That Rumble In Your Tummy: Can Digestive Enzymes Help?

Stomach ailments are beyond uncomfortable at time: they can be debilitating.

It is a fact that tear gas works not only by irritating the eyes, but by causing nausea. It can stop if you could.

So it is in a great number of people’s interest to find ways to stop feeling like this.

The companies that sell digestive enzymes will be more than happy to take your money in a marginal attempt to make you feel better.

The inherent problem with digestive enzyme supplements is the almost industrial grade hostility of the stomach. The natural acids in your stomach are so strong, that without the stomach’s protective lining, those acids would eat through your entire body.

The strength of stomach acid is comparable to many industrial grade acid products. This is a fact lost on or ignored by many manufacturers of digestive enzyme supplements.

Enzymes, while very powerful, tend to be chemically fragile. They are designed to work in specific environments only. Hence, many of the enzymes that your body produces enter the digestive tract after the stomach, and not before.

A great number of people purchase and use digestive enzyme supplements and watch what they eat, and find that it makes a difference in their level of stomach discomfort.

Given what we know about stomach acid, how can that be? In many ways, you’ve just answered your own question. The secret of these digestive enzyme supplements’ success lies in great part in the dietary and lifestyle changes that manufacturers suggest, not in the products themselves.

And what about medications? Why aren’t they affected by stomach acid? The great majority of the active ingredients in most medications are also acids.

They survive quite nicely in the stomach, passing beyond the stomach where they can be absorbed to do their work.

When medicines which change the pH of the stomach are used, it can negatively impact the absorption of other medications. You may have noticed warnings about using antacids with a particular medication, for example.

So at the end, we are left with our original question: can digestive enzymes help with my stomach ailments? Before you spend money on any supplement, try changing your diet first. It will probably be less expensive, and have a more profound effect on your overall health and well being.