A Catered Approach to Digestive Comfort – Mix and Match Enzymes for the Foods You Want to Eat

Have you ever heard the saying, “All disease begins in the gut”?

That’s what the ancient Greek physician Hippocrates said almost 2500 years ago. Known as the Father of Medicine, his teachings are foundational to many of the good medical practices of modern times.

In fact, doctors today have confirmed what Hippocrates observed so long ago. A healthy gut is crucial for good health. And healthy digestion is crucial for a healthy gut.

But many people today struggle with digestive health. According to one survey, around 74% of Americans live with common digestive ailments such as gas, bloating and intestinal discomfort.

These symptoms are not only signs that your body isn’t breaking down and absorbing the food you eat, but they can cause anxiety and embarrassment in social settings.

If you have food sensitivities, or even if you just struggle with digestion after the occasional large meal, invitations to gather with family and friends can lead to more anxiety than anticipation.

Even people who eat a healthy diet and manage their stress sometimes struggle with bad digestion. Getting older also tends to deplete your body’s ability to digest food efficiently.

If you’re looking for ways to follow Hippocrates’ advice about keeping your gut healthy, there is a great tool you can put in your health toolbox. By adding digestive enzymes to your regimen, you can support good health in your gut and get back to enjoying food.

Enzymes Play an Important Role in Your Digestion

Your digestive process starts in your mouth even before you take your first bite of food. After you chew that tasty morsel and swallow, it continues on through your stomach, your small intestine and beyond.

During this process, three main groups of digestive enzymes help break down the components of your meal. Here’s what they do:

• Carbohydrases break down carbohydrates, such as starches, sugars and cellulose, into more easily absorbed sugar molecules. Carbohydrases include amylase, lactase, cellulose and Beta-glucanase.
• Proteases break down protein molecules into individual amino acids for proper absorption. Examples of proteases are pepsin, trypsin, chymotrypsin, and peptidase.
• Lipases break down fats into easy-to-absorb molecules. Fat digestion starts when bile from your liver breaks the fat down into small droplets. Then, the lipases finish the process by breaking those droplets down into fatty acid and glycerol. Lipases support healthy gall bladder function and enable your body to utilize fat.

Once these enzymes break down the macronutrients in your food, the smaller molecules enter your bloodstream, where they fuel your body, boost your metabolism and help make your DNA.

Your body naturally produces enzymes to help digest foods. In the diagram below, you can see some of the different enzymes produced in your body. These enzymes (plus a few others) are all essential for proper digestion.

“If My Body Makes Its Own Digestive Enzymes, Why Should I Take Supplemental Enzymes?”

Many factors can contribute to digestive enzyme deficiency, a state in which your body doesn’t produce enough of its own enzymes. When you have a digestive enzyme deficiency, your body struggles to properly digest food.

A shortage of enzymes can especially be problematic when you eat a meal heavily loaded with any of the three macronutrients – carbs, fats or proteins.

There are a number of factors that can decrease your body’s enzyme production. Three major ones are these:

• Aging can lead to reduced enzyme production.
• Leaky gut impairs the function of the lining of your small intestine, where enzymes do most of their work.
• Inflammation from toxins, stress, and food sensitivities strains your natural enzyme-making capacity.

Your natural enzyme production starts to decline at around age 20. By age 40, your body’s production of enzymes drops about 25% from that of your earlier years. By the time you turn 70, you could be producing as little as a third of the enzymes you need for optimal digestion.

A leaky, damaged gut can cause an inflamed gastrointestinal tract. This can lead to an enzyme deficiency. When your gut lining becomes irritated or damaged (as happens with glyphosate, a major cause of irritation and damage), it can impact your body’s production of enzymes.

When you don’t produce enough digestive enzymes – and you’re not taking a digestive supplement with meals – you run the risk of depleting your body’s production of metabolic enzymes. That can lead to real problems, as metabolic enzymes are vital for the healthy operation of every cell in your body.

For optimal digestion, you also need a highly acidic environment in your stomach. Pepsin and hydrochloric acid (HCl) help create this acidity. When you are young, your body produces enough of both to adequately digest your food.

But as you age, your stomach acid levels drop. That can affect your digestion and lead to uncomfortable symptoms such as bloating, gas and discomfort.

Supplementing with digestive enzymes reduces the strain on your own body’s enzyme production. It helps you get maximum benefit from your food. And it helps you avoid the discomfort and embarrassment of bad digestion.

Don’t Make a Bad Situation Worse... Understand the Role of Stomach Acid in Optimal Digestion

When you’re looking for ways to improve your digestion, enzymes, Betaine Hydrochloride and probiotics are great options to help maintain a healthy acidic environment in your digestive tract:*

• Digestive enzymes help break down your food.*
• Betaine Hydrochloride increases stomach acid to support complete digestion of proteins and fats, as well as absorption of amino acids.*
• Probiotics, like acidophilus, create lactic acid, supporting healthy digestion in your small intestine.*

Consuming apple cider vinegar is another natural way to support healthy digestion. Taken with a meal, such as on a salad, it helps support healthy acid levels in your stomach and improve your digestion.

You can find organic apple cider vinegar on mercolamarket.com. It’s available in both liquid and dried powder capsule form.

The Problem With Many Digestive Enzyme Formulas

When you’re looking for a high-quality digestive enzyme supplement, it’s important to be aware of two common problems with many products on the market.

First, the makers of digestive enzymes formulate general products that provide everyone with the same dose and the same enzymes.

But in our world full of food options, people’s diets vary widely. Most likely, your diet is different from the diets of the people around you… your neighbors, your coworkers, your partner, even your best friend. We all have different food preferences.

On top of that, every person’s body works a little different from others.

For example, maybe you have a few food sensitivities while your friend doesn’t. Maybe your body can handle a high protein diet without trouble while your coworker does great with high fat. Or maybe grains cause you problems while your partner can eat them without trouble.

So, why would you want to take a general enzyme formula instead of a specialized one?

You are unique, and so are your digestive enzyme needs.

The second problem with many of today’s enzyme formulas is that they contain levels of specific enzymes that are too high.

The majority of manufacturers formulate their enzymes on the premise of “the more, the better.” That misguided theory doesn’t apply to digestive enzymes. The way enzymes work, they have to come in contact with food. If a digestive enzyme supplement has more than the optimal amount of enzymes your body needs for the food you eat, the rest is wasted.

The best approach to digestive enzyme supplementation is to go broad. That is, you want a wide variety of enzymatic activity.

As we talked about earlier, enzymes are substrate specific. That is, each type of enzyme breaks down a very specific type of food. For example, Lipase breaks down fat while Pectinase breaks down pectins found in fruits and vegetables.

So, if you have a supplement with a small assortment of enzyme types, it just doesn’t get the job done. You need a broad array of different types of enzymes in the formula to break down the variety of foods you eat.

Don’t be misled by products touting excessively high doses of enzymes. These products have minimal effectiveness and a lot of waste. No matter how large the dose, a limited array of enzymes can’t provide the benefits of the missing enzyme varieties. Instead, go for optimal effectiveness without waste. Go broad, not deep.

Supplementing with Digestive Enzymes Maximizes Nutrition and Minimizes Discomfort*

As you we talked about earlier, you have a wide variety of enzymes in your digestive tract. Those enzymes work together to break down carbohydrates, proteins and fats into molecules that your body can absorb and use for good health and energy.

Whatever your body can’t break down into an absorbable size gets excreted as waste.

But if you’re one of the many people whose enzyme levels have become depleted due to age or stress, you may need extra support to help your body break down food and get the maximum benefit from its nutrients.

You can get some natural enzyme support by eating plenty of raw foods. But processing and cooking at temperatures above 116 degrees Fahrenheit renders most naturally-occurring enzymes inactive.

So, unless you are eating a predominately raw diet, you would be very likely to benefit from taking an enzyme supplement.

Supplementing your body’s enzyme production helps with the essential task of breaking down food into the molecules that your body can absorb and use so you get the full benefit of the nutrients in your food.*

At the same time, supplementing with enzymes can help reduce minor discomfort and occasional bloating, and that bogged-down feeling you sometimes get after a big meal.

A well-balanced digestive enzyme supplement that contains a broad variety of the types of enzymes your body needs helps reduce waste. So your body isn’t left struggling and uncomfortable from undigested food.

A Revolutionary Way to Formulate Digestive Enzymes: Back to the Basics With a Scientific Approach

There is a superior approach to formulating digestive enzymes.

Instead of just loading an enzyme supplement with high levels that exceed what you really need, a well-designed supplement should take a scientific approach.

Our formulas are designed for what real people actually eat, with an appropriate allowance for enzyme deficiencies and loss of enzymes due to age.

We accomplished this through a multi-step process. Here’s how we approached it:

1. We looked at USDA tables for the actual reported numbers of calories, carbs, fats, fiber, and protein that the average man and woman typically eats in a meal.
2. We did in-depth scientific research on enzyme deficiencies in the general population. We found that people, on average, have only 85% of their optimal enzyme capabilities.
3. We added 15% to bring that number up to 100% enzyme capability, to compensate for age-related enzyme loss, deficiencies, and absorption variances.
4. Lastly, we added an extra insurance to allow for shelf life and other factors.

Applying this thorough, scientific approach produces digestive enzyme supplements that provide unequaled benefits.

Before introducing you to our unique formulas, let’s look at one other outstanding feature that sets ours apart from all the others.

Enhanced by an Added Boost from ATP so Your Body Doesn’t Have to Do the Heavy Lifting

ATP, or adenosine-5’-triphosphate, is your body’s natural energy source. It’s in every cell of your body and plays an important role in cellular energy storage and transfer.

Maybe you already know about how ATP is the “energy currency” of your cells. But did you know that it also plays a crucial role in your digestion?

Uncooked, unprocessed foods contain ATP. When you eat these raw foods, the ATP they contain acts as a catalyst in the digestive process.

Your gut contains enzymes called ATPases. When these enzymes find ATP, they digest it, and this signals the body to start the digestive process. ATP influences gastric acid and pepsin secretions, as well as stomach contractions.

A meal of uncooked, unprocessed foods provides the ideal amount of these ATP signaling molecules to start the digestive process. But cooked or processed food does not...

Much of the food that people eat today is processed, so it contributes little or no ATP to initiate digestion. Instead, your body must spend precious resources generating its own ATP for that signaling to occur in your digestive tract.

Your body naturally expects this extracellular ATP from a healthy diet.

When you don’t get ATP from the food you eat, and you don’t provide it through supplementation, your body has to pay a price.

That’s why ATP is a beneficial, synergistic addition to any well-designed digestive enzyme formula...

A One-of-a-Kind Flagship Digestive Enzyme Blend – Full Spectrum Enzymes

We developed our flagship enzyme formula to meet the typical needs of the general population using data on how the average person eats.

Scientifically-formulated Full Spectrum Enzymes contains a broad range of enzymes derived from plant, bacterial and fungal sources to help you digest different types of foods, without gas, bloating or discomfort:*

• A Full Spectrum pH Protease Blend of four different proteases to work at the different pHs in your digestive tract and break down proteins into smaller polypeptide fragments and amino acids – this supports the proper digestion of, and immune system response to, proteins in the diet.*
• A Cellulase Blend of two different cellulases to break down cellulose (a carbohydrate) and cellulose derivatives into smaller polysaccharides and glucose, to help your body utilize plant nutrients*
• A Lipase Blend of two different lipases to break down triglycerides, supporting proper fat utilization and gallbladder function*
• A Plant-Derived Enzyme Blend of bromelain and papain from pineapple and papaya (from the stems only, to minimize allergenic response) to promote the complete digestion of proteins in a broad range of pH levels*
• Beta-Glucanase to break down the beta D-glucans or polysaccharides in grains*
• Glucoamylase to convert starch into glucose for energy*
• Amylase to break down carbohydrates, such as starch and glycogen*
• Diastase to degrade maltose into glucose*
• Lactase to break down lactose (milk sugar) into its component sugars, glucose and galactose*
• Pectinase to break down carbohydrates, such as the pectin in fruits and vegetables*
• Xylanase to break down the xylose-containing polymers in wheat, oats and barley*
• Alpha Galactosidase to help digest gas-promoting carbohydrates, such as those found in legumes and cruciferous vegetables*
• Peptidase to release amino acids from proteins and polypeptides*
• Phytase to support proper mineral absorption and to break down phytic acid, an indigestible form of phosphorus*
• Hemicellulase to digest soluble fibers in plant cell walls and release nutrients bound in fruits and vegetables*
• Invertase to split sucrose into glucose and fructose*
• ATP for digestive signaling*

That’s a total of 22 different enzymes – plus ATP. It would be difficult to find a more complete digestive enzyme product with such a broad range of enzymes that can work effectively in different parts of your gut.*

Here’s another very important benefit of this unique formula that you won’t find in most enzyme supplements...

Full Spectrum Enzymes works at a wide range of different pHs throughout your digestive tract to cover various phases of digestion.

This helps ensure the rapid digestion of food and relieve occasional bloating, gas and intestinal discomfort.*

An Enzyme Supplement Made Especially for Women

Countless studies have shown that women and men have different eating habits.

Researchers have found that women tend to eat more fruits and vegetables, and have higher intakes of dietary fiber as well as lower intakes of fat than men do. And of course, as a group, women require fewer calories than men.

So, we designed Full Spectrum Enzymes for Women with these realities in mind.

In a careful process similar to how we formulated regular Full Spectrum Enzymes, we looked at USDA data for an average woman along with a general profile of women’s dietary preferences.

This analysis led to the creation of Full Spectrum Enzymes for Women, which contains a scientifically-formulated broad range of enzymes derived from plants, fungal and bacterial sources to help you digest different types of foods:*

• Enzyme levels are based on a typical meal that a woman might eat to ensure complete digestion of carbohydrates, fats, proteins, fibers and more.*
• Formula is adjusted to account for women’s specific diet preferences, such as increased vegetable and reduced protein consumption.
• Formula takes into account potential enzyme deficiencies and compensates for age-related enzyme loss.*
• Includes ATP, which may act as a signaling molecule, prompting the body to start digestion.*
• Enzymes work at different pHs to cover various phases of digestion, helping to digest food rapidly and relieve occasional bloating, gas and intestinal discomfort.*

You’ll find all of the same enzyme blends and 22 total enzymes that are in Full Spectrum Enzymes. But in this blend, enzyme activity is customized to more closely fit a woman’s way of eating.

And because Full Spectrum Enzymes for Women contains higher activity levels of plant-digesting enzymes, this is a great option for vegetarians, regardless of gender. Men who are vegetarians can also benefit from this special formula.

Once you have your base formula – Full Spectrum Enzymes or Full Spectrum Enzymes for Women – you’re ready to add on additional enzymes to meet your special needs.

Ketozyme – The Ideal Companion to Your Ketogenic Diet

A ketogenic diet can offer many benefits for your health. As more people are experiencing the increased energy, healthy weight loss and other health benefits that this approach to eating can bring, this special diet is growing in popularity.

Often, however, when you make the transition to a ketogenic diet, your digestive system can take some time to adjust. As you start introducing more high fat foods into your diet and cutting back on carbs, it’s not uncommon to experience a heavy, uncomfortably full feeling after eating.

If this is happening to you, you may not be digesting and absorbing fat properly. Ketozyme can help you with this.

A healthy level of fat absorption is 95%. When your body’s absorption drops to between 85 and 93% of the fat you eat, you are considered deficient. At that point, you need to boost your body’s ability to break down and absorb fats about 10% to bring you to healthy levels.

This is the baseline data we had in mind when we formulated Ketozyme for the digestion of fats.

Scientifically formulated to aid in the rapid digestion of higher levels of fat typically consumed when following a low carbohydrate or ketogenic diet, Ketozyme contains:*

• Betaine Hydrochloride (HCl), which increases stomach acid to ensure complete digestion of proteins and fats as well as absorption of amino acids.*
• A Lipase Blend of three lipases to support gallbladder function and break down triglycerides as well as promote proper fat utilization.*
• Dandelion Root Extract, which contains an amino acid called kynurenic acid that promotes normal bile production and the flow of bile from the liver through the gallbladder, aiding in the digestion of fat.*
• Globe Artichoke Leaf Extract (Cynara scolymus), which supports liver and gallbladder health, aiding in digestion of fat and absorption of fat-soluble vitamins, such as D3, E and K2.*
• Adenosine Triphosphate (ATP), which acts as a signaling molecule, prompting the body to start digestion.*

You can take Ketozyme by itself for fat digestion or, for best results, pair it with Full Spectrum Enzymes or Full Spectrum Enzymes for Women for a comprehensive enzyme program to aid in complete meal digestion.*

You’ve Lost Your Gallbladder – Now What? Bring on the Gallbladder Enzymes

The gallbladder is a small organ that lies on the underside of your liver. Its main purpose is to store bile produced by your liver and release it into your digestive tract when it’s needed to digest fat.

When it comes to treating a malfunctioning gallbladder, it’s always best to find ways to change your diet. But sometimes, when a gallbladder condition becomes too far advanced, it has to be removed.

If you’ve had your gallbladder removed, or if it ever happens to you in the future, you can expect some difficulty in digesting fats.

A great strategy for handling this situation is to supplement with targeted digestive enzymes.

Pancreatic enzymes can be especially helpful for people who have had their gallbladder removed, as they help compensate for the lack of bile that is common after gallbladder removal.

Specially designed to support healthy digestion after gallbladder removal, Gallbladder Enzymes:

• Contains Pancrelipase, a high-activity enzyme blend of Pancreatic Protease, Amylase and Lipase to support healthy digestion after gallbladder removal and help relieve occasional bloating, gas and intestinal discomfort.*
• Is scientifically formulated with Ox Bile to compensate for bile and enzyme loss, and stimulate proper movement through the digestive tract.*
• Includes ATP to initiate the digestive process.*

This unique formula comes in a delayed release capsule to help protect fragile animal-based enzymes from stomach acids.* Many animal-based enzyme formulas are not encapsulated in a delayed release capsule, leaving them exposed to stomach acids that degrade the activity of these animal enzymes, which makes them much less effective.

Gallbladder Enzymes can be taken alone for a boost of pancreatic enzymes or, for best results, they can be paired with Full Spectrum Enzymes or Full Spectrum Enzymes for Women for a comprehensive enzyme program to aid in complete, comfortable meal digestion.*

Take Control of Your Health™ With Our Broad-Based, Scientifically Formulated Digestive Enzymes

Supplementing with digestive enzymes is a simple yet impactful way to promote significant changes in your overall health.*

When your body is able to more fully digest your healthy food, you get the benefits of absorbing more nutrients. However, when your body struggles to digest food, it can lead to a number of problems, including low energy and other health issues related to nutrient deficiencies.

You spend good money for high-quality whole food. Yet, without adequate digestive enzymes, you may not be reaping the full nutritional benefits – and you might be setting yourself up for health-depleting deficiencies... Our digestive enzyme formulas:

• Are scientifically formulated with a broad range of enzymes to digest different types of food.*
• Contain enzyme levels based on a typical meal to ensure complete digestion of carbohydrates, fats, proteins, fibers and more.*
• Are designed for speed to quickly break down foods and reduce digestive discomfort.*
• Take into account enzyme deficiencies and compensate for age-related enzyme loss.*
• Include ATP, which is largely unavailable in today’s highly-processed food diets, for initiating digestive processes.*
• Work at different pHs to cover various phases of digestion, helping to digest food rapidly and relieve occasional bloating, gas, and intestinal discomfort.*
• Contain no genetically modified ingredients (GMOs).
• Include fruit enzymes derived from the stems and not the fruit itself, to minimize allergies.*
• Consist of potent plant-, bacterial- and fungal-derived enzymes, instead of animal sources (except for Gallbladder Enzymes, which contains ox bile).*

Get the nutrients nature intended you to have from healthy, wholesome food. Choose either Full Spectrum Enzymes or Full Spectrum Enzymes for Women and then, pick from among our specialized formulas for the way you like to eat.

Start enjoying the benefits of this powerful support for digestive comfort, wellness and vitality, and order today.*