Can enzymes be used for healthy weight management?*

The number on the scale doesn’t tell you how much you can bench press or the results of your last blood panel. It can’t tell someone how fast you can run a mile or how much water you drink each day. It doesn’t tell someone how well you sleep or manage daily stressors or how often you go to the gym. But, for the more than 160 million Americans who are “on a diet” at any time, that number does help track progress when working toward maintaining a healthy weight.

Eating a nutrient-rich diet, drinking plenty of water and moving your body regularly are all habits that can be part of a healthy weight management plan. But what about digestive enzymes? Can enzymes be used for healthy weight management? Enzymes speed up digestion, boost energy and break down the macronutrients in your food, turning into fuel.* Read on to learn more about digestive enzymes (including lipase) and the benefits they can offer.*

What are Digestive Enzymes?

Digestion begins before your first bite. Your salivary glands get the signal to start the digestive process, then release your first set of digestive enzymes. After you’ve chewed and swallowed, macronutrients get digested at different stages, with help from the stomach, small intestine, liver and pancreas, the primary producer of digestive enzymes.

Digestive enzymes help break down food into essential nutrients that your body uses for energy and other biological processes. When you don’t have enough enzymes, your digestive system can’t fully break down the foods you eat, which can impact your digestion and transit times. When digestion is sluggish or incomplete, undigested food ferments in the large intestine, which can cause occasional gas, bloating and indigestion.

There are plenty of reasons why you might not have enough digestive enzymes. Aging and everyday stress are common culprits, but lifestyle, habits and an inherited genetic deficiency (like lactose intolerance) can also be to blame. So can overeating or overindulging! Up to 20% of the population has one or more food intolerances due to insufficient enzyme levels. Digestive enzyme supplements can provide the enzymes your body needs (without interfering with your natural production).

How Do Digestive Enzymes Support Health?

For those working to maintain their weight, the motto is “calories in, calories out.” The goal is a calorie deficit (burning more calories than you consume). No matter what’s on your plate – or what you’ve left off – you deserve to feel your best after each meal. Digestive enzymes speed up digestion, boost energy and reduce occasional indigestion.*

Digestive enzymes (like Digest Gold® -- America’s #1 selling digest enzyme supplement formula) break down the foods you eat, to reduce occasional gas and bloating.* While banning the bloat doesn’t move the needle on the scale, it can help you feel more like your best self! Our Thera-blend® enzymes are scientifically formulated for total-body results.* They quickly break down the carbs, dietary fats, fiber and protein in your meals, converting food into fuel (which your body uses to get you through your day).*

You might also be interested in combining enzymes and probiotics. Our Digest Gold® + Probiotics formula delivers all the benefits of digestive enzymes along with 1.5 billion active cultures per daily dose. Those shelf-stable, guaranteed potency probiotics support immune health and regularity while bringing balance back to the gut.*

What is Lipase?

Enzymes are specialists. In the digestive system, each enzyme or group of enzymes targets a certain nutrient. Here’s a quick list.

Enzyme(s)	Nutrient It Breaks Down
Proteases	Proteins
Amylases	Carbohydrates
Lipases	Dietary fats
Cellulase	Fiber
DPP-IV	Gluten (wheat protein)
Lactase	Lactose (milk sugar)
Alpha Galactosidase	Cellulose (plant fiber)
Xylanase	Phenols

Let’s talk more about lipase as an example. Lipase refers to any one of the group of enzymes that break down dietary fats. Just as proteins are made up of amino acid building blocks, the plant- and animal-based fats you consume in your meals need to be broken down.

Lipids are water-insoluble compounds that include oils, waxes and steroids. Fats and oils are made of fatty acids and glycerol. Fatty acids (and glycerol) are the building blocks of fats.  Lipase enzymes help break down lipids and fats into molecules that are small enough to be absorbed into the blood.

They also help your body "unlock" fat-soluble nutrients (such as vitamins A, D, E and K; omega-3 and other fatty acids) so you can absorb them. When you don't have enough lipase enzymes, it's like your body doesn't know what to do with these nutrients. These nutrients are essential for immune, bone, brain and cardiovascular health since they are involved in many functions. That's why lipases are also so important!

For those who are following a ketogenic or higher-fat diet, supplementing with lipase can boost digestion of the added fats.

Lypo Gold™ can break down up to 22 grams of dietary fat per capsule, making it keto diet-friendly.* Also helpful for those without gallbladders, this formula relieves discomfort associated with the digestion of fatty foods.*

How to Choose Quality Digestive Enzymes

Enzymes are not weighed in metric units like milligrams or grams. They're also not measured like recipes, in dashes or teaspoons. That is just not the way that digestive enzymes function! Enzymes instead are always measured according to their respective activity levels, utilizing a certain set of purity, quality and identity of food ingredients standards established by the internationally accepted Food Chemical Codex. As the industry leader in digestive enzymes for over 20 years, we know this -- and we always follow the Codex. So you will see that no matter which of our products you take for your digestive health, there will always be a rating of each enzyme's activity levels. Look at any of our products, and you'll see the "Supplement Facts" label. We have nothing to hide, so we provide the various types and activity levels of each enzyme or combination, as well as the specific activities included with each one.

Regardless of the formula that you choose, it will contain Enzymedica's proprietary Thera-blend® technology. That means that the enzymes will be guaranteed to work throughout the entire pH spectrum found along your GI tract. When other brands’ enzyme formulas may fall short or simply not work, our enzymes will be effective in almost all acidic or alkaline environments.

Products You Might Like

Digest Gold™ breaks down your biggest meals. Take daily with each meal to enjoy the foods you love and beat the bloat – with no gas or discomfort!* With bloat-busting, high-potency enzymes, Digest Gold™ is the gold standard for digestive enzymes, as proven by its ongoing status as the number one best-selling enzyme formula in the US for over 10 years and counting. With Thera-blend™ enzymes, it quickly breaks down carbs, fats, fiber and protein. Plus, it prevents that too-full feeling and converts food into fuel with ATPro™ for greater energy!*

Digest™ delivers full-range, everyday enzymes. This formula helps you enjoy the foods you love when taken daily with each meal. It eliminates bloat (for no gas or discomfort)! Digest Complete effectively breaks down carbs, fats, fiber and protein. It speeds digestion and helps absorb nutrients. And it converts daily meals into all-day energy.

Digest Basic™ breaks down the simplest meals – so you can enjoy the foods you love.* Take it daily with each meal to ease bloat (for no gas or discomfort). These essential, easy-on-you enzymes gently and effectively break down fats, fiber, protein, carbs and hard-to-digest foods. Digest Basic prevents indigestion and converts food into vital energy.