How Digestive Enzymes Can Take Your Diet to the Next Level
It’s a new year and you’ve decided that you’re going to take care of your body this year. You’ve started to learn healthier recipes, you’re cutting down on the sodas, and you’re even going for a walk now and then. These are all great steps in helping your body to feel its best and you may already be feeling results, but Digestive Enzyme supplements can help you take your self-care up another notch. Think of the enzymes as the Robin to your Batman. You’re working hard and taking care of your body and with your side-kick, you can go from good to great!
What Are Digestive Enzymes?
Digestive Enzymes are naturally produced by your body in different ways. Your saliva has enzymes, as does your pancreas, liver, gallbladder and some cells on your intestines! These enzymes are like assembly line workers, separating the different nutrients to make sure they go where they’re supposed to go. Things such as carbs and sugars are broken down by one type of enzyme and fat is handled by a completely different enzyme. Once the enzymes have taken the nutrients, they turn them into substances that your body can absorb.
Enzymes are what make it so that your body can take vitamin c out of the orange you’re eating to help your immune system, they release antioxidants, and the macronutrients that your body needs.
- Amylase
Produced in the mouth. It helps break down large starch molecules into smaller sugar molecules. - Pepsin
Produced in the stomach. Pepsin helps break down proteins into amino acids. - Trypsin
Produced in the pancreas. Trypsin also breaks down proteins. - Pancreatic lipase
Produced in the pancreas. It is used to break apart fats.
You can see how these enzymes are vital for your new healthy lifestyle! Your body produces these enzymes naturally, but more often than not, your body needs help to produce what you need. Take, for example, if you’ve had to have gallbladder surgery to have it removed; your body isn’t able to make the enzymes from your gallbladder because it doesn’t exist anymore. Therefore, your body isn’t benefitting as much as it could be from the foods you eat.
If you’re on the ketogenic diet, the macronutrients that your body needs to be successful are quite specific. It’s common for people on the ketogenic diet to get the sense that their body is lacking nutrients that it is used to. This is true; when you cut out all carbs, including grains and whole wheat, your body is left to search for what they provided your body with; mainly energy. This can cause your body to feel weak and you can even get what is often referred to as the “Keto Flu”. This Keto Flu can be lessened with the right enzymes. When you provide your body with extra help, it can take your body from seeking out carbs for energy to burning fat for energy much quicker and at a much more efficient manner.
What if I’m Not Trying to Lose Weight?
These enzymes do much more than just assist those trying to lose body fat. As I mentioned before, this is what your body uses to break down food into absorbable nutrients. Your body could be telling you that you need them without you even knowing. People who suffer from IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome) benefit because the enzymes assist in the healthy digestion of foods and can relieve or reduce indigestion, bloating, and constipation.
Individuals that suffer from Diabetes can take these enzymes and it will maximize their body’s ability to break down carbs and assist with blood glucose levels. Since the pancreas is the organ that is faulty in the case of diabetics, it doesn’t produce the enzymes that it normally would and introducing more into your body could make a huge difference. Individuals with Celiac disease, Chron’s Disease, Ulcerative Colitis, and just general heartburn issues can all greatly benefit from the additional support that these enzymes provide for the body.
Ultimately the amount of people who cannot benefit from digestive enzymes is slim to none. If you want your body, even a healthy body, to process and break down nutrients better so that you can feel better, look better, and live healthier, they will help. Anyone who has felt their body be sluggish, sore, sick, or just not well has experienced a need for these enzymes and your body can’t tell you that it needs them any other way.
