The human body’s ability to digest and absorb foods requires a network of organs including the entire gastrointestinal tract, pancreas, liver and gallbladder. These organs need to work in unison as each macronutrient requires a unique set of enzymes to aid the digestive process and ensure that foods are sufficiently broken down for optimal absorption.

There are many different types of carbohydrates in our food and, therefore, many different enzymes necessary to metabolize them depending on the specific sugars and structures. For example, lactose is a common disaccharide found in dairy products that requires lactase for digestion into glucose and galactose, while invertase is necessary to break-down sucrose into glucose and fructose. Starches require specific enzymes such as glucoamylase, amylase and diastase while polysaccharide chains in the cell wall of green plants need cellulaseto cleave the glucose chains.

Dietary fats must also undergo a transformation before being taken up into the body through the digestive tract. For this, gastric and pancreatic lipase are necessary to break apart fats into individual fatty acids and glycerol. Finally, proteins require proteases and peptidases in order to create small enough peptide chains and single amino acids that can be absorbed through the gastrointestinal wall.

As one can imagine, any disturbance in the digestive system or a relative deficiency in any one of these enzymes can lead to digestive upset with symptoms of gas, bloating, constipation and suboptimal absorption. Cyto·Zyme by Cyto-Matrix provides gentle digestive support with a broad-spectrum digestive enzyme blend for all macronutrients. Three separate proteases are included in Cyto·Zyme that activate at different pH levels to ensure optimal digestion of proteins throughout changing acidity levels of the digestive tract. Cyto·Zyme also includes ginger root and fenugreek seed for their carminative actions and traditional use for treating dyspepsia and constipation. Available in 90 vegetable capsule bottles.