What are digestive enzymes? Digestive enzymes help to break down carbohydrates, fats, and proteins from food. This allows for the absorption of nutrients while helping to maintain your overall health.
Without digestive systems the nutrients in your food go to waste. If you have minimal digestive systems, it will lead to poor digestion and malnutrition. And this is called exocrine pancreatic insufficiency, (EPI).
If you have these issues, then it is advisable to add a digestive enzyme replacement before meals to help your body process the food. Some digestive enzymes require a doctor’s prescription, and it is also sold over the counter.
Photo credit: iStock- Ivan Martynov
Here are the different types of enzymes:
- Amylase- This enzyme breaks down carbohydrates and starches.
- Lipase- This liver bile helps to break down fats.
- Protease- This enzyme breaks down protein into amino acids and it helps to keep the bacteria, yeast, and protozoa out of the intestines.
If you have digestive enzyme insufficiency it can cause the following:
- It can make you lactose intolerance which is your inability to digest dairy products.
- Exocrine pancreatic insufficiency- (EPI)- This happens when your pancreas doesn’t produce enough enzymes that are necessary to digest carbohydrates, proteins, and fats.
Here are some other symptoms of digestive enzyme insufficiency which are bloating, cramping, gas, belly pain, unexplained weight loss, diarrhea, etc.
Some of the other common enzymes are lactase which breaks down lactose and sucrase breaks down sucrose.
There are foods that contains natural enzymes such as:
- Avocados
- Bananas
- Kiwi
- Kefir
- Mangos
- Sauerkraut
- Pineapples
- Ginger
Some of the most common replacement digestive enzymes are constipation, abdominal cramps, and diarrhea. If you have these symptoms for more than 5 to 7 days, then you may need to contact your doctor.
A lot of people confuse probiotics with enzymes. Probiotics are live organisms that can help make up the good bacteria in your gut. But enzymes help to break down and digest food.
The Bottom Line is digestive enzymes that are important for your nutritional and overall health. It does a good job of absorbing nutrients from the food that you eat.
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References
- John Hopkins Medicine- https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/malabsorption
