Digestive Enzymes and Why You Might Need Supplements

Digestive Enzymes, the basics

Enzymes are formed from aminoacids and help speed up many changes within us.

Digestive enzymes break up our foods into simpler compounds that can be more simply taken in. Nutrients are trapped in the groceries we eat as our digestive is mainly designed to set these nutrients free with the help of the enzymes found in raw and fermented foods. The enzymes inside these fresh foods are only highly effective during the initial 45 min of digestion. However because we eat such a bad eating regimen of processed, highly refined foods we often are missing these essential enzymes in our food.

The body produces around 22 digestive enzymes that all function on different types of food. If you constantly eat cooked processed food your body is forced to supply all of the missing enzymes, requiring a lot of energy and can make you feel tired after eating. However your body will eventually use up its ability to produce enzymes and this causes symptoms such as fatigue, wind, constipation, headaches and bowel problems.eventually your body will lose it's ability to create the enzymes causing systems such as headaches, constipation and fatigue.

So what are the enzymes that we have in our body to help with digestion?

• In the oral cavity the salivary glands secrete ptyalin which digests starch.
• The gastric enzymes that get secreted in the stomach are pepsin which breaks down proteins, gelatinase, gastric amylase and lipase.
• The pancreas secretes enzymes such as trypsin that breaks down peptides in the small intestine, pancreatic amylase that degrades most carbohydrates, protease that digests proteins, lipase that digests fats, steapsin, carboxypeptidase, and bile from the liver that emulsifies fats.
• The small intestine releases a juice called succus entericus which contains six types of enzymes to degrade disaccharides into monosacchrides.

The Best environments for digestive enzymes.

The enzymes work best at their optimum pH, so for example, the enzymes secreted in the pancreas and will only work in an alkaline medium, and those in the stomach require a strong acidic medium.

The pancreas manufactures the pancreatic juice that shifts the acid contents from the stomach into an alkaline in the small intestine. A common problem is heartburn and indigestion shortly after eating due to an acid alkaline imbalance.

Many people experience what they think, and what is often considered, an over acid stomach which gives them heartburn. Most of the time people struggle with heartburn is due a lack of sufficient acid, rather than too much. Digestion works best when the digestive juices are very acidic at a low pH. The digestive enzyme perpsin doesn't function correctly if its not acidic enough. The food then does not get digestetd properly, ferments and so produces gas that bloats the stomach, causing discomfort. The next stage is a feeling in your heart or throat of soreness partnered with that terrible burning sensation.

So what can you do about this?

Digestive enzymes may be helpful for those who can get bloating almost immediately after eating food. If you suffer with heartburn look for products containing hydrochloric acid.

You can also try plant enzymes that are good as they work in either an acid or alkaline situation.

There are some enzyme supplements that will include an acid/alkaline balancer within them which is helpful for people who suffer flatulence and indigestion soon after eating, such as Catalyst 7 which contains calcium, magnesium and barley grass.

Alison Wyndham, founder of the Wyndham Centre has been working in Alternative Therapies since 1971. She regularly practices from one of her clinics helping people become healthy and feel better. You can read more about digestive enzyme supplements at www.wyndhamhealth.com