same thing as "zinc carnosine". I had bad grades in chemistry but even I understand that."

thanks for the inslut, who's emotions are in check now?

I did not ignore the studies you cited. First off, the first
line of my post comes right from a study you posted.

The clincher there for me is "studies done in japan".
Are these researchers recognized by major medical associations?
I'm always a little wary of unrecognized foreign
medicines.

I'm just putting in my two cents here. As far as poisoning
the well, well I disagree that pepzin Gi works. I'm
sure there are others out there who have found no results
from it and would agree that it's a somewhat sketchy supplment,
which has very vague research behind it.

I have the right, I think, to voice my opinion, and let people
see another viewpoint.

You've once again insulted me here, as in other posts, and I've
also watched you insult other people on this site. Now you're
making me out to be a bad guy here. I know you've made a following for yourself here, but I should have the right to disagree with you, without being insulted for it.

my little trip up with my zinc carnosine explanation aside, I think i made some relative points there. Especially with zinc and stomach acid, and zinc irritating the stomach. Those are very relevant things that everyone with gastritis needs to watch out for.

We are all sufferers here, and we really shouldn't put anymore negativity out there than we need to. Maybe I was a little too
balls to the wall with my original post, I apologize.

GuskoBorido,

have you tried slippery elm powder? that might help you too. I have the powder and it mixes up with hot water to make a goop. take it on an empty stomach and it should work to protect the stomach i think. it's also supposed to help with acid too.

some take it before a meal too.

I have been doing much better man! I've been eating chicken and peas/carrots/greenbeans all week! Honey too. I love fresh farm honey. I keep bees, so that's really nice for me. They say hot honey helps the stomach, so i take three tablespoons in my oatmeal once a day, and just let it sit in my stomach without drinking water or anything. its very sweet but hopefully it helps.

Have you also tried DGL?

Most relief you will find though man, is medical marijuana. But you have to be careful because it might make you hungry. But marijuana has big effects on the stomach. I mean think about it, people with aids and cancer (most of whom usually have very bad nausea) are given this stuff, and it's one of the few effective medicines out there. It's also a great anti-inflammatory.

You will smoke one time, and your stomach will already feel better. you will feel it in your body, and you will come back here and say "What relief!" lol. ( I hope)

ill probably be trying it next week i told my dad to find out for me lol yes my dad is cool. it doesnt get u high though i think because the type we are looking for has a lowcomponent of "highness" and we arent smoking it. i tried it once in college i didnt get hungry just felt relaxed.

I dont think ill be giving any reviews on it though because the stuff is so controversial and many are thrown off just by the name i am one of them but i wanna heal fast like i said i need to gain weight and even with gastritis under control it is risky to do gain weight fast i learned my lesson !

Slippery elm i tried it it doesnt work as good for me it coats the stomach but i dont think it helps me get better faster. john have u tried sucralfate i got a bottle but havent used it much, i read about a dude in healing well he just ate egg custard for 2 months and overdose on sucralfate and he can eat w/e he wants after that...hes an admin. i may try this currently making dairy free egg custard atm :).

Okay so I tried to learn about this zinc carnosine with a
more open mind. For me I noticed no change, and I took it for
quite some time.
I put myself in check though, realizing that I was probably
being somewhat biased and that I should really look at it
without blinders on.

Here are some interesting notes I found

- I was actually right in my initial post. Zinc carnosine is:
quote
"Zinc-carnosine is an artificially produced derivative of carnosine in which a zinc ion and carnosine are bound in a 1-to-1 ratio to create a chelate compound" so..Zinc+Carnosine

:P one point for johnny!

- zinc carnosine is usually given by prescription in japan.
Pepzin Gi, is a marketted brand name, over the counter version, made by hamari chemicals. it is a much less potent
product, enabling it to be classified as a health food supplement.


- I found a study done in London, at the Queen mary's school of medicine and dentistry,
That showed that patients given Zinc-carnosine, showed
an intestinal protective effect. The study was conducted with ten human patients and other studies have shown similar
results in rats and dogs. This one stuck out though. There is
evidence out there that zinc-carnosine does work in proctecting
the stomach lining.

Another study showed that 64% of patients given zinc carnosine
in an 8 week study showed significant improvement with gastritis. Perhaps I was one of the unlucky 36%.

one point for shihonage :P

- Zinc does cause irritation to the stomach, and when taken
on an empty stomach can be very irratating, leading to
inflammation, nausea, and vomitting. In high amounts zinc can be dangerous and will also cause your body to produce more acid in order to digest it.

However, Apparently when put to work with carnosine, it breaks down completely different in the stomach. I would guess mostly
because of the amino acids. This also allows the zinc to stay in the stomach longer, allowing it to repair longer and more effectively.

keep in mind though that many brand marketed products are not as effective in the bonding and/or ratios of these types of compounds, which can lead to poor results, and possible side effects associated with zinc.
A poorly crafted product doesn't always do what it's label
claims.

I'm not in anyway saying pepzin gi is poorly crafted, and in fact I have nothing to compare it to, as I didn't try any other zinc-lcarnosines, but it simply didn't work for me, and believe me, I was looking for it to, and bought many a bottle of it.

With all of the supplements and natural medicines booming these days because everyone is on the health craze, it's very easy for these companies (who are not FDA approved mind you) to sell just about anything under the guise of natural medicine. A heath care supplement does not need FDA approval because it is simply not recognized as a medicine, and so is sold along side protein supplements and other such things. That's not to say they don't work, it's just good to keep your eyes opened for a possible scam. In the very same stores you will find weight loss pills, and muscle gain pills. Though you will also find many products that work, and are great supplements.

I would suggest anyone try pepzin GI though, because it's very much worth a try when dealing with this hellish disease

Maybe with those of us who suffer from chronic gastritis,
we need the prescription strength. It seems to me that no one
has actually been healed by using this stuff, even though studies show that we should have seen significant improvement.

Anyways. There's a look at both sides of that argument, hopefully that was unbiased enough, and not to boring.

gusko,

I can't get sulcrafate in Canada. I saw an american doctor that was up here for a while, and he suggested it but then he realized he can't give it in Canada. Right now though, I am off of everything except Nexium and am doing great. lets hope it stays that way. its been several weeks now that i've felt good. For me Nexium was a life saver. It is the only thing I have tried where I could very easily see significant results.

Man I even lifted weights today, and felt fine. I went a little harder today, which had me worried, but I am okay! I really hope this continues

John, you're entitled to your opinion, but don't pass it off as fact. So far I presented 2 studies, and you presented hearsay.

Here's a meta-study that at mildest, muddies your claim that zinc increases acid secretion in the stomach (because it says it does the complete opposite):
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4231515/

See section, "GASTRIC CYTOPROTECTION AND INHIBITION OF ACID SECRETION BY ZINC".

Meanwhile, I'm done with this thread.

Whoever wants to try and see if zinc carnosine works for them, feel free to check the site in my profile for regimen suggestions.

I've not been doing this for profit or "gastritis forum fame". What a ridiculous implication. I've even barely been present here lately.

I'm not a salesman for anything. I've been doing this to get better, and in the process sharing my findings with others. I created the website for no reason except to automate the process of answering very similar questions.

These findings helped a number of people here. Of course they're not just "mine". There are others on the Internet who advocate this supplement and similar regimens. I don't own a patent on common sense.

Zinc carnosine in prescribed dosage has no registered negative side-effects. Unlike you know, Carafate/Sucralfate which is prescribed for similar purpose.

So, reader, it's up to you to look for the truth and try things if you're so inclined.

Fini.