What Organelles Contain Digestive Enzymes

Digestive enzymes are substances that help y'all assimilate your food. They are secreted (released) by the salivary glands and cells lining the stomach, pancreas, and modest intestine.

Digestive enzymes do this past splitting the big, complex molecules that brand upwardly proteins, carbohydrates, and fats into smaller ones. This allows the nutrients from these foods to be easily absorbed into your blood and carried through your body.

There are several digestive enzymes, including amylase, maltase, lactase, lipase, sucrase, and proteases.

Some conditions tin result in digestive enzyme deficiencies, such every bit lactose intolerance or exocrine pancreatic insufficiency. In that case, supplementation with foods, over-the-counter supplements, or prescription digestive enzyme supplements may be necessary.

Keep reading to acquire almost different types of digestive enzymes and how they work.

Illustration of the inside of the intestine — Rost-9D / Getty Images

What Are Digestive Enzymes?

Digestive enzymes are released when we:

Conceptualize eating
Odor and taste food
Get through the digestive process

Some foods require certain digestive enzymes to break downward the specific nutrients they incorporate.

A diversity of health conditions, especially those that bear on the pancreas, can lead to deficiencies in digestive enzymes. This is because the pancreas secretes several central enzymes.

Ofttimes these deficiencies can be stock-still by irresolute your diet. Yous tin avoid certain foods or eat foods containing naturally occurring digestive enzymes. You tin also take prescription or over-the-counter (OTC) enzyme supplements.

Types of Digestive Enzymes

Each of the many unlike digestive enzymes targets a specific food and splits it upwardly into a form that can eventually exist absorbed.

The most important digestive enzymes are:

Amylase
Maltase
Lactase
Lipase
Proteases
Sucrase

Amylase

Amylase is important for digesting carbohydrates. Information technology breaks down starches into sugars.

Amylase is secreted by both the salivary glands and the pancreas. The measurement of amylase levels in the blood is sometimes used as an aid in diagnosing various pancreas or other digestive tract diseases.

Loftier levels of amylase in the blood may hateful y'all have:

A blocked or injured duct of the pancreas
Pancreatic cancer
Acute pancreatitis, which is a sudden inflammation of the pancreas

Low levels of amylase may mean you have chronic pancreatitis (ongoing inflammation of the pancreas) or liver disease.

Maltase

The pocket-sized intestine releases maltase, which is responsible for breaking downwardly maltose (malt sugar) into glucose (simple carbohydrate). The torso uses glucose for free energy.

During digestion, starch is partially transformed into maltose by amylases. The maltase enzyme then changes maltose into glucose. This sugar is then either used immediately by the torso or stored in the liver as glycogen for hereafter use.

Lactase

Lactase (also chosenlactase-phlorizin hydrolase) is an enzyme that breaks down lactose, a carbohydrate found in dairy products. It turns lactose into the simple sugars glucose and galactose.

Lactase is produced by cells known as enterocytes that line the intestinal tract. Lactose that is not captivated is fermented by bacteria in the gut. This can cause you lot to take gas and an upset stomach.

Lipase

Lipase is responsible for the breakdown of fats into fatty acids and glycerol (uncomplicated sugar booze). It's produced in small amounts by your mouth and stomach, and in larger amounts by your pancreas.

Proteases

As well called peptidases, proteolytic enzymes, or proteinases, these digestive enzymes break down proteins into amino acids. They also play a part in numerous body processes, including:

Cell sectionalization
Claret clotting
Immune role

Proteases are produced in the tummy and pancreas. The primary ones are:

Pepsin: Pepsin is secreted by the stomach to intermission downwardly proteins into peptides, or smaller groupings of amino acids. Those amino acids are and so either absorbed or cleaved downward further in the small intestine.
Trypsin: Trypsin forms when an enzyme secreted by the pancreas is activated by an enzyme in the small intestine. Trypsin then activates boosted pancreatic enzymes, such equally carboxypeptidase and chymotrypsin, to help interruption downwardly peptides.
Chymotrypsin: This enzyme breaks downwards peptides into complimentary amino acids that can be absorbed past the intestinal wall.
Carboxypeptidase A: Secreted by the pancreas, it splits peptides into individual amino acids.
Carboxypeptidase B: Secreted past the pancreas, it breaks downwardly bones amino acids.

Sucrase

Sucrase is secreted by the small intestine, where it breaks down sucrose (the sugar in tabular array sugar) into fructose and glucose. These are simpler sugars that the trunk tin absorb.

Sucrase is found along the abdominal villi. These are tiny pilus-similar structures that line the intestine and absorb nutrients into the bloodstream.

Digestive Enzyme Deficiencies

There are a variety of health conditions that can interfere with the secretion of enough digestive enzymes to fully digest foods. Some are inherited genetic atmospheric condition while others develop over fourth dimension.

Lactose Intolerance

Lactose intolerance occurs when yous aren't able to assimilate lactose because of insufficient production of lactase by the small intestine. When you consume dairy products, you may experience:

Bloating
Diarrhea
Abdominal pain
Gas

There are several forms of lactose intolerance.

Congenital Lactase Deficiency

Built lactase deficiency (besides called congenital alactasia) is a rare inherited form of lactose intolerance. It happens when newborns are unable to interruption down lactose in breast milk or formula. They get severe diarrhea if they aren't given a lactose-free alternative.

Congenital lactase deficiency is caused past mutations in the LCT factor that provides instructions for making the lactase enzyme.

Lactase Non-Persistence

Lactase non-persistence is a common type of lactose intolerance that some people develop as adults. It affects around 65% of people, and it's acquired by decreased expression (activity) of the LCT factor. Symptoms typically brainstorm 30 minutes to ii hours subsequently eating or drinking dairy.

Almost people with lactase non-persistence proceed some level of lactase activity and tin continue to include a pocket-size amount of lactose in their diets. This may be in the course of cheese or yogurt since both tend to be tolerated better than fresh milk.

Secondary Lactose Intolerance

Secondary lactose intolerance develops when lactase production is reduced because of diseases that can damage the small intestine. These diseases include celiac disease or Crohn's affliction every bit well as other illnesses or injuries that impact the abdominal wall.

Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency

The pancreas produces the key digestive enzymes amylase, protease, and lipase. People with exocrine pancreatic insufficiency (EPI) accept a deficiency of these enzymes. As a result, they are unable to digest food properly, especially fats.

The health conditions that bear on the pancreas and are associated with EPI are:

Chronic pancreatitis: An inflammation of the pancreas that can permanently impairment the organ over time
Cystic fibrosis: An inherited genetic condition that causes astringent damage to the lungs and digestive system, including the pancreas
Pancreatic cancer

Foods High in Digestive Enzymes

A variety of foods, specially tropical fruits and fermented vegetables, are naturally loftier in digestive enzymes that might speed up the digestion of certain nutrients.

It'due south best to eat them raw since heat can lessen or destroy these plant enzymes.

Foods with Digestive Enzymes
Food	Enzymes	Benefit
Pineapple	Proteases (bromelain)	Helps digest proteins and has boosted anti-inflammatory effects
Papaya	Proteases (papain)	Helps digest proteins and is a pop meat tenderizer
Kiwi	Proteases (actinidain)	In add-on to its digestive enzymes, the fruit is high in fiber to support digestive tract function
Mango	Amylases	Helps break downwards carbohydrates from starches into elementary sugars and increases as the fruit ripens
Banana	Amylases, glucosidases	Similar amylases, glucosidases as well break down complex carbohydrates
Raw dearest	Amylases, Diastases, invertases, proteases	The amylases and diastases help to interruption down starches, invertases break downward sugars, and proteases break downwardly poly peptide
Avocado	Lipases	Helps digest and metabolize fat
Kefir	Lipases, lactase, proteases	The lactase in kefir helps to digest the fermented milk and may be tolerated by some people with lactose intolerance
Sauerkraut, kimchi	Lipases, proteases	Fermented foods develop enzymes during the fermentation procedure equally well equally probiotics, or beneficial leaner, to further back up digestive wellness
Miso	Lactases, lipases, proteases, amylases	This fermented soy paste contains a potent combination of enzymes that aid intermission down lactose in dairy, fats, proteins, and carbohydrates
Ginger	Protease (zingibain)	In addition to its enzymes that can help interruption downwards proteins, ginger may too help ease nausea

Digestive juices crave hydration, so brand certain that y'all drink water throughout the twenty-four hour period.

Digestive Enzyme Supplements

People who don't accept sufficient amounts of digestive enzymes or who are looking to support healthy digestion should consider supplementing their nutrition with digestive enzymes.

They tin can practice this by eating salubrious foods that contain naturally occurring digestive enzymes. But they can also have nutritional supplements under a healthcare provider's guidance.

Digestive enzyme supplements tin come in:

Pills
Powders
Liquids sourced from animals, plants, or microbes

There are prescription supplements regulated past the FDA equally well equally over-the-counter supplements.

Prescription Supplements

Prescription enzyme supplements are recommended for conditions that affect the functioning of the pancreas, such as chronic pancreatitis or pancreatic cancer.

Brands of prescription pancreatic enzyme supplements (pancrelipase) include:

Creon
Pancreaze
Zenpep
Ultresa
Viokace
Pertzye

Over-the-Counter Supplements

Over-the-counter enzyme supplements are not regulated by the FDA. At that place haven't been enough high-quality studies on them, so information technology's hard to know how constructive they are.

The post-obit are some of the supplemental enzymes that don't require a prescription:

Lactase supplements may assistance people who are lactose intolerant to assimilate dairy products and are bachelor every bit tablets or drops.
Bromelain is a powerful protease from the fruit or stem of pineapples that comes in capsule, tablet, or pulverisation course and may help with the digestion of protein.
Papain from papaya may help with digesting proteins, and the powder form can be used as a meat tenderizer.

As with any supplement, check with your healthcare provider before taking an over-the-counter digestive enzyme to make sure it's prophylactic for you.

Summary

Digestive enzymes are substances that help you lot assimilate your food. They're secreted by the salivary glands and cells lining the tum, pancreas, and small intestine.

Sometimes people have a digestive enzyme deficiency. These deficiencies are connected to various health conditions. Many of these health weather are related to the pancreas.

You tin can care for a digestive enzyme deficiency by changing your diet and/or taking a prescription or over-the-counter enzyme supplement. Before you decide to have an enzyme supplement, get your healthcare provider's advice. They can help you decide if it's rubber for you lot.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who should take digestive enzyme supplements?

If you have pancreatitis, pancreatic cancer, cystic fibrosis, or another disease of the pancreas, yous may need to take prescription digestive enzymes. Those who are lactose intolerant can take OTC supplements.

Researchers are exploring whether digestive enzymes may besides help those with celiac disease.
When should I have digestive enzymes?

Information technology depends on why you're taking them.

For example, prescription supplements for cystic fibrosis need to exist taken at every repast and snack, just the dosage and timing may vary depending on what you're eating or your age.

Follow your healthcare provider's prescription or the OTC instructions.