Taken with meals

Natural Factors Chewable DGL

A chewable, sugar-free deglycyrrhizinated licorice tablet built around the mucosal-protectant mechanism, whose best trial support comes from a different, standardized extract than the one in this tablet.

Format: Chewable tablet
Type: DGL licorice (mucosal protectant)
Cost: $22.37 for 180 tablets, about $0.12 to $0.37 a day depending on frequency
Customer rating: 4.4 out of 5 from 8,009 ratings from Amazon

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What customers consistently report

Reported to work within around 20 minutes of chewing
Considered good value given the per-tablet cost
Mixed reaction to taste, with some finding it pleasantly sweet and others describing it as too sweet

Those are the themes that recur across the reviews. High review confidence — 8,009 Amazon ratings.

Why it might work

DGL is licorice root extract with the glycyrrhizin compound removed, which is what avoids the blood-pressure risk associated with regular licorice while keeping the fraction thought to support the protective mucus lining of the stomach and esophagus. This product delivers 400 mg of 10:1 DGL extract per chewable tablet, plus anise seed powder and stevia leaf, and is formulated as a chewable specifically because saliva is understood to activate DGL’s protective effect. That mechanism is a reasonable account of why chewing matters, not a demonstrated outcome for this tablet.

What the research supports

The strongest DGL evidence is a 2025 Phase III double-blind trial at a single Mumbai hospital that randomized 200 adults to either 150 mg a day of a standardized licorice extract sold as GutGard or a placebo for four weeks. Regurgitation frequency separated from placebo by day seven and heartburn by day fourteen, and the reflux quality-of-life score favored the extract at day twenty-eight. Three qualifications matter. The manufacturer sponsored the trial and gave input on its design. Around a fifth of participants dropped out, and the day-28 quality-of-life totals only reached significance after adjusting for baseline differences, not in raw form. There was no PPI comparison arm, so nothing in it speaks to using DGL instead of a drug. This Natural Factors tablet is not that standardized extract and does not claim to be, so treat it as a lower-cost way to try the DGL mechanism rather than a stand-in for the trial product.

What the label discloses

The label discloses the DGL extract ratio at 10:1 and the amount at 400 mg, plus a full listing of inactive ingredients including xylitol, microcrystalline cellulose, stearic acid, silica, and magnesium stearate. The product is non-GMO, gluten-free, soy-free, and free of artificial colors, preservatives, and sweeteners. No independent third-party lab testing certification is stated on the listing.

Who this tends to suit

This fits people looking for a chewable, take-before-meals option who prefer not to swallow a capsule, and who want a mucosal-support supplement to try alongside diet and routine changes. It is a reasonable lower-cost entry point for someone wanting to test the DGL category before considering a standardized-extract product.

Where it may not fit

Anyone sensitive to sweeteners like stevia or xylitol, or looking for a completely unflavored option, may find the taste profile unsuitable given the mixed reviews on sweetness. It is also not the standardized extract used in the strongest supporting trial, so the trial evidence should not be read across to it directly.

Side effects and what to be aware of

A minority of reviewers report nausea or diarrhea; stop and consult a clinician if digestive symptoms worsen rather than improve. As with any reflux product, persistent or worsening symptoms warrant medical evaluation rather than continued self-treatment.

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