Digestive enzymes are proteins that speed up chemical reactions and act throughout our digestive tract "like scissors"; they cut food into smaller molecules and transform it from solid to liquid to aid digestion in the intestine. A deficiency in digestive enzymes is a major cause of digestive and intestinal discomfort.
How do enzymes work?
Enzymes are proteins made up of amino acids that have catalytic capacity: they accelerate chemical reactions.
Enzymes make possible the hydrolysis or transformation and proper assimilation of complex molecules, foods, into simple molecules, nutrients.
Each food family corresponds to a family of enzymes which therefore contribute to the decomposition, transformation and specific assimilation of this category of food:
- Alpha-amylase converts carbohydrates, starch or sugars into glucose
- Protease converts proteins into amino acids
- Lactase allows the digestion of lactose; often, it would be more accurate to speak of lactase deficiency rather than lactose intolerance.
- Lipase converts lipids into fatty acids
- Cellulase helps in the digestion of cellulose or plant fibers
- Alpha galactosidase is involved in the digestion of cruciferous vegetables
Where do enzymes come from? What are their sources?
Enzymes are naturally synthesized by the body throughout the digestive tract:
- The salivary glands
- The pancreas
- The stomach
- The intestine.
Only cellulase is an enzyme not produced by the body which nevertheless promotes intestinal transit.
What are the causes of an enzyme deficiency?
There are several reasons why this may be:
There are various reasons why an enzyme deficiency can occur:
- Digestive disorders or pathologies that prevent organs from correctly producing and activating digestive enzymes
- Meals that are too heavy, too rich or too copious interfere with the natural production of enzymes, also known as saturation of the enzyme system.
- The mealtime context that inhibits enzyme activity: When eating too quickly, chewing is insufficient. Food then arrives in the stomach in chunks that are too large, making it more difficult for enzymes to work.
- Aging: Enzyme secretion decreases with age
- Consumption of disruptors (medicines, alcohol)
What are the symptoms of an enzyme deficiency?
Gas, bloating, and digestive problems after meals are the main signs of an enzyme deficiency or low activity.
Poorly broken down by enzymes, food reaches the intestine, which is then unable to assimilate it correctly, where it ends up stagnating and fermenting, causing numerous digestive problems, including our lovely gas.
Reduced enzyme activity may also explain certain food intolerances such as lactose intolerance.
Indeed, lactase's role is to break down and allow for the digestion of lactose. With age, some people no longer produce enough lactase enzymes and develop a certain lactose intolerance. While we then tend to demonize lactose and dairy products that contain it, the problem actually lies within our digestive system and our enzymatic activity, which are no longer capable of digesting them.
How to improve enzyme production?
Enzyme supplementation helps stimulate enzyme activity and digest foods that our digestive system sometimes finds a little lacking.
However, this is a temporary effect and linked to the intake; food supplements do not allow for long-term correction of enzyme deficiency; the enzymes provided as a supplement do not colonize the body.
To sustainably regulate enzymatic activity, an appropriate lifestyle is required:
- Varied and balanced diet
- Eviction of troublemakers as much as possible
- Management of possible digestive pathologies
Article written by Ginette and Josiane, an online support platform dedicated to Irritable Bowel Syndrome.
After 15 years of friendship and 10 years of wandering, incongruous experiences, tests and daily exchanges on the subject, Audrey and Audrey, two childhood friends both suffering from Irritable Bowel Syndrome, decided to use their professional and personal backgrounds and their daily struggles to launch Ginette and Josiane, a real coach to help people live better with Irritable Bowel Syndrome and digestive disorders in general. Their ambition? To offer concrete solutions but also and above all to bring together patients and health professionals within a single community in order to help raise as much noise as possible around this illness and build it into a real movement.
Want to know more about how enzymes work?
Watch the video of Audrey and Audrey, the founders of Ginette et Josiane > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6IIc6LSRDBQ&feature=youtu.be
