Along with potassium chloride (KCl) and sodium chloride (NaCl), hydrochloric acid (Hcl) is part of the gastric acids that are responsible for breaking down the food you eat into long chains of amino acids. However, among the three digestive fluids, HCl is the hardest to produce, and a decrease in production can lead to various stomach ailments.

Peppercorns have an ingredient called piperine that can stimulate the production of hydrochloric acid in the stomach. This means that adding peppercorns to your diet increases piperine in your system and hastens your digestion of food, giving no chance for the bad bacteria inside your gut to get to it.