Throughout your Pure 21 Wellness Challenge journey, you take the Digestive Enzymes supplement at breakfast, lunch, and dinner for all 3 weeks. We know from the nutrition guide that digestive enzymes “help rid your body of toxins and provide relief from gas and bloating,” but how is this done? And what other benefits can you expect from taking this supplement? Below, we’ll take a deeper look at what digestive enzymes are, how they help your body, and the positive outcomes you can expect while taking them.
What are digestive enzymes?
Digestive enzymes are proteins that your body naturally produces to break down food and aid in the digestive process. Many parts of your digestive system produce digestive enzymes, starting with your mouth. Your mouth, small intestine, stomach, and pancreas produce the most digestive enzymes, but the pancreas does most of the heavy lifting here. Once digestive enzymes break down the food we take in, they also help us absorb the nutrients from that food. However, many people do not naturally produce enough digestive enzymes and, therefore, need some supplemental help. That’s where our Digestive Enzymes supplement comes in.
How do digestive enzyme supplements work?
These supplements work pretty much the way you would expect them to – they add extra digestive enzymes to your system to help your naturally produced digestive enzymes do their job properly. These supplements typically have 3 main strains of enzymes, which help us break down different types of food. The 3 most common supplemental enzymes are proteases, amylases, and lipases. Proteases help us break down proteins, the nutrients most present in meat and eggs. Amylases help us break down carbs and starch, which we get from vegetables and grain. Finally, lipases break down fats, which we get from meat, dairy, and some other foods like avocados and nuts.
Our Digestive Enzymes supplement include these three proteins, as well as several others like lactase (to break down lactose in dairy products) and cellulase (to break down cellulose present in fruits, vegetables, and nuts). Therefore, you can expect that your body will better digest and absorb the nutrients you’re putting into it when you take Digestive Enzymes.
Benefits of Taking Digestive Enzymes
Now that we have an understanding of what digestive enzymes are, their purpose, and the strains used in our Digestive Enzymes supplement formula, let’s talk about the physical benefits of taking this supplement!
- It can help alleviate gut health issues
If your body does not naturally produce the proper amount of digestive enzymes, you are sure to experience some gut health issues. This is not an uncommon problem, as these gut health issues typically present themselves in familiar forms such as gas, bloating, acid reflux, and other irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) symptoms. This is because the food you’re eating is not properly broken down, absorbed, or stored. Therefore, taking digestive enzymes to help supplement your body’s natural enzymes will help your digestive system work more effectively, ultimately alleviating these symptoms. When your body can better break down, absorb, and store the nutrients you give it, you are less likely to experience IBS symptoms. Plus, with your Pure 21 approved nutrition, you’re sure to be giving your body what it needs to work best!
- Higher energy levels
As a result of your body better absorbing nutrients, it can make use of these nutrients more readily. For instance, our Digestive Enzymes include amylase, which, as discussed above, helps break down carbs and starches. Amylase helps your body take these carbs and starches and turns them into glucose. Glucose is important, as it is your body’s main source of energy. When your body cannot turn carbs and starches into glucose, you feel tired more often. Therefore, taking digestive enzymes can help to alleviate this tiredness, helping you feel alert and ready for anything all day, every day.
- Can help decrease chronic fatigue and pain
You already know digestive enzymes help your body create glucose, giving you energy. As a result of this increased energy, you are likely to experience alleviated symptoms of chronic fatigue. Many of us do not have high energy levels all day, but we can help our body by increasing the amount of glucose in our system. Because our Digestive Enzymes supplement contains protease, your body will be able to break down proteins more effectively. When your body does not properly break down and absorb proteins, you experience inflammation, which can come in the form of aching joints, headaches, migraines, and more. Take our Digestive Enzymes and feel the changes!
- Can help with anxiety/mental health issues
Mental health is at the forefront of our collective minds these days. Long periods of being indoors has led us to have more discussions about mental health issues, like anxiety and depression. While there are many ways to help these issues (see our other blogs on Forging a Mind-Body Connection and Mental Detoxing), one often overlooked way to alleviate mental health issues is nutrients! You just learned our Digestive Enzymes supplement includes proteases, which break down proteins. When your body breaks down proteins, it also produces amino acids, which are necessary to produce neurotransmitters. Neurotransmitters are chemicals produced in your brain that have a huge impact on your mood. Some of the most important neurotransmitters related to mental health are serotonin and dopamine. People with insufficient serotonin or dopamine production are likely to experience symptoms of anxiety or depression. Therefore, taking digestive enzymes can help your mental health!
- Can help with weight loss/maintenance
We have covered the ways that 2 of the frontrunning enzymes, amylases and proteases, can benefit you. But what about that other one: lipases? Lipases help our bodies break down and absorb fats. Fats are important for keeping cholesterol low, energy high, and they play a crucial role in heart health. To be clear, we are talking specifically about healthy fats like avocados, nuts, and olive oil, not saturated or trans fats found in processed foods. When you take in fat and your body does not have enough lipases to break it down, the fat is ultimately stored away as body fat instead of being used for energy. Plus, because digestive enzymes help make your digestive system more efficient, you can expect a faster metabolism, aiding in weight loss and weight maintenance.
This is just a short description of the benefits and importance of digestive! As you complete your Pure 21 Wellness Challenge journey, keep track of how you’re feeling and the benefits of your experience!