Digestive Enzymes

Eating healthy meals and cleaning up your environment and lifestyle is the first step in achieving wellness. Supplementation with digestive enzymes and probiotics, is the next step in supporting your body heal and function properly. Think about it – we are continuously being advised to take various supplements, herbs, and vitamins or to eat a certain diet in order to improve health. And yet no focus is placed on ensuring that whatever is being consumed is also being digested and absorbed. The assumption is made, even by nutrition experts that we all digest equally and completely but this simply is not the case.

Because of genetics, diet, lifestyle/stress, processed foods, and a toxic environment, we are all at risk for compromised digestion. This often leads to weakened immune function, fatigue, hormone imbalance, digestive disorders, and disease. A healthy diet and lifestyle, along with supplemental digestive enzyme, are the key to prevention and/or correction of such conditions.

What are Digestive Enzymes?

digestive enzyme are the catalysts which allow us to break down foods into absorbable nutrients such as vitamins, minerals, glucose, amino acids and fatty acids. Once your food is broken down into simple nutrients, the body can use them for energy, growth and repair. Probiotics also support digestion and help maintain a healthy environment in the lower GI tract. By taking digestive enzyme and probiotics, the body is ensured that it will get the necessary nutrition it needs for optimal health.

A good digestive enzyme supplement will contain a blend of enzymes to digest carbohydrates, proteins and fats. I prefer products that use fungal enzymes because they are active throughout the entire digestive process as opposed to pancreatic enzymes that are only active in the small intestine.

The carbohydrases or polysaccharolytic enzymes I use are amylase, glucoamylase, alpha galactosidase, beta gluconase, cellulase, hemi-cellulase, phytase, macerase, invertase, lactase, diastase, pectinase and xylanase. These are the enzymes that will help you digest all types of starch, fiber, sugar, grains and legumes. Look for a product that contains a variety of these carbohydrases and not just amylase. The enzymes that digest proteins are called proteases and they include protease, peptidase, di-peptidal peptidase (DPP IV), trypsin and chymotrypsin. You may see bromelain and papain in some digestive formulas but I think they are better used in other applications. DPP IV is an enzyme specific for digestion of the wheat proteins gliadin and glutinen. Those who have gluten intolerance are familiar with this one or will want to learn more about it. Trypsin and chymotrypsin require a special coating in order to pass through the stomach and therefore are limited to action in the small intestines. I prefer a product that uses a blend of acid, alkaline and neutral proteases so that you are getting digestive action on proteins throughout the GI tract.

The third category of enzymes is called lipase. These enzymes are responsible for digesting fats. At times you may see “ox bile” listed as support for fat digestion. It is not an enzyme, but the bile helps emulsify the fat and gives the lipase better access to the fat molecules. I have not used products with ox bile since the fungal lipases I use do not need it.

So there you have it – carbohydrases, proteases and lipases blended in one product and taken with meals promotes optimal digestion, nutrient availability and cellular health. Giving your body digestive help each day not only takes the stress off of the digestive organs, it also reduces oxidative stress and toxicity which improves overall health.

Here are just a few of the most common comments on digestive enzyme I have received over the years:

• Digestion without discomfort – reduced gas, bloating, burping, indigestion and constipation
• Better energy and more restful sleep
• Stronger immune system with fewer colds or infections
• Reduced food intolerance, allergies and sinus congestion