*Updated September 2019

I received a message from a doctor about a patient of his who had his stomach removed due to cancer, and as a result had severe protein malabsorption. Because of this, the doctor was wondering if Absorb Plus could be assimilated by this patient.

Now, we have lots of people missing parts of their small intestine who use Absorb Plus, but had not yet encountered someone missing their entire stomach – so I asked a friend of mine, Shirin Kalyan, who has a PhD in Immunology and Experimental medicine for her opinion.

Here was her very helpful advice:

“What a distressing case! I had been wanting to tell you for some time that I think your Absorb Plus is ideal for people with stomach and other GI cancers who need to sustain weight and nutrition (my mom had stomach cancer and it was something I had looked into extensively at the time).

Most of the peptidases are made in the stomach, where the low pH helps their enzymatic activity to break down protein into smaller peptides and aids their absorption. He would do best really minimizing the amount of fluid and carbohydrates in his meals (he has no holding space) – and eating small protein-heavy portions frequently through the day. Free hydrolyzed amino acids are going be easiest for him. He will need to supplement with B12 or he is going to get anemic pretty fast and he is also at risk for osteoporosis.

53 g of maltodextrin per serving in Absorb Plus is definitely on the high side for him, but he does need some carbohydrates or he is going to be completely energy deficient – and ketosis is not a good state.

I would make a mix of 1/3 Absorb Plus with 2/3 free amino acids blended in pineapple juice (provides acid and digestive enzymes). Be sure to use fresh, or raw pineapple juice, as you want the enzymes to be live – so juice from concentrate will not work. He can then eat portions of this mix at a time. He can see how he tolerates that for a day. It would give him as close to complete as he can get right now. If he can handle it – hopefully he can increase the amount he can take in a day as his body gets used to digesting food with what it has left to do the job.”


Take a look at a few other blog posts featuring Shirin Kalyan below!

Food Allergy Testing Exposed! (2005)
Qu Biologics Looking for Phase 2 Trial Participants (2018)
New Crohn’s Treatment Uses Dead Bacteria to Induce Remission – Podcast! (2019)