Review: DigestActiv Digestive Enzymes From Source Naturals
Digestive enzymes are an essential part of the digestive process. They are one of the three main things(enzymes,acid & muscle contractions) your stomach uses to breakdown foods into things like sugars and peptides which your small intestine can then absorb. Some are born with digestive enzymes up the wazoo while others may be deficient or as they age become deficient. Signs of enzyme deficiency are rather generic and may mimic many others issues. Usually the symptoms are bloating, belching, heartburn, nausea or indigestion. Digestive enzymes are used mainly in the stomach & don’t normally affect the intestinal tract, however upper digestive issues can manifest new or worsen existing problems in the intestinal tract.
Today I am reviewing DigestActiv by Source Naturals
which is a multiple vegetarian digestive enzyme pill. It’s pretty much a standard mix of enzymes such as Amylase, Lactase, Protease, Pancreatin(vegetable based), Bromelain along with some herbs such as ginger root, peppermint & black pepper extract. They also throw in some Betaine Hydrochloric Acid(stomach acid) for good measure.
DigestActiv is a good starting point when trying out digestive enzymes because it contains lower doses of these enzymes than some of the other brands. Taking too many digestive enzymes may have the opposite effect of what you’re trying to achieve. The pill size, while not small, is about the same size as a quality multi-vitamin capsule. The serving size on the nutrition info is 2 capsules, but I usually only take one. Continue reading “Review: DigestActiv Digestive Enzymes From Source Naturals” »
The Living With Gastroparesis blog just posted some interesting survey data about Gastroparesis which does include information about probiotic usage w/ Gastroparesis. Of 46 people who responded as taking probiotics, 25 reported mild to significant improvements of their Gastroparesis symptoms, which is actually impressive as I was not thinking they would have that large of an effect. It is important to note that the majority of positives results, were on the mild side, but some people did respond well to probiotics. Continue reading “What Is The Best Probiotic Supplement For Gastroparesis?” »
What Are Digestive Enzymes And Do They Help IBS?
Digestive enzymes are proteins that have the function of breaking down different types of food matter. Different enzymes work on different types of food matter.
Enzymes are important for the proper digestion of our food. Most people are capable of producing enough enzymes on their own, thus adding more may not be of much benefit. However, adding more usually doesn’t do any harm either. It can be hard to tell if you body is deficient at producing enough enzymes, so ultimately it is worth trying. Problems that are occurring in the upper digestive system, could lead to issues later on in the lower digestive system.
I personally did not see major improvement after taking digestive enzymes. At some points I felt a bit more nauseated after taking a digestive enzyme pill before eating, however this probably has more to do with me overeating during these occasions rather than the enzymes causing the problem themselves. Continue reading “Digestive Enzymes & Irritable Bowel Syndrome(IBS)” »
