7 replies to this topic

[ironfistx]

You can find people online saying they help with pain, inflammation, and a bunch of other stuff. But aren't enzymes just supposed to assist with the stuff you consume?

[tazzz96]

You can find people online saying they help with pain, inflammation, and a bunch of other stuff. But aren't enzymes just supposed to assist with the stuff you consume?

Enzymes are biological catalysts... They break things down and they also help create new things. Its really hard to explain. There's millions of types of enzymes though. Unless you're specifically talking about certain enzymes like lactase

[Kevnzworld]

There are digestive enzymes that assist in food absorption and there are also proteolytic enzymes. Proteolytic enzymes are generally entericaly coated to bypass digestion and are taken for inflammation , cleansing etc.
Its considered helpful especially for people with digestive issues that lead to leaky gut syndrome
There is a school of thought, partially promoted by Dr Nicholas Gonzalez that the SAD diet stresses out the pancreas, and as one ages it secretes fewer enzymes. He uses proteolytic enzymes as a pancreatic cancer treatment.

[ironfistx]

I'm talking about papain and bromelain and the stylese that are mentioned as being useful for inflammation and soreness.

[bor]

Enzymes are proteins, so they themselves are digested in the intestine, so they do not get absorbed into the blood as enzymes but as their breakdown products - amino acids. Certain enzymes help to digest food to people who are deficient in these enzymes. 

[gt35r]

If you eat an enzyme (or take it as a supplement) first thing that will happen is it will enter you stomach and be pulled/unravelled by the low pH of the stomach. Then the enzyme pepsin which your stomach secrets along with gastric acid will chew through that enzyme and make it into tiny peptides. After that, the enzyme you just supplemented or ate will go into the small intestines and be processed into individual amino acids.

 

Needles to say pretty much any enzymes you take will be destroyed at the stomach. There are some exception like lactase enzymes (for those with lactose intolerance) that are packaged into wax container that prevent destruction by the stomach acid. Even then, lactase only stain the intestines and functions there.

 

You can not eat an enzyme and except it to enter you system; the goes from pretty much all proteins. There is a reason diabetics have to inject their insulin and why hGH has to be taken the same way.

[bor]

Enzyme supplements actually may have a role in digestion. Besides lactase mentioned above, certain enzymes break fiber in high-fiber foods (legumes) and thus help to prevent bloating. Individuals with pancreatitis may be short in pancreatic enzymes and taking them as supplements helps them to digest foods properly. These supplements are designed in such a way they are active in the small intestine, where most of the digestion occurs.

[danezcou3]

There´s a company in Iceland called Zymetech; they produce serums that contain enzymes from the fish Coddock called Trypsin. It´s topical on the skin, and it´s used to speed up healing process, and it works very well for my acne. I just heard about it a few days ago when a pharmacist gave me a sample to try.

I do think it´s hard to come by in other countries than Iceland though.

zymetech(dotcom)/product-development/penzyme-technology/

Edited by danezcou3, 19 August 2014 - 09:01 AM.