Have you noticed how much our food has changed over the years? Many products on supermarket shelves are packed with highly processed ingredients like refined flours, added sugars like high-fructose corn syrup, hydrogenated oils, genetically modified crops, and preservatives such as MSG or sodium nitrate. These ingredients aren’t exactly what the human body was designed to handle, and it’s no surprise that digestive issues like gas, bloating, indigestion, and irregular elimination are so common today.

As a dietitian, I hear from people all the time about these symptoms, and it makes me wonder: could digestive enzymes be part of the solution? In this article, we’ll explore why the modern food environment can challenge digestion and how targeted support may help your body process food more comfortably.

What are Digestive Enzymes?

Enzymes are specialized proteins that act as catalysts for chemical reactions in the body. There are specific digestive enzymes dedicated to digestion, helping break down food into smaller, absorbable components your body can absorb.

Digestive enzymes work on specific macronutrients:

Amylase enzymes break down starches into simple sugars

Protease enzymes break down proteins into amino acids

Lipase enzymes break down fat into fatty acids and glycerol

The digestive process starts in the mouth where chewing physically breaks food into smaller pieces. Saliva contains digestive enzymes like amylase, which starts breaking down carbohydrates even before food reaches your stomach.  

In the stomach, food mixes with hydrochloric acid, which helps denature proteins and activates additional enzymes to continue digestion. This process turns food into a paste-like substance called chyme, which moves into the small intestine for further breakdown and nutrient absorption.

The majority of digestion, however, happens in the small intestine, where the pancreas releases a powerful mix of digestive enzymes: amylase for carbohydrates, protease for proteins, and lipase for fats. These pancreatic enzymes are essential for breaking food down into absorbable nutrients so your body can get the most out of the foods you eat.

If the body doesn't produce enough of these enzymes, then digestive issues can occur. For example, an enzyme called lactase is produced within our intestinal walls to break down lactose, the sugar in dairy. Low lactase levels can lead to lactose intolerance, causing gas, bloating, and discomfort after consuming milk or other dairy products.

Digestive enzyme deficiencies can also contribute to bloating, indigestion, nutrient malabsorption, and other gastrointestinal symptoms. Understanding how these enzymes work can help you identify whether digestive support could benefit your gut health.

Factors That Deplete Digestive Enzymes

Several lifestyle and physiological factors can reduce your body’s natural production of digestive enzymes, which may contribute to bloating, indigestion, and nutrient malabsorption.

1. Aging

As we age, the body's ability to produce its own enzymes naturally declines. The stomach's ability to produce hydrochloric acid (HCl) and digestive enzymes like pepsin can also be affected by aging. This reduction in stomach acid can impair the activation of digestive enzymes and the absorption of certain nutrients, such as vitamin B12, calcium, and iron.

Additionally, long-term use of medications like proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) can exacerbate this condition by further suppressing gastric acid production.

There are only two ways to increase your levels of digestive enzymes. One way is by eating raw organic food and the other is by taking enzyme supplements.

2. Medications (especially PPIs & antacids)

Digestive enzymes require a very specific pH environment to function optimally. Certain medications, such as antacids or acid-suppressing medications, can change the pH in your stomach and digestive tract, potentially rendering your digestive enzymes less active. Maintaining a specific pH is very important for the proper activity of your digestive enzymes. This affects digestion and nutrient absorption. 

3. Diet

The food you eat is important to your digestive health. Highly processed foods are difficult for your body to break down, wich increases demand for digestive enzymes to complete digestion. Additionally, processed foods frequently contain additives, artificial colors, chemicals, and preservatives, which can destroy your digestive enzymes and enzyme function.

It's important to note that digestive enzymes and probiotics aren't the same. Digestive enzymes help break down food into absorbable nutrients while probiotics support a healthy balance of gut bacteria. Both play a role in digestive wellness, but their functions are distinct. Here's how to understand the difference between the two.

Signs You May Need Digestive Enzymes

Your body gives you clues when it's struggling to break down food properly. A deficiency in digestive enzymes often overlaps with other digestive issues, so it's important to pay attention to patterns. 

If you notice these signs regularly, it may indicate that your body isn’t producing enough enzymes to fully digest your meals:

• Bloating after a meal - when food isn't broken down enough, it can ferment in the gut, producing gas and bloating. Digestzyme is perfect for this!
• Post-meal gas - undigested carbohydrates and fats are common culprits.
• Constipation - incomplete digestion can slow down motility.
• Heartburn or indigestion - reduced enzyme activity or low stomach acid can contribute to reflux and discomfort.
• Sensation of food sitting in your stomach - meals may feel heavy or linger longer than normal. Burping past meals can be common.
• Feeling full after only a few bites of food - a sign of delayed gastric emptying or poor breakdown of macronutrients.
• Floating stools - often linked to poor fat digestion and insufficient pancreatic lipase. I love Pancreatin 8x for this. 

For many people, supplements that replenish digestive enzymes can reduce or eliminate those problems, especially while you’re healing your gut.

Food Sources of Digestive Enzymes

Certain whole foods naturally contain enzymes that can support the digestive process. Adding these to your diet may help your body break down proteins, fats, and carbohydrates more efficiently. Some examples include:

• Pineapple - high in bromelain, an enzyme that breaks down proteins, and also can help support healthy inflammatory levels in the body.
• Papaya - contains papain, an enzyme that breaks down proteins.
• Kiwi - provides actinidin, which supports protein digestion.
• Mango - contains amylases, which help break down carbohydrates.
• Bananas – contain natural amylases and glucosidases that help digest starches.
• Avocado – a source of lipase, which assists in fat digestion.
• Fermented foods – such as sauerkraut, kimchi, kefir, and miso may also contain active enzymes due to the fermentation process.

Other plant foods like grapes, figs, and raw honey contain small amounts of enzymes, though fruits like pineapple, papaya, kiwi, and mango are among the most studied for their enzyme activity. 

Did you know? Bananas are an excellent first food for babies because they are rich in amylase. Babies cannot produce amylase enzymes to digest starches until they are at least a year old. Bananas contain this enzyme already built-in, making them an easy food for baby to digest!

Do Cooking Temperatures Destroy Enzymes?

Enzymes are delicate and can be denatured (destroyed) by heat. When this happens, enzymes lose their shape and function.

In foods, most naturally occurring enzymes begin to break down at 118°F (48°C). The exact threshold varies by enzyme type. This means raw fruits, vegetables, and fermented foods contain active enzymes, but once cooked at typical cooking temperatures, these enzymes are no longer active. 

It’s important to note that the loss of food enzymes during cooking does not reduce the nutrient value of food itself. Vitamins, minerals, and macronutrients (carbohydrates, proteins, and fats) are still present, though some vitamins (like vitamin C and certain B vitamins), can be degraded by heat. The body primarily relies on its own digestive enzyme production from the pancreas, stomach, and small intestine to break down nutrients, not on enzymes naturally present in raw foods.

Including more raw foods into your diet is certainly something most people can accomplish by adding more raw fruits and vegetables to their meals. Digestive enzyme supplements can step in and bridge the gaps left between your cooked meals and raw additions, as well. 

Raw Food Diet and Enzyme Preservation

Advocates of a raw food diet argue that consuming mostly uncooked foods preserves natural enzymes, which they believe supports digestion and overall health. A raw food diet typically emphasizes fruits, vegetables, sprouted grains, nuts, and seeds, while some versions may also include unpasteurized dairy, raw eggs, or raw fish.

While eating more raw fruits and vegetables is undeniably beneficial, current scientific consensus is that the human digestive system is well equipped to handle cooked foods because the pancreas and other digestive organs supply the necessary enzymes. For most people, eating a mix of raw and cooked foods provides a balance of nutrients and variety.

Supporting Digestion Without Going Fully Raw 

Supporting Digestion Without Going Fully Raw

If adopting a fully raw food diet doesn’t feel realistic, you can still support your digestion by:

• Adding more raw fruits and vegetables to meals.

• Including fermented foods like sauerkraut, kimchi, kefir, or miso, which naturally contain enzymes and beneficial bacteria.

• Considering digestive enzyme supplements, which can help bridge the gap when your digestive system is under stress or struggling to break down cooked or complex meals.

How to Choose A Digestive Enzyme Supplement

Not all digestive enzymes are created equal. Remember, heat can destroy enzymes, so the manufacturing process and quality standards of enzymes are important. Enzyme supplements should have a high enzyme "activity" level. The activity units of enzymes are measured by the Food Chemical Codex (FCC), and generally are expressed as follows:

Protease - measured in HUT (Hemoglobin Unit Tyrosine base), or USP

Amylase - measured in DU (Dextrinizing Units)

Lipase - measured in FIP (Federation Internationale Pharmaceutique units)

Lactase - measured in ALU (Acid Lactase Units)

Invertase - measured in SU (Sumner Units)

An enzyme supplement that contains 45,000 HUT of protease will break down three times more protein in a given time than an enzyme supplement that contains 15,000 HUT of protease. The greater the number of enzyme activity units, the greater the amount of enzyme activity will be within a given time for that supplement.

Choose a formula that covers the “big three” enzymes (amylase, protease, lipase) plus any specific enzymes you may need (like lactase for dairy or alpha-galactosidase for beans).

Buy from reputable brands that use third-party testing, like Healthy Goods does, to ensure potency.

Featured Digestive Enzymes:

Nutri-Flow: a potent combination of enzymes that break down protein.

Pancreatin 8X: Contains pancreatic lipase to aid in fat breakdown, benefiting those with high triglycerides or fat malabsorption issues.

Digestzyme: Helps break down proteins, fats, and carbs so meals move through your system more smoothly. 

If you’re considering digestive enzymes to help manage a chronic condition (such as pancreatic insufficiency, IBS, or inflammatory bowel conditions), consult a functionally-minded healthcare provider before starting a supplement regimen.

Kelly Harrington, MS, RDN

Registered Dietitian Nutritionist for Healthy Goods

Resources:

http://science.howstuffworks.com/life/cellular-microscopic/cell2.htm

Pubmed: How do Enyzmes Work? Kraut, 1988. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3051385

The Effects of Temperature and pH on Enzyme Kinetics: http://www.rpi.edu/dept/chem-eng/Biotech-Environ/Projects00/temph/enzyme.html

http://www.webmd.com/diet/raw-foods-diet

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8536512