Multizyme 150 caps Standard Process

How do enzymes support digestion?

Enzymes are proteins made by the body that facilitate chemical reactions, e.g., enzymes produced by the gut to aid digestion. Enzymes are needed to digest food; produce energy inside cells; activate the brain; help the body maintain the function of cells, tissues, and organs; and support other functions of the body. Without enzymes, many chemical reactions in the body would not be supported.

The substances on which enzymes act are called substrates, and enzymes may be very specific for particular substrates and/or may only catalyze a particular transformation of a substrate.

Enzymes fall into two main categories: digestive or metabolic. Digestive enzymes work in the intestinal tract to break down the foods we eat so nutrients can be absorbed into the blood for use in the body. Categories of digestive enzymes include amylases, proteases, and lipases. Amylases, which are produced in human saliva and pancreas secretions, break down starch, a main source of carbohydrates in the human diet. Proteases (enzymes that break down proteins) cleave the bond between amino acids, which are the building blocks of all proteins. Proteases found in the digestive tract include gastric pepsins, the serine proteases6 trypsin and chymotrypsin, and carboxypeptidases. Lipases are enzymes that digest fats and are found in the stomach and pancreatic secretions.

Additionally, some plant- and animal-based proteolytic enzymes can be obtained from food. Raw foods from both plant and animal sources can be a beneficial source of enzymes, since heat and cooking methods can destroy these sensitive molecules. Digestive enzymes enable our bodies to obtain optimal nutritional benefit from the foods we eat.

How do the enzymes in Multizyme support the efficient breakdown of foods and absorption of nutrients?

Pancreatin is a mixture of pancreatic enzymes, including lipases, amylases, and proteases. This enzyme mix breaks down dietary proteins into peptides and amino acids, fats (lipids) into fatty acids, and starch into simple sugars. Bromelain and papain, an endolytic plant cysteine protease enzyme found in papaya as well as many other organisms, are proteolytic enzymes that digest proteins. Lipases break down lipid molecules (fats) found in foods. Cellulases break down cellulose, one of the three main components of plant lignocellulose, into sugar molecules. Amylases break down starch. Together, enzymes in Multizyme work synergistically to encourage the efficient breakdown of food in the digestive tract and enhance the absorption of vital nutrients.