It is a dietary supplement especially recommended for people with difficult digestions due to a lack of gastric juices. Betaine is an organic element that provides hydrochloric acid and when combined with pepsin, digestive comfort is achieved. Betaine provides hydrochloric acid and can be useful when its production in the stomach is insufficient. Gastric hydrochloric acid also helps to reduce the poorly available trivalent ferric iron into more soluble and absorbable divalent ferrous iron. Another physiological function is to protect the body from foodborne enteric infections through its antibacterial properties. The combination with pepsin provides support for a sense of digestive well-being. Active pepsin is a proteolytic enzyme that splits large protein molecules into smaller ones, the polypeptides.