Minimize cost: Commercially available digestive enzymes can come with a high price tag. Look for products that contain the main enzyme(s) needed to help your digestive issue and avoid paying for too many extra ingredients. Consider reserving enzyme supplements for when dietary avoidance is most impractical for you, which might include social events, dining, or travel. Periodically re-test foods without an enzyme to ensure the product is still offering a benefit for you. Broad digestive support: A blend of multiple different digestive enzymes in one (e.g., FODMAP enzyme products) Pancreatic insufficiency: The pancreas makes key digestive enzymes—protease, amylase, and lipase. A condition called exocrine pancreatic insufficiency causes a deficiency in these enzymes, resulting in poor nutrient digestion, particularly of fat. Pancreatic insufficiency can also arise from cystic fibrosis, diabetes, chronic pancreatitis, pancreatic cancer, and pancreatic surgery, among other conditions. If you have pancreatic insufficiency, prescription pancreatic enzyme replacement is needed. Digestive enzyme dosage is not standardized across products, and many enzymes do not have research-based guidelines. However, of the enzymes that have been studied in human digestion, the following dosages have been shown to improve symptoms: Smooth generously over your face to create a soft foam and rinse off. If you have oily or acne-prone skin, you can use the ENZYME CLEANSER every day.

Keep in mind: Liquid detergents generally offer the best overall value and take up less space than their powder counterparts. However, powder detergent may offer an advantage when it comes to physically lifting out mud from clothes. Meanwhile, pod detergents have become popular for the convenience they offer, with no measuring involved. But pod detergents are often the most expensive type of detergent when you look at price per load. The ENZYME CLEANSER is a 2-in-1 cleansing foam and exfoliator that deeply but gently cleanses and is ideal for oily and combination skin. Food allergies: If you have mild to severe reactions to foods that are related to a food allergy, a digestive enzyme supplement is not an effective treatment or preventative strategy. For example, a lactase enzyme supplement will not help with a milk allergy. Promptly consult your healthcare provider if you have symptoms such as swelling, difficulty breathing, itching, rashes, or blood pressure changes after eating certain foods. You can easily customize how "scrubby" you want the formula to be based on how much water you add, not to mention that they’re TSA-friendly and a great choice for travel, notes Dr. Fahs. In short, it’s worth hopping aboard the powder cleanser bandwagon. The body relies on an enzyme called diamine oxidase (DAO) to break down histamine, a naturally occurring substance found in certain foods such as aged cheese, canned fish, spinach, and eggplant.Products with ox and bovine ingredients may present risk of disease transition, including bovine spongiform encephalopathy (aka mad cow disease). Denhard says it’s important to keep in mind that these over-the-counter digestive enzyme supplements aren’t regulated by the FDA. So the dosage, ingredients and enzyme concentration aren’t guaranteed, and their side effects are unknown. Some supplements make claims that aren’t supported by evidence, such as enzymes to promote weight loss or a flatter stomach.

Sometimes people confuse enzymes and probiotics. Both affect your digestion, but in very different ways. Probiotics are live organisms that make up the good bacteria in your gut. They help keep your digestive tract healthy, so they support the work your enzymes do. Unlike enzymes, probiotics do not have the ability to break down or digest food components. For best results, use your enzyme peel sparingly, Dr. Vasyukevich advises. "One of the biggest mistakes people make is using harsh at-home peels too often, which can severely stress out the skin barrier and cause sun sensitivity,” he says. Since every product varies, be sure to read through your peel's specific instructions thoroughly, but according to Dr. Vasyukevich, it’s typically okay to use a gentle enzyme peel about once a week. Afterwards, Dr. Vasyukevich advises patients to moisturize, limit their sun exposure, and use sunscreen daily to keep their skin protected and strong. Lin MY, Dipalma JA, Martini MC, Gross CJ, Harlander SK, Savaiano DA. Comparative effects of exogenous lactase (beta-galactosidase) in preparations on in vivo lactose digestion. Dig Dis Sci. 1993; 38(11):2022-2027. doi:10.1007/BF01297079

Types of Digestive Enzymes

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD): Active IBD, such as Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, necessitate medical treatment and specific dietary therapies. Digestive enzymes are not indicated for IBD management. However, in some cases, temporary lactose sensitivity is associated with active IBD and may be helped by lactase enzymes if consuming lactose. Definition & Facts for Lactose Intolerance. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Functional dyspepsia is a condition where you have indigestion without a clear cause. While there is no enzyme deficiency with this condition, a small amount of research has shown the benefit of taking lipase before fat-rich meals. Note that products that contain enzyme blends may contain lower amounts of each enzyme compared to products that contain only one type of enzyme. If you have poor digestion of a single nutrient, such as lactose or fructose, you may benefit most from a product that contains only the necessary enzyme. If you have multiple intolerances (e.g., lactose and fructose), look for an enzyme that contains adequate doses of each enzyme.