When should you take digestive enzymes?

Digestive enzymes work on food. Keep that one fact in mind and the question of when to take them answers itself: an enzyme has to meet the food it is meant to break down.

This article explains how your own body times its enzymes around a meal, why an enzyme supplement is tied to meals in the same way, which foods the 13 enzymes in Goodness Digestive Enzymes work on, and how to store the capsules.

What do digestive enzymes do?

Enzymes are proteins that bring about one specific chemical change. In digestion, as the US National Library of Medicine puts it, that change is breaking down the foods we eat so the body can use them.

Your digestive system takes food apart into pieces small enough for the body to use. According to NIDDK, part of the US National Institutes of Health, proteins are broken into amino acids, fats into fatty acids and glycerol, and carbohydrates into simple sugars.

Enzymes are one tool among several. Chewing, the squeezing and mixing of the stomach and intestines, and digestive juices such as stomach acid and bile all play a part. What enzymes add is the chemical step: splitting large food molecules into small ones.

Where does your body make its own enzymes?

NIDDK describes enzymes made at several points along the way:

• Mouth. Saliva contains an enzyme that begins to break down starches while you chew.
• Stomach. Glands in the stomach lining make acid and enzymes, and the stomach muscles mix them into the food.
• Pancreas. The pancreas makes a digestive juice with enzymes that break down carbohydrates, fats and proteins, and sends it to the small intestine.
• Small intestine. The small intestine makes its own digestive juice. It mixes with bile and the juice from the pancreas to complete the breakdown of proteins, carbohydrates and fats. Bacteria living in the small intestine make some of the enzymes needed for carbohydrates.
• Large intestine. Bacteria there help break down what is left.

So the body's enzymes work on the same few kinds of food: starches and other carbohydrates, proteins and fats.

How does your body time its enzymes around a meal?

Your body does not release digestive juices at random. It responds to food, in three ways that NIDDK describes:

• When you see or smell food, your brain signals your salivary glands to "make your mouth water", so saliva is ready before the first bite.
• Cells lining the stomach and small intestine release hormones that tell the body when to make digestive juices.
• When food stretches the walls of the digestive tract, nerves inside those walls release substances that speed up or slow down the movement of food and the production of digestive juices.

Once food reaches the stomach, its muscles mix it with digestive juices, and the stomach then empties slowly into the small intestine, where more juices are added. In short, your own enzymes are released in step with the food they work on.

Why are enzyme supplements taken with food?

The same reasoning holds for an enzyme supplement. Its job is to act on food, and it can only do that where food is. That is why enzyme supplements are tied to meals instead of being taken at any time of the day.

For Goodness Digestive Enzymes, the directions are:

1–2 capsules before major meals.

Those directions are the ones to follow. If you are not sure whether they suit you, or you have questions about timing, ask your pharmacist. The How to use page sets out the directions and the safety notes in one place.

Which foods do the 13 enzymes work on?

Goodness Digestive Enzymes brings together 13 enzymes in four groups. Each group is matched to one kind of food:

The first three groups cover the same foods your own enzymes work on: starches and sugars, proteins and fats. The fourth group works on plant fibre. The enzymes come from microbial and plant sources, including pineapple and papaya.

The Ingredients page describes each enzyme in turn.

What kinds of meals are they for?

A typical meal is a mix. Most plates put protein, starch, fats and fibre together, which is why the blend covers all four food groups with at least one enzyme for each.

That makes it a fit for everyday mixed meals, such as:

• rice with chicken or meat and vegetables;
• bread with cheese, eggs or olive oil;
• beans and lentils, whether as ful, a lentil soup or lentils cooked with rice;
• dishes made with milk or yoghurt;
• rich or heavy meals, such as a family gathering where several dishes are shared at once;
• high-fibre foods: vegetables, fruit, whole grains and bran.

It is a food supplement. It supports healthy digestion; it does not replace a varied, balanced diet.

How should you store the capsules?

Store at a temperature not exceeding 30 °C. Keep out of reach of children.

Pick a place that stays below that temperature all year round. The batch number and expiry date are printed on the carton, together with the full ingredient list. Each pack holds 30 capsules, and the capsule shell is made of gelatin.

Who should check with a doctor or pharmacist first?

Goodness Digestive Enzymes is for adults. A few groups should ask first:

• It is not recommended for children, or for pregnant or breastfeeding women.
• If you take medication or are under medical care, ask your doctor or pharmacist before use.
• If you have ongoing digestive complaints, see a doctor. A supplement is not a substitute for a diagnosis.

A food supplement does not replace a varied, balanced diet. Alongside one, and timed with the meals it is meant for, it supports healthy digestion.