Frequently Asked Questions

Prelief® is a safe and effective medical food that can help reduce up to 95% of acid from foods and beverages. In addition, each Prelief® caplet delivers about 6.4% of your calcium RDI.

Reducing up to 95% of acid from trigger foods.

After independent medical review and legal confirmation it has been determined that Prelief® qualifies as a ‘Medical Food’, enabling claims regarding the management of Interstitial Cystitis (IC) and bladder plain triggered by acidic foods. There were some modest changes in the label, including the elimination of the “Supplements Facts” information panel which will not be required for Prelief® as a Medical Food. The formula for Prelief® has not changed. The new package started showing up on shelves in the spring of 2021.

Interstitial Cystitis (IC) is a chronic condition causing bladder pressure, bladder pain and sometimes pelvic pain. Acidic foods and drinks can irritate the bladder causing pain and urinary urgency. Prelief works by reducing the acid in foods and drinks before they cause discomfort. Prelief is the #1 urologist and #1 urogynecologist recommended brand for the dietary management of IC.

No prescription is required to purchase Prelief®.

Below is a representative list of acidic foods, in alphabetical order. Two caplets of Prelief® can reduce the acid enough for you to remain comfortable after eating acidic foods. However, depending on your sensitivity to the food, use more or less Prelief® as needed. Experiment with the number of caplets that do the job for you. If you don’t see the food you are looking for, pick the one closest to it.

Prelief® is designed to help reduce acids in foods. Take 2 to 3 caplets to reduce up to 95% of acid in the food or beverage.

Many people are highly sensitive to food acid. Reducing up to 95% of the acid from food and beverages may allow people to remain comfortable when eating those foods.

Prelief® is drug-free.
Prelief® is a medical food.
Prelief® is the original product that was specifically designed to reduce acid from food and beverages.

Take 2 caplets with each meal, snack or beverage. 2 caplets can reduce up to 95% of acid in certain foods/beverages but more can be taken if needed. See food acid chart for specifics.

Prelief® is available nationally at Walgreens. It is also available at Wegmans. You can also ask your local pharmacy to order the product and most can have it within 24 hours

The Prelief® hotline is a toll-free number that provides product information. If you have a specific question, you can call us at 1-800-214-2379.

Prelief® was developed by AkPharma Inc., one of America’s leading developers of specialty foods and digestants such as Lactaid® and Beano®. It is now owned by DSE Healthcare Solutions LLC.

AkPharma is the company that first discovered the unique uses of calcium glycerophosphate as an acid reducer. AkPharma introduced it as Prelief® over-the-counter tablets in 1996 and because of its unique properties it is now marketed as the drug free answer to the discomfort often caused by high-acid foods and beverages.

About the Developer of Prelief®

Alan E. Kligerman was the founder and Chief Executive Officer of AkPharma Inc.
In 1974, Mr. Kligerman started the business that evolved into Lactaid Inc. which marketed over-the-counter lactase enzyme tablets and dairy-produced, lactose-hydrolyzed milk for lactose intolerant individuals. In 1990 and 1996, Mr. Kligerman licensed, and then sold, the Lactaid brand to McNeil Consumer Products Division of Johnson & Johnson. In every year since 2001, Lactaid Milk has been the largest selling branded milk in the United States.

In 1990 Mr. Kligerman invented Beano®. He founded AkPharma Inc., to market this invention, the oral use of alpha galactosidase enzyme to make beans, legumes, and a wide variety of similar vegetables more digestible. He obtained U.S. and worldwide patents on these uses, and created the brand name. The Beano brand and patent rights were sold to Block Drug Company, now part of GlaxoSmithKline, in 1997.

AkPharma developed, patented and marketed calcium glycerophosphate, Prelief® as the only acid reducer specifically designed to reduce acid from food and beverages.

Mr. Kligerman has been on the Government Affairs and Public Relations Committees of the Dairy & Food Industry Supply Association. He has also been Treasurer and Board member and has served on various committees of the Calorie Control Council. He has twice appeared before the House Judiciary Subcommittee of the U.S. Congress on food industry matters and has testified before the House on behalf of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. During the Special Food and Drug Hearings in the early 1970’s he was one of the founders of the U.S. Council on Special Foods, created to defend the use of sorbitol as a food ingredient.

He was a member of the Advisory Council of Cornell University’s Institute of Food Science, 1990-1996. In 1995 he was appointed by President Clinton to the Board for International Food and Agricultural Development, a unit of the U.S. Agency for International Development