If you are having difficulty tracking which foods trigger your irritable bowel syndrome, perhaps you should be looking in a different direction. Undigested food can produce a very similar set of symptoms like IBS and can happen with foods that aren’t known as common IBS triggers. Supplementing digestive enzymes is an easy and effective way to support digestion and prevent IBS symptoms. How do these supplements help? Let’s talk about what digestive enzymes are, why undigested food can cause IBS symptoms, and how supplementing can help you keep a healthy gut.
Enzymes are biologically active proteins that help us perform the various chemical functions that take place in the body. Without enzymes, the chemical reactions necessary for the body to function would take years to happen. Digestive enzymes, the enzymes found in your digestive system, help you break down food into the smaller building blocks they are made from. These enzymes are released all the way through the digestive tract, including the mouth. Different enzymes are released in different sections of the digestive tract and each enzyme is specific for either breaking down carbs, protein or fat.
Many gastrointestinal problems can be explained by a lack of digestive enzymes. Food that isn’t being digested and absorbed by us will be eaten by bad bacteria living in your gut. By-products of food being consumed by bad bacteria can cause many common digestive problems such as gas, bloating, and alternating constipation and diarrhea. If too much food is given to these bad bacteria they will begin to thrive and kill off the good bacteria in the gut. Dysbiosis, the switch from a healthy gut to an unhealthy gut, can cause systemic inflammation that will affect multiple systems in the body.
Digestive enzyme supplements are inactive versions of the enzymes that the body produces. When they are ingested with food, they will reactivate when they reach the environment they typically are produced in. For example, enzymes to break down fats will begin to activate once they reach the section of the small intestine where fats are broken down and absorbed. Some of these supplements can contain multiple types of enzymes that will continue to follow food and reactivate through the entire digestive process.
If you are experiencing mild symptoms such as bloating or gas, the results from taking digestive enzymes should be quick. More chronic symptoms or IBS-like conditions may take a few weeks to see an effect from the enzymes. Even if proper digestion is taking place, the gut will still need time to heal from the damage of dysbiosis. If you are looking for help with managing your IBS diagnosis, schedule a free consultation with your Rochester chiropractor. Here at Rush-Henrietta Family Chiropractic, our nutrition program has helped many people learn to manage many of their IBS symptoms through proper diet and supplementation. Schedule your free nutrition consultation with your chiropractor in Rochester today.
.jpg)
