What Are Digestive Enzymes?
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Digestive enzymes are used by the body and the digestive system to break down the foods that you eat into the nutrients that you body needs to function in a healthy manner. Your body will produce 22 different digestive enzymes that it uses to break down the food that you eat. There are other enzymes that can be found in the foods that you eat, such as grains, fruits, vegetables, and meats. You are able to purchase some digestive enzymes as supplements in the form of plant and animal enzymes. As you are eating your food the digestive enzymes in your body are excreted from the glands in your mouth called the salivary glands, as well as the digestive enzymes that are found in your stomach. The small intestine in your body helps to move the digestive process along by allowing the each of the digestive enzymes to react to a certain type of food. Different enzymes work on different foods, such as the amylases digestive enzymes that help your body to digest carbohydrates.
If you are suffering from a variety of medical conditions involving your stomach your doctor may be able to prescribe digestive enzymes in the form of supplements that will help you find relief from ailments such as bloating of your stomach to heartburn. If you are suffering from cancer and have problems digesting your food your doctor may be able to prescribe digestive enzymes to help you with this digestion. Digestive enzymes have even been known to help non-digestive problems such as acne and other skin problems such as rosacea. There are some naturopathic doctors who believe that digestive enzymes should be prescribed regularly to help with the healthy digestive process.
Digestive enzymes can help with many other ailments of your body that include aging, heartburn, irritable bowel syndrome, gas, and many other minor stomach and digestive problems. In the case of heartburn it is believed that digestive enzymes will help to speed up the digestive process and lessen the likelihood of irritation that occurs in the digestive tract resulting in what is known as heartburn.