Last month I wrote about low stomach acid, and its effect on our digestive system. This month’s article is about digestive enzymes and the effect they have on our digestive system.
Are you trying to repair a leaky gut? Do you suffer from chronic digestive issues such as gas, bloating, indigestion, or constipation? Do you experience reflux after a meal? Or do you see pieces of undigested food or a fatty substance in your stool? If so, your body may not be producing enough digestive enzymes, or your enzymes may not be working as well as they should.
So, what are digestive enzymes?
Digestive enzymes are small proteins that act on specific molecules within foods to break them down. The digestive process begins in your mouth, where saliva starts breaking down your food. From there the food travels to your stomach where the stomach acid begins breaking down the proteins. The majority of digestive enzymes are made by the pancreas. Pancreatic juice contains several digestive enzymes, as well as bicarbonate to neutralize the acid from your stomach. The enzymes work in the small intestine to break down the food so it can be absorbed. Enzymes produced by the pancreas include:
- Amylases: breaks down starches (complex carbohydrates)
- Lipases: breaks down fats
- Proteases and Peptidases: breaks down proteins
So, how do digestive enzymes affect gut health?
Realize this – it’s not what you eat, but what you digest and absorb. If what you eat is not properly digested and absorbed in your small intestines, it can lead to malnourishment, because not enough nutrients are being absorbed by your body. As the undigested food travels through the digestive tract it will provide food for the bad bacteria and cause gas and bloating, among other digestive issues. To balance out the bacteria in your gut, take a good quality probiotic supplement, here is a link for the probiotic I take.
So, what causes you to become deficient in digestive enzymes?
It is generally underlying health issues that contribute to enzyme deficiency, such as Leaky Gut, Crohn’s, or other diseases of the small intestine. Also, inflammation from food sensitivities and toxins decrease enzyme production. Not to mention, low stomach acid can also play a role because an acidic environment is necessary to activate enzymes responsible for protein digestion.
Okay, so how do you treat your enzyme deficiency?
The first thing you should do is add a digestive enzyme supplement to your routine, taking them at least once a day, but as much as three times a day depending on how extreme the health issues caused by your enzyme deficiency. Secondly, transition to a more natural diet, start removing processed foods from your diet and adding in more fruits and vegetables.
If you are trying to overcome digestive issues such as gas, bloating, indigestion, diarrhea, reflux, etc., you should try giving digestive enzymes a try. Choose a supplement that contains a wide range of enzymes. The one I take contains a mix of all the enzymes, here is a link to my recommended digestive enzyme where you can check it out.