Best Digestive Enzyme Supplements: Top 5 Digestive Enzymes

Finding the best digestive enzyme supplements for you can be a tricky thing. Following from our article on digestive enzymes, in our digestive enzyme series, here we have put together a review of what we consider as the industry 5 best digestive enzyme supplement products.

This review article should make it really easy for you to decide the digestive enzyme product that is best for you and your needs.

This follows on from our useful pointers and tips buying guide for digestive enzymes that might be useful for you when ordering or buying your next digestive enzyme supplement.

If you haven’t already read the article on digestive enzymes and how they can improve your health, or our digestive enzyme supplement buying guide then you can find those here.

Top 5 Digestive Enzymes:

Pure Encapsulations Digestive Enzymes Ultra (9/10)

This digestive enzyme supplement is very well researched and thought out, covering a wide range of consumer needs.

Pure Encapsulations Digestive Enzymes Ultra is made with hypoallergenic, vegetarian ingredients, is non-GMO and is certified gluten free. Many products will use enzymes of animal origin so this is a big selling point.

The product offers a massive range of enzymes compared to competitors including: Hemicellulase (200HCU), high amounts of three types of Protease (60,000HUT; 20,000HUT; 20 SAPU) which are active at different Ph, Amylase (24,000DU), lipase (3,000 FIP) and lactase (1,600ALU).

The digestive enzymes in this product can support the digestion of many food groups including fibres, high-protein meats, dairy, fats and sugars.

Looking at the product it just says clinical grade ingredients and the product will have been designed that way.

The outer shell is also a mixture of cellulose and ascorbyl palmitate, so no weird and exciting non-active compounds, which is an additional bonus. Pure Encapsulations offer other supplement products and look like a reputable company, offering their products to healthcare practitioners.

The product is also reasonably priced for the range of digestive enzymes you get, starting at $29.40 but this may vary (4)(5).

Vitapost Digestive Enzymes (7/10)

Vitapost Digestive Enzymes is a very similar product to Pure Encapsulations Digestive Enzymes Ultra, containing a very comprehensive range of digestive enzymes, but there are a few differences.

The non-active ingredients making up the shell are industry standard, however they are not hypoallergenic or gluten free.

The quantities of digestive enzymes are very good and could provide adequate support for the digestion of many different foods, however each container only contains 60 capsules. This is roughly equal to a month’s supply.

The main enzymes are 2 types of protease (40,000HUT; 8,000HUT), Bromelain (1,000,000PU), Amylase (10,000DU), Lactase (1,000ALU) and Lipase (2,500FIP).

They use Bromelain in high quantities which is a key standout feature for people that would like to try both Bromelain with other key digestive enzymes. Bromelain certainly seems to be a very interesting enzyme with a range of potential health boosting properties.

This company is also clearly reputable as it is registered with the FDA and compliant to FDA and GMP manufacturing standards (6).

Zenwise Health Digestive Enzymes Plus (7/10)

This product offered by Zenwise Health offers a massive value for money option; combining a blend of a prebiotic, probiotic and digestive enzyme product. Zenwise Health Digestive Enzymes Plus offers a generous two month supply of 180 vegetarian capsules in a slickly designed bottle, it’s no wonder they are a number one best seller on Amazon.

It’s also very good value for money at $23.97. Unfortunately, the label doesn’t use the standard FCC units like other products do, measuring their enzymes quantities in weight on the bottle rather than activity. For this reason, it’s hard to get a handle on the exact quality of the enzymes offered by the product.

However, for something to have been on the market since 2014 and be a top seller on Amazon it must be a reputable product. There are a range of enzymes offered in this product including Bromelain, Cellulase, Amylase, Maltase and a bacterial Protease.

We are a fan of this product, the packaging is well thought out the label is also really clear. There could be improvements but this is a really well marketed and substantial product.

The Zenwise website mentions the activity of Amylase (3,000DU), Lipase (60LU), Bromelain (39,800PU) and Protease (7,500HUT) which is average. The probiotic quantity offered is 1 Billion CFU of a blend of many different strains (10% each) and are freeze-dried. This means the product can be stored at room temperature, a nice bonus for probiotics.

The capsule is not enteric coated, as ‘the plant derived enzymes are stable at a range of pHs with no activity loss’ and its also stated that the enzymes digest in the stomach. In terms of excipients; Zenwise use the industry standard cellulose outer capsule, but also use magnesium stearate and silica with a warning that the product also contains sulphites.

The product is also manufactured to GMP standards and it is made in the USA. Overall this is a value for money product, produced at fairly high quality and offers a range of potential health benefits (7).

Udo’s Choice Enzyme Blend (8/10)

Udo’s choice is a well-respected brand within the natural health market. This product has been developed with athletes in mind, who consume large amounts of food. This is in addition to people who also want to support healthy digestion and might be suffering from IBS, candida or other gastric issues. This brand is a staple at most health food stores.

The enzymes are 100% vegetarian, extracted from a fermentation process and don’t need to be stored in the fridge.

They also survive the acidic conditions of the stomach so there is no need for them to be enteric coated. The capsule is cellulose based with other additives including maltodextrin and magnesium stearate.

The product has a toned down appeal that suits the market. The labelling is very clear and we can see how this became an industry leader. The storage requirements are also very well labelled. This product doesn’t have a clinical feel as with some of the other products.

7 digestive enzymes are offered including: Cellulase (400CU), Bromelain (50,000PU) and Protease (12,500HUT). Udo’s Choice Enzyme Blend is priced at £29.99 for 90 capsules. They are also soy free, gluten free and dairy free (8).

Enzymedica Digest Gold (9/10)

On the more expensive side Enzymedica have developed a high quality product in Enzymedica Digest Gold, with organic ingredients. They developed Enzymedica Digest Gold to help individuals who want a formula to help them break down carbs, fats, fibre and protein. All the ingredients are ‘natural’, the product contains no additives and it is GMO free.

It is also vegan-friendly, contains no dairy, preservatives or soy. This digestive enzyme formula is highly active and contains a specialist blend of enzymes, developed by an industry leading company.

Digest Gold contains 14 enzymes including: Amylase (23,000DU), Protease (80,000HUT), Hemicellulase (30HCU), Cellulase (3,000CU) and Alpha Galactosidase (450 GaIU). Some of the enzymes are ‘Thera-Blend’ which is their exclusive blend of enzymes that work under various pH conditions.

It has been shown that these enzymes are three times stronger and work six times faster than those of competing brands. The Digest Gold product is Enzymedica’s most potent digestive enzyme formula and is the best-selling digestive enzyme product in America.

The packaging is very clear and in your face. They want you to know this is a top selling product. They also don’t really want to spend the effort on the packaging as much as what is inside the product itself.

The product is clearly very impressive, however the increasingly popular digestive enzyme Bromelain is not included.

While it is pricey at $37.49 for 90 capsules you still get a month’s supply if following recommendations.

The product has won a couple of awards including Better Nutrition’s ‘Best Supplement Award’. This digestive enzyme product is also a top seller on Amazon (9)(10).

Conclusions

Zenwise and Udo’s Choice are generally the more sought after products. Here we have rated Enzymedica Digest Gold and Pure Encapsulations Digestive Enzymes Ultra as the best at 9/10 each.

Pure Encapsulations uses hypoallergenic, non-GMO and vegetarian ingredients; while also having a massive range of enzymes compared to the competitors.

Enzymedica Digest Gold is simply one of the very best products boasting organic ingredients and has the highest enzyme activities. It definitely is a unique enzyme blend.

“We have rated Enzymedica Digest Gold and Pure Encapsulations Digestive Enzymes Ultra as the best at 9/10 each.“

This review should have helped you to identify the ideal digestive enzyme product for you. If you aren’t sure about a product then contact your healthcare provider for further information.

You should now understand the products you are thinking about taking a bit better.

Below you can navigate back to our articles main page. Or you can native to some more useful articles in our series on digestive enzyme supplements.

We also have an article on top tips when shopping for general health supplements.

The post Best Digestive Enzyme Supplements: Top 5 Digestive Enzymes appeared first on Revitalize My Health.

Digestive Enzyme Supplements: Buying Guide

Following from our article on digestive enzymes, in this series we’ve added some useful pointers and tips that might be useful when ordering or buying your next digestive enzyme supplement.

Understanding what you are reading when you are buying digestive enzyme supplements shouldn’t be that difficult. Here we have made that really easy.

In our digestive enzyme series, we have also put together a review of what we consider as the best or top 5 digestive enzyme supplement products.

If you haven’t already read the article on digestive enzymes and how they can improve your health, or our review of the top 5 digestive enzyme supplement products then you can find those here.

Something you won’t hear talked about a lot is supplement industry regulations. Most suppliers use internationally recognized manufacturing standards, using GMP (Good Manufacturing Practices) techniques. These standards are strict and really expensive to maintain, with rigorous testing constantly per batch production.

This is similar to ‘guilds’ who set a workable industry standard in the market. Make sure to buy your products from an ethical and reputable company.

Another tip is to look for product fillers or excipients on the labels, products with large numbers of filler are generally considered poorer in quality. Additives can have adverse effects in people, such as allergic or immune responses. While many top-shelf digestive enzyme products available over the counter are potent and of high quality, the digestive enzyme products with the highest potency are available via prescription. We will not be rating those here. Your medical practitioner should be able to discuss those with you.

The main quality indicators for digestive enzymes are the unit of activity and potency. Digestive enzyme products usually state the weight of enzyme on the label. This tells you how much is in the product and is usually in milligrams (mg). Digestive enzyme activity is also a quality measurement to look for. Under FDA (USA) regulations, only the weight of each digestive enzyme in the product is required to be labelled.

“The main quality indicators for digestive enzymes are the unit of activity and potency.”

You should look to get the best value for money that you can, or the highest activity unit per serving of enzyme. While it is difficult to be really accurate about enzyme activity, because of digesting temperatures and digestive tract acidity or Ph, the FCC units listed on the product label give you an indication. A higher number in front of the FCC unit means a higher activity of digestive enzyme breakdown.

When looking at the FCC unit, the initials on the label after the number give an abbreviation of the larger molecule in your food that the enzyme breaks down.

Any enzymes that break down starch (from sugar) for example, are labelled as DU. Enzymes that attack lipids are labelled FIP and proteins labelled HUT.

This way you can find the best digestive enzymes, across all products, based on their activity or how much they break down a food molecule. You can’t really compare activities of enzymes that breakdown different food molecules, for example starch or sugar enzymes (DU) vs protein digesting enzymes (HUT). You can only really compare the same types of enzymes across the different products. Some enzymes can breakdown multiple molecules and this is usually stated.

You also have a choice between coated or enteric enzymes and none-coated enzymes. Enteric or coated enzymes have a powder lipid coating. Why might this be?

The nature of the stomach area of your digestive tract is acidic. While this helps some types of enzyme, this reduces the activity of some digestive enzymes. Acid can even breakdown other types of proteins or enzymes. To make sure the enzyme gets to the correct area of the digestive tract some products and digestive enzymes have these protective coatings.

Some reports claim enteric coatings carry health risks. These reasons are open for debate currently, we’ve personally heard stories of some allergies to certain excipient coatings. While this is an exciting technology from our point of view, this is something to be aware of.

This should clarify a lot of industry jargon and help you to find the ideal product for you. Also you should now understand the product you are taking a bit better if you aren’t already taking digestive enzymes.

Below you can navigate back to our articles main page. Or you can native to some more useful articles in our series on digestive enzyme supplements.

We also have an article on top tips when shopping for general health supplements.

The post Digestive Enzyme Supplements: Buying Guide appeared first on Revitalize My Health.