Why Does Digestion Change with Age?

According to the recent National GI Survey of over 71,000 Americans, 61% of people struggle with indigestion and digestive discomfort from time to time, such as bloating, heartburn and abdominal discomfort.

You see, as we get older, digestion becomes less efficient, and we’re more likely to experience common digestive symptoms like these every so often. While there are multiple factors at play, a key reason is our body’s production of enzymes decreases with age. In addition to the normal aging process, there are several other factors that contribute to our bodies’ ability to produce enzymes, including our diet and food choices.

For example, instead of choosing raw foods, which are typically packaged with naturally-occurring enzymes that help with digestion, most people choose foods that are cooked, which destroys food enzymes. Of course, more and more people opt for processed foods, which are stripped of any enzyme potential, or gas-ripened and irradiated foods, which have no enzymatic activity.

And if you’re not consistently eating a nutrient-dense diet, you may not be getting enough of the nutrients (such as B vitamins and magnesium) that are necessary for enzyme production and healthy digestion. In addition to age and diet, even lifestyle factors like periodic stress can adversely affect digestive enzyme activity and digestion.

Before going any further, let’s take a step back and talk about why digestive enzymes are good for you. Simply put, digestive enzymes are the keys that unlock foods’ potential. More precisely, digestive enzymes break down the fats, carbohydrates, and proteins in the food we eat into smaller pieces our bodies can absorb and use — to make energy, for example.

According to enzyme pioneer Dr. Edward Howell, enzymes are essential for proper digestion, which directly correlates with optimal health. In his research, Dr. Howell found that we produce fewer digestive enzymes as we age. In fact, Dr. Howell coined the Enzyme Nutrition Axiom, which basically states that age is inversely correlated with enzyme production, and as we get older, the organs responsible for producing digestive enzymes become less efficient.

What Is the Problem with Most Digestive Enzyme Supplements on the Market?

It’s important to point out that the body produces many types of enzymes. In fact, every biological reaction that takes place in our cells depends on enzymes. Simply put, enzymes are essential to sustain life. Having said that, not all enzymes are the same, and each enzyme has a very specific function.

Along those lines, when it comes to digestive enzymes, there are specific enzymes to break down fats (called lipases), carbohydrates (called carbohydrases or amylases), and proteins (called proteases or proteolytic enzymes). A protein-digesting enzyme cannot break down fat; a lipase cannot digest a starch; and a carbohydrate-digesting enzyme can’t break down protein. Each enzyme has a very specific function, which is referred to as enzyme specificity. And because the majority of us eat foods that contain a mixture of carbs, fats, and proteins, a broad-spectrum digestive enzyme supplement is going to provide a wide range of support to help digest different types of foods.^{Footnote †}

So, when it comes to choosing a digestive enzyme supplement, how do you decide what’s best for you? Unless you have very specific needs, a broad-spectrum digestive enzyme supplement that contains an extensive range of enzymes is usually ideal to support the timely and proper digestion of carbs, fats, and proteins.

Unfortunately, many digestive enzyme supplements focus on only one type of food or nutrient or provide just a couple of enzymes. For example, one of the most popular categories of digestive enzyme supplements provides lactase, the enzyme responsible for breaking down lactose (milk sugar). While insufficient lactase production can indeed be an issue for some folks, milk intolerance may also be due to poor digestion of the proteins (such as casein). In other words, a digestive enzyme supplement that only provides lactase isn’t going to provide a broad enough range of enzymes to help digest all the nutrients found in dairy — or in any other foods that may be eaten with it.

And remember, we typically don’t eat isolated nutrients. We eat food, which contains a mixture and a variety of fats, carbs, and proteins. What’s more, the body’s production of ALL enzymes decreases as a result of age, diet, and lifestyle. Only a broad-spectrum digestive enzyme supplement that contains a broad range of enzymes provides support that promotes optimal nutrient digestion and absorption and helps convert all the food we eat into energy.^{Footnote †} As an added bonus, a broad-spectrum digestive enzyme supplement can offer additional benefits in terms of cost-savings compared to, say, using three or more digestive enzyme supplements.^{Footnote †}

Why Is AbsorbMax the Best Digestive Enzyme Supplement?

Unlike many digestive enzyme supplements that focus on only one type of food or provide just a couple of enzymes, AbsorbMax is a broad-spectrum digestive enzyme blend that features an extensive range of digestive enzymes, including proteases, carbohydrases, and lipases to provide support for the timely and proper digestion and absorption of proteins, carbs, fibers, and fats.^{Footnote †}

In doing so, AbsorbMax supports optimal nutrient use and provides support for folks who suffer from time to time with indigestion and digestive discomfort, such as gas and bloating, while also supporting gut health.^{Footnote †} With its broad array of digestive enzymes, AbsorbMax provides support that promotes the digestion and absorption of the most stubborn foods, nutrients, and “probable suspects”:

• Proteins
• Fibers
• Starches
• Dairy (including lactose and casein)
• Grains (including gluten)
• Beans
• Vegetables
• Fruits
• Polyphenols
• And more

In addition to featuring a broad spectrum of enzymes, AbsorbMax is also infused with ATPrime^®, which provides energy support to initiate the digestive processes.^{Footnote †} ATP is an essential energy-producing molecule that is required for every reaction in the body, and ATPrime^® is a breakthrough ingredient for digestive health because it provides this critical energy molecule, which can be a limiting factor for proper digestion and nutrient absorption.

What’s more, ATP helps stimulate the body’s natural production of stomach acid and digestive enzymes (e.g., pepsin) as well as promote contractions of the stomach. Overall, ATPrime^® provides support for proper and timely digestion of food.^{Footnote †}

Simply put, we truly believe anyone who eats food can benefit from a good broad-spectrum digestive enzyme supplement. And that’s precisely why we developed AbsorbMax, which provides digestive support that promotes nutrient digestion and absorption and provides digestive support to folks who struggle from time to time with indigestion and digestive discomfort, such as gas and bloating.^{Footnote †}

AbsorbMax is a broad-spectrum digestive enzyme supplement that provides digestive support that promotes the timely and proper digestion of carbs, fibers, fats, and proteins, including the most stubborn foods. In doing so, AbsorbMax also provides digestive support for folks who struggle from time to time with indigestion and digestive discomfort, such as gas and bloating.^{Footnote †}

 Here is a brief overview of the functions of the key digestive enzymes in AbsorbMax:

• Proteases are enzymes that break down dietary proteins into their constituent amino acids, and they are also referred to as proteolytic enzymes. These enzymes are used to support the digestion and absorption of proteins, including gluten and those found in dairy.^† AbsorbMax contains the following proteolytic enzymes:
• Protease SP
• Protease S
• Aspergillopepsin
• Peptidase
• Bromelain
• Carbohydrases are the enzymes that break down carbohydrates. Below is a list of the carbohydrases in AbsorbMax along with their specific functions:
• Amylase is the enzyme responsible for breaking down longer-chain carbohydrates (polysaccharides), such as starches, into smaller sugars.^{Footnote †}
• Glucoamylase complements amylase by helping break down larger carbohydrates into smaller, absorbable ones.^{Footnote †}
• Lactase is the enzyme responsible for breaking down the “milk sugar” lactose into its component sugars, glucose and galactose, and for supporting the healthy digestion of dairy products.^{Footnote †}
• Alpha Galactosidase helps break down the difficult-to-digest carbohydrates raffinose and stachyose, which are found in beans, for example, that commonly lead to gas.^{Footnote †}
• Cellulase, an enzyme that is produced by plants but not humans, breaks down the cell walls of plant-based foods (such as fruits and vegetables), releasing nutrients (such as polyphenols) that would otherwise remain “trapped” for the body to absorb.^{Footnote †}
• Beta Glucanase is another enzyme produced by plants that helps break down difficult-to-digest fibers found in oats, wheat, barley, and other grains.^{Footnote †}
• Pectinase, another enzyme not produced by humans, helps break down indigestible carbohydrates, such as pectin, found in many fruits and vegetables.^{Footnote †}
• Xylanase helps break down difficult-to-digest carbohydrates found in wheat, oats, and barley.^{Footnote †}
• Lipase is the category of digestive enzymes responsible for breaking down triglycerides (dietary fat) and helping improve fat digestion.^{Footnote †} Because of their role in fat digestion, lipases help support healthy gallbladder function.^{Footnote †}

In addition, AbsorbMax also features ATPrime^®, which provides energy support to initiate digestive processes.^{Footnote †} ATP is an essential energy-producing molecule that is required for every reaction in the body, and ATPrime^® is a breakthrough ingredient for digestive health because it provides this critical energy molecule, which can be a limiting factor for proper digestion and nutrient absorption. What’s more, ATP helps stimulate the body’s natural production of stomach acid and digestive enzymes (e.g., pepsin) as well as promote contractions of the stomach. Overall, ATPrime^® provides support for proper and timely digestion of food.^{Footnote †}