Posted by KaraS on August 17, 2004, at 0:38:57
In reply to Re: Urticaria and incomplete protein digestion » KaraS, posted by Larry Hoover on August 16, 2004, at 7:03:07
> > Larry,
> > Also maybe I should take more enzymes than just bromelain (protease and papain?) to see if they can help with protein digestion? Should I also take enzymes that digest starch and fat? (I don't know if they would effect protein usage at all in the long run.)
>
> Proteolytic enzymes have to survive the effects of stomach acid to be effective in aiding digestion. Protease only works at low pH. If your stomach acid is weak (called hypochlorhydria) or absent (achlorhydria), your own body's protease does nothing. By taking a mixture of proteolytic enzymes, you cover functionality at the different acid regimes which may be present in the stomach.
>
> As an aside, GERD is often related to hypochlorhydria. The stomach is slow in producing the acid it needs, and it comes late, after much of the food is already passing into the duodenum. The excess acid is easily burped up into the esophagus.
My mother has had a terrible time with indigestion over the years. She lived on Maalox and Mylanta ever since I can remember, until the current medications came out. She's an extremely nervous person - I don't know whether that is really relevant but at least it used to be considered the cause of her indigestion problems. In the last couple of years she was diagnosed with GERD and she's really having a terrible time with it. She can't keep a lot of food down. The doctors have told her that she's not a candidate for surgery. They do something they call stretching her stomach periodically but it doesn't do much good. I'd be grateful for anything you could tell me to advise her.
> Standard medical practise for GERD is to suppress stomach acid production in general, which only ensures that you will have iatrogenic hypochlorhydria, and thus decreased protein digestion and reduced availability of vitamin B12 (which is essential in acid production in the first place).
>
> > I hate to ask you this but I was looking at the page on iHerb.com and I'm totally overwhelmed by all of the choices. Do any of the choices here stand out to you as a good selection(s)? I have no sense here or what is needed and what is overkill.
> >
> > http://www.iherb.com/digestion.html
> >
> > Thanks,
> > Kara
>
> What I do not know is how likely it is that enzymes which normally function in the alkaline environment of the intestines (entera) can get past the high-acid stomach environment. Enzymes are proteins too, and are not treated specially by the stomach. It's all food to the stomach. Ideally, you'd take enteric-coated (not acid soluble, dissolves once reaching the entera, i.e. intestines) starch and fat enzymes, but uncoated proteolytic ones.
>
> That said, I'd go with this product:
> http://www.iherb.com/superenzymes.html
>
> Lar
Lar,That was very sweet of you to select the brand for me. I felt bad after I sent that post - thinking that I was imposing and shouldn't have asked you for that. Anyway, please know that i really appreciate it.
Kara
poster:KaraS
thread:364999
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/alter/20040815/msgs/378469.html