Since 1932, National Enzyme Company (NEC) has been the leader in nutritional enzyme technology. From research and development to marketing support, NEC provides manufacturers and distributors worldwide with comprehensive enzyme-based dietary supplement services while adhering to strict NSF- and TGA-certified GMPs. NEC’s primary focus is on product formulation and development;creating strong, marketable products that affect the nutritional industry in a positive and progressive manner. NEC’s corporate vision and mission is to bring digestive and therapeutic enzymes to the world.

National Enzyme Company offers a vast array of enzymes, offering multiple types of enzymatic activity. NEC specializes in custom blends to meet specific requests from customers. NEC formulates various blends of digestive enzymes to provide basic support for digestion and also address specific digestive challenges like dairy intolerance or gluten sensitivity. NEC formulates with select enzymes that possess very specific enzymatic activity. These enzymes are used to enhance the bioaccessibility of particular nutrients such as protein, essential fatty acids or isoflavones.

NEC formulates predominantly with enzymes sourced from microorganisms, including true fungals, bacterials and yeast, but NEC also formulates with animal-based and plant-sourced enzymes. NEC can provide the scientific background you need to decide which enzymes are best for your products and your business.

NEC’s digestive enzymes cover a wide gamut of digestive functions, focusing particularly on those functions and benefits customers are most concerned with. Depending on which enzymes are in a formula, a product can either spotlight a particular benefit such as improved protein digestion for athletes and bodybuilders, or can encompass a fullspectrum formula that addresses the health of the entire digestive process.

The Digestive Enzyme Segment

Digestive enzyme supplementation continues to be a relatively small segment of the nutritional supplement industry. These digestive aids must compete with OTC antacids; and even though their benefit extends beyond their use as a safer choice for relief of occasional indigestion, knowledge about how they work, and more importantly what to look for on a label when purchasing them, is still very limited. However, the number of persons with occasional or chronic digestive complaints is growing as is the quest for non-pharmaceutical ways to address those conditions, opening the door for the digestive enzyme supplement market to experience substantial growth.

As general knowledge of enzyme supplementation expands, their benefits in other areas will grow as well. Many joint, cardiovascular and sports formulas are already incorporating enzymes as primary ingredients and this utilization of enzymes will likely see substantial growth as more and more people determine to stay healthy and active throughout their senior years.

Consumers’ interest in natural enzyme products is increasing, slowly but surely. The understanding of enzyme products is somewhat more difficult, mainly because there are multiple types of enzymes, and blends of these enzymes can be labeled in very different ways. However, consumers are becoming more educated in how enzymes work, and the main driving force for that interest is the continued increase in the number of individuals with digestive issues.

BioCore®: The Most Complete Line of Digestive Blends

The BioCore® line of digestive enzyme blends was designed around a broad spectrum general digestive blend that provides enzymatic support throughout the entire digestive process. Additional specialized blends were formulated to add to the “Optimum” blend for specific digestive needs. For instance, BioCore® Pro was developed as an “add-on” to BioCore® Optimum to facilitate complete digestion in those individuals who consume a higher than normal quantity of protein. Likewise, BioCore® DPP IV was created to provide digestive support for individuals who have difficulty digesting gluten-containing foods, as a result of an enzyme deficiency of the intestinal enzymes responsible for the final breakdown of the gluten peptides.

The enzymes in the BioCore® line were selected to work alongside the body’s own endogenous digestive enzymes
and to directly compensate for deficient enzymes. Their main purpose is to ensure complete food breakdown and
bioaccessibility of nutrients. The body simply doesn’t have to work as hard or inefficiently to achieve complete digestion. Indirectly, this supports the immune system as the risk of undigested food fragments eliciting an autoimmune
response or passing intact through the intestinal wall and causing an immune system response there is minimized.

NEC: Leading the Way
Nearly 80 years later, National Enzyme Company has awakened the nutritional industry to the benefits of enzymes as dietary supplements. As the oldest enzyme company in North America, NEC’s digestive and systemic products are the most trusted and proven in the market, resulting in quality products with a high rate of repeat sales. Unsurpassed by any other, NEC creates innovative enzyme products, manufactures with the highest quality ingredients, offers advanced technical support, and provides personalized customer service found nowhere else in the industry.

Published in WholeFoods Magazine, October 2010