Digestive enzymes aren’t just beneficial, they’re essential! They break down food into amino acids, fatty acids, cholesterol and simple sugars.
The role of digestive enzymes is primarily to act as catalysts in speeding up specific, life-preserving chemical reactions in the body. Essentially, they help break down larger molecules into more easily absorbed particles that the body can use to survive.
If you have any type of digestive disease such as acid reflux, gas, bloating, leaky gut, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, diverticulitis, malabsorption, diarrhea or constipation, then digestive enzymes can help. Digestive enzymes can take stress off of the stomach, pancreas, liver, gallbladder and small intestine by helping break down difficult-to-digest proteins, starches and fats.
• Liver disease could indicate a concurrent enzyme insufficiency.
• Crohn’s disease may result in enzyme deficiency.
• Iron deficiency or vitamin B12 deficiency may suggest that the digestive process is failing to cleave these nutrients from food.
• Vitamin D deficiency may indicate another malabsorption issue.
What are the benefits of digestive enzymes?
Without them, we couldn’t process food! The main reasons why most people should take digestive enzymes:
• Assists the body in breaking down difficult-to-digest protein and sugars like gluten, casein and lactose.
• Greatly improve symptoms of acid reflux and IBS.
• Enhance nutrition absorption and prevent nutritional deficiency.
• Counteract enzyme inhibitors naturally in foods like peanuts, wheat germ, egg whites, nuts, seeds, beans and potatoes.
Digestive enzyme products are derived from three sources:
• Fruit-sourced — usually pineapple or papaya-based
• Animal-sourced — including pancreatin sourced from ox or hog.
• Plant-sourced — from probiotics, yeast and fungi.