It’s a great insurance policy for your gut and colon as well. That’s why I’ve religiously consumed digestive enzymes before every meal for 25 years. These enzymes optimize nutrient absorption and let you get more out of the food you consume. They are synthesized and secreted in different parts of your digestive tract, including your mouth, stomach and pancreas. They turn complex foods into absorbable compounds, including amino acids, fatty acids, cholesterol, simple sugars and nucleic acids (which help make DNA). In other words, we produce carbohydrate-specific, protein-specific and fat-specific enzymes.ĭEs aren’t just beneficial - they’re essential. We make specific DEs to help with absorption of different types of foods. Most of the work happens thanks to gastrointestinal fluids that contain DEs, which act on certain nutrients (fats, carbs or proteins). Other enzymes that help with absorption of sugar/carbs include invertase, glucoamylase and alpha-galactosidase.ĭigestion is a complex process that first begins when you chew food, which releases enzymes in your saliva.Maltase - Reduces the sugar maltose into smaller glucose molecules.Sucrase - Cleaves the sugar sucrose into glucose and fructose.Lactase - Turns sugar lactose into glucose and galactose.Exopeptidases, carboxypeptidase and aminopeptidase - Help release individual amino acids.Many can’t break down cellulose, but cellulase helps break it down. Cellulase - Helps with digestion of high-fiber foods like broccoli, asparagus and beans, which can cause excessive gas.Trypsin and chymotrypsin - These endopeptidases further break down polypeptides into even smaller pieces.Needed to properly absorb foods like dairy products, nuts, oils, eggs and meat. After mixing with bile, this turns fats and triglycerides into fatty acids. Lipase - Made by your pancreas and secreted into your small intestine.Pepsin - Which enzyme breaks down protein? Found in the gastric juice within your stomach, pepsin helps turn protein into smaller units called polypeptides.Needed to metabolize carbohydrates, starches and sugars, which are prevalent in basically all plant foods (potatoes, fruits, vegetables, grains, etc.). Amylase - Found in saliva and pancreatic juice, works to turn large starch molecules into maltose.There are various types of DE found in humans, some of which include: amylases needed to break down carbohydrates.proteolytic enzymes that are needed to metabolize proteins.What are the main digestive enzymes? They are split into three main classes: These enzymes help us digest foods by breaking down large macromolecules into smaller molecules that our guts are capable of absorbing, thus supporting gut health and making sure the nutrients are delivered to the body. All enzymes are catalysts that enable molecules to be changed from one form into another.
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