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In 2014, the United States Department of Health and Human Services reported that 70 million adult Americans. Common digestive issues include gas, bloating, belching, diarrhea, constipation, acid reflux, nausea, heartburn, abdominal pain or distension, extreme fullness after eating and sour or metallic tastes in the mouth. These complaints are your body’s way of saying it needs help. The help you need, however, goes beyond feeling more comfortable after meals. Sluggish digestion also robs the body of nutrients, which robs us of energy and undermines every aspect of well-being.
How Digestion Works
Foods are made of large molecules (macronutrients) called proteins, carbohydrates and fats. Tucked away in these large molecules are micronutrients like vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals.
Just as you cannot swallow an apple whole, your bloodstream cannot absorb these large molecules. Proteins must first be broken down into chains of three amino acids or fewer, carbohydrates into monosaccharides (single sugar units), and fats into singular fatty acids. As this occurs, micronutrients escape from their bonds so that they, too, can be absorbed.
Put simply, digestion is the process of breaking foods into its useful components. Enzymes are its tools.
Enzymes
Enzymes are factors that allow chemical reactions to occur more quickly. Every enzyme is unique, and does only one specific thing. Each digestive enzyme plays only one small role in the overall digestive process. For optimal protein digestion, you need different types of protease enzymes that are active at different pH levels and break protein chains both at the ends and in the middle.
From Paleo to Keto to South Beach to Zone (and about a hundred others), Americans follow many eating plans. Fortunately, each of these fits into one of nine major, macronutrient profiles. By applying proprietary enzyme activity algorithms to these profiles, Pure Essence developed the world’s first personalized digestive enzyme supplements. This means that you can now you enjoy an enzyme supplement built specifically for the foods you actually eat.
Steve Lankford is the host of HealthQuestPodcast.com. Steve has over 40 years of experience in the natural products industry. His passion is helping others develop nutritional programs that work. At HealthQuestPodcast.com, Steve interviews the experts in the fields of science and nutrition. His in depth explorations and consumer friendly style are designed help listeners learn about the science of nutrition. His guests are some of the most respected experts in the natural products industry.To learn more, visit HealthQuestPodcast.com.
NOTE: The statements presented in this podcast should not be considered medical advice or a way to diagnose or treat any disease or illness. Dietary supplements do not treat, cure or prevent any disease. Always seek the advice of a medical professional before adding a dietary supplement to (or removing one from) your daily regimen. WholeFoods Magazine does not endorse any specific brand or product.
