Enzyme supplements safe & effective

by Zoltan Rona, MD

Enzyme supplements have been sold for over 50 years without incident. I have been writing about and prescribing various digestive enzyme supplements successfully for over 30 years. These over the counter products are manufactured by at least a dozen different companies and are sold in health food stores, supermarkets and pharmacies. The manufacturers include NAKA, Biotics Research, Natural Factors, SISU, Platinum Naturals, Thorne Research, Metagenics, AOR, Integra, New Roots and Professional Health.

I estimate that, in the past 30 years, I have prescribed enzymes to over 5,000 patients for anywhere between a few weeks to several years. About 20 percent of my patients have been taking digestive enzymes for over 10 years without any side effects.

While potential side effects have been documented with digestive enzymes, I have seen only minor nuisance side effects – gas, indigestion, constipation – that usually cleared with continued use of the product. Approximately one percent of my patients could not tolerate the enzymes and side effect symptoms disappeared upon stopping the product. Compared to most drugs on the market, my experience has been that digestive enzymes are significantly safer than most over the counter cough and cold remedies.

In fact, while there are many documented deaths from over the counter Tylenol, I am unaware of any deaths from digestive enzymes. I refer you to a recent publication on natural supplement safety in the USA (Bronstein et al) where they report zero deaths occurring with digestive enzyme use. *See the reference at the end of this article. Surely, if enzyme safety were an issue of any significance it would have been reported in this exhaustive study.

In general, I have found various types of digestive enzymes – pancreatin, serrapeptase, bromelain, papain, other plant enzymes, betaine and pepsin hydrochloride – extremely effective to reverse chronic gastrointestinal problems. These include diarrhea, gas, bloating, constipation, inflammatory bowel disease, food allergies, irritable bowel syndrome, micronutrient malabsorption, diverticulitis and diverticulosis.

I have also found that digestive enzymes will reduce the severity of inflammation just about anywhere in the body, especially in the joints (arthritis), the tendons (tendonitis) and the bursa (bursitis). I also find them to be highly effective in speeding healing from just about any sports injury.

Some of my pancreatic cancer patients have also found that taking digestive enzymes reduces the severity of their pain and discomfort and allows them to eat a more complete diet, thereby prolonging their survival.

The evidence in support of digestive enzymes can be found in thousands of published studies. A number of these studies are referenced at the end of the online version of this article. Please see www.commonground.ca

*AAPCC Annual Report

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Zoltan Rona is a licensed medical doctor in Ontario. He has been in private practice for over 33 years. He specializes in complementary and integrative medicine and has written 11 books on the subject, including Vitamin D: The Sunshine Vitamin (Alive Books, 2010). He also holds a Master degree in biochemistry and clinical nutrition. zoltan78@bellnet.ca, www.mydoctor.ca/drzoltanrona

photo © Dean Bertoncelj