Digestive Enzymes – What to Know Before You Buy!

Let’s talk about poop for a moment shall we?

With around 80% of your immune system stemming from your gut, it’s no surprise digestive support is a HUGE topic – and one with a lot of confusion around it.

I’ll be honest, one of the things I didn’t really understand was just why we needed digestive enzymes so badly. If you ate well, shouldn’t your digestive system just magically do it’s thing and clear the sewer system on its own?!

Yes and no. Here’s the thing that we need to get reaaaaaaaal honest with ourselves on. Almost no one eats perfectly for their bodies 100% of the time. Because our gut and filtering organs are constantly being taxed by what we’re putting in our mouths and what we’re putting on/in our bodies, it’s no wonder we need a little extra support. Here’s the real news – even if you think you do everything perfectly, you can still benefit from digestive enzymes. Here’s the fun part – did you know there’s about 5,000 food additives that the FDA says companies don’t need to list on their labels? Food additives mean the food is processed, processed food has 0 energy on a vibrational scale. It means food with additives is making your health worse because it’s not giving you any real nutrition.

I took a really amazing training this past weekend in Loveland, Colorado called Symphony of the Cells which was basically teaching us how to use plants to support and balance every organ system in the body! It was probably the best training I had ever been to, for real. One of the biggest pieces of foundational wellness is located right in our gut. Proper digestion is essential for an optimal-functioning body. To help support that natural gut-elimination process, we need digestive enzymes.

What are digestive enzymes? They’re basically supplement capsules that you take before each meal and they get into your gut to help you break down your food for better nutrient absorption. Your body needs about 20 amino acids every day to build and repair muscles and tissues. Digestive enzymes help break your food down to allow those amino acids to be absorbed and utilized in your body! How cool is that?! Digestive enzymes bring life to your gut and actually turn on the electricity of the body to help build up and repair issues with the respiratory system, cardiovascular system, even helping to repair sports injuries! Reason being is enzymes are like scavengers – they either break something down (like your food) or they build something up (like your muscles and tissues).

Yes, I know – but how do I know which digestive enzymes to take?! There are so many! Yes, grasshopper, I know – which is why I’m giving you a dumbed-down version (for me, dumbed down for me lol) of the ingredients found in most digestive enzymes. The trick to knowing which supplement to take will take you paying attention to your body and know what you have the most trouble digesting. Do you notice your stomach gets upset if you have meat? Then you’ll need a higher content of protease and/or papain. Does having dairy make you clear out a room with your gas? You’ll need a supplement higher in lactase. Are you vegetarian and notice sometimes an upset stomach after eating something particularly fiberous? You’ll need a supplement higher in cellulase. Get where I’m going with this?

Here’s your breakdown of ingredient vs. what it’s helping – taken from the ingredients of doTERRA’s Terrazyme Digestive Enzymes in the order they appear on the label (most quantity first):

Protease – helps break down protein

Papain – helps break down protein

Amylase – helps break down carbs into simple sugars

Lactase – helps break down dairy lactose into the simple sugars glucose and galactose

Lipase – helps break down fat

Alpha Galactosidase – basically helps you fart less =)

Cellulase – helps break down plant fibers

Sucrase – helps break down complex sugar and starches into simple sugars glucose and galactose

Betaine HCL – this increases hydrochloric acid for proper digestion and assimilation of nutrients and amino acids, it also helps extract vitamin B12 from your foods

Aspergillus (anti-gluten enzyme blend) – helps break down starch into simple sugars

Tummy Tamer blend of Peppermint Leaf, Ginger Root and Caraway Seed – these three work together to soothe and calm your tummy, stimulate digestion and also relieve gas, bloating and heartburn

Hopefully, by now, you know that digestive enzymes can only further help you have better gut health! For those minor flare-ups where you need some additional digestive support, look to these essential oils:

doTERRA Digestive Blend

doTERRA Peppermint

doTERRA Ginger

doTERRA Fennel

As always, here’s to your happy body!

xoxo

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