While sales of enzyme supplements grow, suppliers still hope to improve delivery methods and consumer knowledge.

It is estimated that 50 percent of all adults do not produce enough digestive enzymes. One of the several explanations behind insufficient enzyme production is that it decreases with age (some sources claim that enzyme production declines by approximately 10 percent each decade after our teenage years).

According to Martie Whittekin, CCN, in her book Natural Alternatives to Nexium, Maalox, Tagamet, Priolosec & other Acid Blockers, enzyme insufficiency can also be attributed to problems with the intestinal lining where many enzymes are manufactured. Another reason may be inadequate dietary protein or lack of acid to digest protein. This can reduce the raw material available from which to make enzymes, she said.

So it should come as no surprise that the digestive aids and enzymes category is worth nearly $94 million in the natural channel, growing more than eight percent during last year, while in the conventional channel it has grown to $172.5 million in sales, representing a23. 5 percent jump, according to Schaumburg, IL-based SPINS, a market research and consulting firm for the natural products industry.

“Sales of enzymes continue to experience significant growth,” said Mike Smith, vice president with the Chino, Cabased Specialty Enzymes & Biochemicals Co. The company manufactures plant, bacterial and fungal source enzymes from amylase to xylanase and “virtually everything in between,” Smith said.

“Sales have grown since the 1990s and continue today,” he added.“Originally, nearly all sales of enzymes were for digestive support. Today, systemic enzymes are rapidly growing as well. The Baby Boomers are now in their late 50s and early 60s with all the potential difficulties that befall that age group. As a result, not only are they dealing with digestive issues, they also have cardiovascular, joint and other inflammatory-related problems to deal with. In the current marketplace, consumers are better educated and more open to alternative approaches to health. Combine this with a desire to avoid pharmaceuticals and a natural approach with an enzyme supplement becomes very attractive.”

Nena Dockery, scientific and regulatory affairs manager with National Enzyme Company (Forsyth, MO), agreed, and added that declines in health insurance coverage, or loss of coverage altogether have presented an incentive for many people to seek ways to maintain and support their health instead of waiting until conditions necessitate medical intervention. “For others, stress, poor eating habits and use of certain medications have contributed to a decline in digestive health.As a result, there has been a steadily growing interest ways to strengthen the digestive system,” she said.

Enzyme Science

The primary function of enzymes is to aid the body in the digestion and subsequent absorption of vital nutrients present in proteins, carbohydrates and lipases, noted Bret Wyant, sales representative with American Laboratories, Inc. (ALI, Omaha, NE). “The body’s own inability to produce these needed enzymes means that the digestive system cannot extract the vitamins and minerals within foods, which can cause weight loss, malnutrition and fatigue.”

Smith noted that probably the best clinical research published in peerreviewed journals is with systemic enzymes. “Systemic enzymes are predominantly protease enzymes. One of the oldest and best known is bromelain, which is derived from the stem of pineapples,” he said, noting newer protease enzymes include nattokinase (NattoSEB®), serratiopeptidase (aka Peptizyme SP®) and blended combinations that employ one or both of these with other proteases. “These two enzymes, in particular, exhibit profound fibrinolytic as well as anti-inflammatory activity. The potential for use in inflammatory and cardiovascular conditions is significant.Our own proprietary blend, Exclzyme EN, has demonstrated significant anti-inflammatory activity as well as a significant reduction in C-reactive protein.

Research studies investigating the use of enzymes to support protein metabolism for sports applications have attracted considerable attention because of the emphasis on high-protein meals and supplements, Dockery added. “In addition, the use of specific enzymes to improve the breakdown of problematic food components, such as gluten, is an area of active research,” she said. “As more people become intolerant to an increasingly wider variety of foods, the discovery of enzymes to assist in the optimal breakdown of these foods will be of critical importance.”

On the Horizon

For suppliers and manufacturers, new and improved enzyme delivery methods are the goal, and the ability to put enzymes in foods or beverages has been the ambition of nearly all companies marketing enzymes, said Dockery.With newer methods of coating and protecting the enzymes from moisture, these new applications will be available in the not-too-distant future.

Enzyme stability will always be the controlling factor in novel delivery systems, agreed Smith, explaining that temperature, pH, moisture and light can all affect enzyme activity. “Enzymes are most stable in powder form. As a result, capsules tend to be the best delivery System. You will find tablets and chewable tablets, as well,” he said.

“Enzymes become active once they go into solution. The down side of that is that they begin to denature over time and, as a result, a ready-to-drink beverage is not practical due to the short shelf life. Once an enzyme is denatured, it is simply an inactive protein.”

Another delivery consideration is enteric coating, Smith added.
“Fortunately, most plant- and fungalderived enzymes have a broad pH range and can easily handle the changes of pH throughout the gastrointestinal tract.Some, but not all of the bacterial source enzymes, do better if they are enterically coated. Serratiopeptidase and nattokinase are included in this category. Some formulators also want pancreatic enzymes enterically coated since they are best suited to an alkaline environment.”

Specialty Enzymes developed a delivery system called the Bioactive Protein Peptide System® (BPPS®), which provides added stability, activity and bioavailability to enzymes and enzyme blends.

In addition, ALI’s Wyant noted that pancreatic enzymes have been used for years in the nutritional and also the pharmaceutical and veterinary industries for the treatment of digestive disorders such as cystic fibrosis and endocrine pancreatic insufficiency.Several companies have begun marketing food-grade enzyme products within the nutritional industry to address similar digestive problems for customers.

Increasingly, enzyme supplements are being fine tuned to target wider varieties of challenges. In fact, the most recent trends are in the area of special digestive issues, Smith said. These include lactose intolerance and gluten intolerance as well as foods that consistently create indigestion, bloating and/or gas. “Lactase or enzyme blends with lactase very effectively handle digestive problems with dairy products.A strong blend of protease enzymes that include endo and exo proteases can act as a DPPIV enzyme blend that helps prevent problems from hidden gluten in processed foods. The demand for both these areas continue to increase.”

Selling Enzymes

Because so much of the American diet is denatured and devoid of the enzymes the foods started with, consumers need help digesting them, noted Whittekin, who hosts a nationally syndicated radio program covering health topics. “Given the extremely brisk sales of laxatives and heartburn drugs alone, it appears enzyme sales should be terrific if consumers understood the need,” she said.“Metabolic and antioxidant enzymes are extremely important, but that is a harder story to tell.”

And, according to Smith, digestive enzymes still dominate the market and continue to grow. “Indigestion, gas, heartburn and bloating are the common symptoms, particularly associated with over-eating, smoking, drinking alcohol, several different disease states and aging.” Supplementation with either pancreatic enzymes or similar enzymes of fungal, bacterial or plant origin, significantly improve digestion, he said.

“The systemic enzymes are an exciting area of investigation, particularly nattokinase and serratiopeptidase. These two enzymes exhibit profound fibrinolytic as well as anti-inflammatory activity. They are often combined with other proteases to form high-activity blends. The potential for use in cardiovascular health, joint health and other inflammatory disorders is significant,” Smith added.

With the implementation of cGMP requirements, many customers are switching away from complex enzyme blends and sourcing single-enzyme products, according to Wyant. “We help these customers accomplish this by using full strength enzyme activities. With the difficulties of finding qualified enzyme test laboratories and with test interference caused by the multiple enzymes within a blend, these customers are making the switch to ensure that raw materials can be qualified and activities be verified prior to production, and that their final product will meet their stated label claims.”

Consumer Understanding

With sales of enzymes strong, it would seem consumers’ understanding of enzymes and why they might need them has improved considerably over the past few years, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. “I’m not aware of any particular change in this area,” said Whittekin. “Because of advertising for good bugs in yogurt, consumers are at least understanding that they have a digestive tract. There is a great deal of money being spent to convince consumers that any stomach trouble they have is due to excess stomach acid and a deficiency of proton pump inhibitors.”

Dockery pointed out that the largest category of enzyme supplement users includes those who have pre-existing digestive problems. However, the number of individuals who have chosen to add digestive enzymes as a means of Maintaining digestive health is continuing to grow.

“Consumers certainly understand more about how enzymes work in the body than they did even a few years ago,” Dockery said. “However, the majority of people still do not know very much about them or how they function in the body. It is important that the manufacturers and distributors effectively train personnel who will be responsible for conveying the benefits of enzyme supplementation to the end consumer. Easy-to-understand literature can be very helpful, but verbal communication about the importance of digestion and the role of supplemental enzymes in that process is critical, especially when consumers request additional information or have questions about specific aspects of supplementation.”

Though Wyant agreed that consumers do have a basic understanding of enzymes and what they do, he stipulated that many consumers are not fully aware of the mechanical differences of each enzyme, i.e. pepsin (protease) vs. papain (protease), or the potential digestive benefits that could be achieved with a diet supplemented with a digestive enzyme product.

Another concern, according to Smith, is that unlike vitamins and minerals, which have a clear Daily Value (DV), enzymes do not. “Enzyme labeling is tricky, not only because there is no DV, but the actual milligram amount is practically meaningless.” The essential measure of enzymes is by activity rather than weight, he explained. It is further complicated because there are many different ways to measure activity. For example, papain activity can be measured using assays for MCU (milk clotting units), GDU (gelatin digesting units), FCC (Food Chemicals Codex) and USP (United States Pharmacopeia) guidelines, among others. Though there are many different units of measure for enzyme activity, in North America, the FCC and USP assays are used most often, though not exclusively.

“Providing consumer information is a very real challenge,” Smith said. “So few people actually understand the activity units on supplement labels, so choosing the right product becomes problematic for the average consumer. Further, DSHEA also limits what can be said on labels and brochures, so we have to hope the structure/function statements communicate enough information for the consumer to make an informed choice. As manufacturers, the best we can do is help formulators that buy our raw material to understand what constitutes an effective dosage. From the consumer’s standpoint, the best source of information is often word-of-mouth—one satisfied consumer tells another and the results are more likely to be positive.”

To better explain the benefits of their enzymes to the end user, Whittekin suggested that suppliers and manufacturers supply more articles in the consumer press, conduct public relations for books on the subject and, naturally, advertise on radio programs.