Comparing and Buying Enzymes

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Parents Guide to Comparing and Buying Enzymes

6 parts to navigating the world of digestive enzymes, June 2001, Kd

Part 1. Why are you considering enzymes? Select an enzyme product

based on what results you want to achieve. Skip right through all the

advertising and marketing fluff. No serious company is going to tell

you they make a so-so product that gives adequate results. Or the

pricing is higher because they arerying to cover a loss in another

department. Note what end results you want to see and use that to

make your decision.

Digestive enzymes are enzymes that break down food into usable

material.

The major different types of digestive enzymes are:

1. Amylase - breaks down carbohydrates, starches, and sugars which

are prevalent in potatoes, fruits, vegetables, and many snack foods.

a. lactase - breaks down lactose (milk sugars)

b. diastase - digests vegtable starch

c. sucrase - digests complex sugars and starches

d. maltase - digests disaccharides to mono saccharides (malt

sugars)

e. invertase - breaks down sucrose (table sugar)

f. glucoamylase - breaks down starch to glucose

g. alpha glactosidase - facilitates digestion of beans, legumes,

seeds, roots, soy products, and underground stems

2. Protase - breaks down proteins that are found in meats, nuts,

eggs, and cheese.

a. pepsin - breaks down proteins into peptides

b. peptidase - breaks down small peptide proteins to amino acids

c. trypsin - derived from animal pancreas, breaks down proteins

d. alpha – chymotrypsin – an animal derived enzyme, breaks down

proteins

e. bromelain – derived from pineapple, breaks down a broad-

spectrum of proteins and also has anti-inflammatory properties, very

wide effective pH

f. papain - derived from raw papaya, broad range of substrates,

works well breaking down small and large proteins

3. Lipase - breaks down fats that are found in most dairy products,

nuts, oils, and meat.

4. Cellulase - breaks down cellulose, plant fiber. Not found in the

humans.

5. Other Stuff

Betaine HCL – increases the hydrochloric acid content of the upper

digestive system; activates the protein digesting enzyme pepsin in

the stomach

CereCalase™ - a unique cellulase complex that maximizes fiber and

cereal digestion and absorption of essential minerals; an exclusive

blend of synergistic phytase, hemicellulase, and beta-glucanase

Endoprotease – cleaves peptide bonds from the interior of peptide

chains

Exoprotease – cleaves off amino acids from the ends of peptide

chains

Extract of Ox Bile – an animal derived enzyme, stimulates the

intestine to move

Fructooligosaccharides (FOS)- helps support the growth of friendly

intestinal microbes, also inhibits the growth of harmful species

L-Glutamic Acid - activates the protein digesting enzyme pepsin in

the stomach

Lysozyme - an animal derived enzyme, component of every lung cell,

very important in the control of infections, attacks invading

bacterial and viruses

Papayotin – from papaya

Pancreatin – an animal derived enzyme, breaks down protein and fats

Pancrelipase - an animal derived enzyme, breaks down protein,

fats, and carbohydrates

Pectinase – breaks down the pectin in fruit

Phytase - digests phytic acid, allows minerals such as calcium,

zinc, copper, manganese, etc. to be more available by the body, does

not break down any food proteins

Xylanase – breaks down xylan sugars, works well with grains such

as corn

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How can I tell a great digestive enzyme product by its label?

Part 2. All digestive enzymes come from two living sources: plants or

animals.

Plant enzymes are preferable. Aspergillus oryzae and niger from

plants are the most effective digestive enzymes available. Enzymes

from animals function in a very narrow pH range and are not stable in

stomach acid. Plant enzymes are much more effective in the pH and

temperature ranges of the body and they help digest the cooked and

raw foods in the upper part of the stomach.

Part 3. Are there ionic minerals within the formulation. These

minerals may help the digestive enzymes become two to three times

more active and effective.

Part 4. Look closely at the amount of activity of the enzymes. Enzyme

strength/potencies need to be in standard activity units rather than

weight. While most food, supplement and drug comparisons are based on

weight (such as milligrams), with enzymes the most important

measurement is the activity and potency of the enzyme. Activity of

digestive enzymes is measured by assaying the quantity of digestion

that occurs under specific conditions. This activity depends on

concentration, quantity, pH, temperature and substrate.

When you review the labeling on a digestive enzymes bottle, look for

Food Chemical Codex (FCC) units. This labeling certifies the enzymes

have been thoroughly tested for activity and potency. The units of

activity are set forth by the National Academy of Sciences and

accepted by the American food industry. Some companies promoting

enzymes list measurements based on dosage, weights such as

milligrams, and a few make up their own abbreviations. Weight, dosage

and any other units do not give any information on enzyme activity.

220 mg per capsule does not tell anything about enzyme activity. You

may have 220 mg of nothing. FCC labeling is the only national

standard for the evaluation of activity and potency of enzymes.

FCC Units:

Amylase - DU or SKB

Cellulase – CU

Glucoamylase - AG or AGU

Invertase - IAU or INVU

Lactase - LacU or ALU

Lipase - LU or FIP

Maltase - DP

Malt Diastase – DP

Pectinase – PGU

Protease - PC, HUT, or USP

The take home message is that the higher the number, the quicker the

food is digested. A lower number will still be digesting food, but it

will take longer. Since enzymes don't get used up in the process, we

do not " run out " of enzymes before all the food is digested. BUT the

stomach and intestines are absorbing food, completely broken down or

not, at the same time. Since we are " on the clock, " with possible

unbroken down peptides (or whatever) being absorbed, we want the food

to be digested by the enzymes BEFORE it gets absorbed in a not-

completely-broken-down state.

FCC labeling example: If Product # 1 has 15,000 HUT of Protease and

Product # 2 has 45,000 HUT of Protease. Product #2 can break down 3

times more protein than product # 1 in a given period of time. This

is how to compare digestive enzyme activity and formulations.

Part 4. Compare pricing.

How many capsules per bottle? Buy capsules as tableting is hard on

enzyme integrity/activity.

What is the cost/capsule? Add in any extra discounts, taxes, and/or

shipping charges to find the total cost/capsule.

What is the activity/capsule?

Figure out the $ total cost per capsule/activity unit per capsule.

How many capsules will you need to take? Compare how many capsules of

Product A to Product B to get the same amount of enzyme activity. Now

compare the costs.

Part 5. What other stuff is or is not in the product besides

digestive enzymes that may affect your decision?

a. probiotics

b. vitamins

c. minerals which may help deliver or transport enzymes (calcium

ascorbate, magnesium citrate, zinc gluconate, manganese gluconate)

d. amino acids: L-lysine, L-Glutamine (helps to maintain a healthy

digestive tract, preventing deterioration of the intestinal lining)

e. other stuff: herbs (such as Aloe Vera powder, ginger root), whole

foods, gelatin, additives, preservatives, colorings, dairy, soy,

yeast, gluten, sugar, salt, corn, wheat, or hydrogenated oils

f. are any of these things potential allergens or food intolerances

Part 6. Call the company or manufacturer and get answers directly.

Bluntly ask them to explain why you should buy their product over a

competitor's. This is not being pushy, it is being practical. People

who are proud of their work are very happy to talk about it. If their

products do not list FCC units, insist they give you the FCC values.

Have them explain it to your satisfaction. Be cautious about extra

things in the formulation that you do not necessarily want to pay

for. Ask other parents if they have any experience with the products.

Ask about side-effects and interactions. In the end, you are paying

for it and your family will be using it.

There are many issues concerning quality of enzymes. Ask about

handling, storing, and packaging of enzymes because these all affect

enzyme activity. We are interested in the activity of the enzyme as

we ingest it, not as it leaves the factory.

Understanding Protease Names and Activity

Protease is a broad term referring to any enzyme which breaks down

proteins. In the enzyme business, almost all enzymes from fungal

organisms are actually mixtures (or blends) of many different

enzymes. For example, there are a number of " proteases " available

from enzyme brokers with names such as " protease 3.0 " " alkaline

protease " , " acid-stable protease " , " Protease 4.5 " , etc.

Protease 3.0 may also have amylase, pectinase, different peptidases,

etc.; however, the supplier only certifies that blend for units

of " Protease 3.0 " which has certain characteristics (pH optimum,

substrate specificity, etc.) that make it different from other of the

supplier's proteases.

OK, so if a manufacturer purchases 3 blends of a supplier's

proteases, say " A " , " B " , " C " , and then mixes 2 parts A with 6 parts

B, then the manufacturer has a " distinct and proprietary " blend,

which he now calls " Dorkinase " and puts it on his label so that other

sneaky manufacturers can't copy his brilliant formula. The problem

is, how do you then convey the activity of Dorkinase? This explains

why sometimes you do not get an exact ingredient list – because it is

the proprietary information of the enzyme formulator.

In general, all these plant and fungal proteases will degrade food

proteins TO SOME DEGREE. This is known as the DEGREE OF HYDROLYSIS,

or DH. This number, usually expressed as a percentage of available

peptide bonds broken (if there are 100 bonds available in a protein,

and 30 are broken by the protease, then that protease's DH number is

30.

There is some logic to adding as many different proteases in a

product as possible to get the widest amount of proteins broken down;

however, going with high amounts of say, three different proteases is

probably the optimal number of different proteases, and should do as

much protein breakdown as having smaller amounts of six or seven

proteases.