Digestive Enzymes Explained: Types, Functions & When You Need Them
Digestive enzymes are proteins that break down macronutrients into absorbable units. Your body produces them in the mouth (salivary amylase), stomach (pepsin), pancreas (proteases, lipases, amylases), and small intestinal brush border (lactase, maltase, sucrase). When any part of this enzyme system is compromised, digestion and nutrient absorption suffer.
Types of Digestive Enzymes
Individual Enzyme Pages
- Diastase (Amylase) — Starch-splitting enzyme
- Bromelain — Pineapple-derived proteolytic enzyme
- Papain — Papaya's proteolytic enzyme
- Lipase — Fat digestion enzyme
- Serrapeptase — Systemic enzyme from silkworms
- Nattokinase — Fibrinolytic enzyme from natto
Digestive enzymes fall into three main categories: proteases (break down proteins), lipases (break down fats), and amylases/carbohydrases (break down carbohydrates and starches). The pancreas produces the largest volume, secreting enzyme-rich juice into the duodenum in response to food entering the small intestine.
When Supplemental Enzymes Help
Enzyme supplementation may benefit people with pancreatic exocrine insufficiency, age-related decline in enzyme production, food intolerances (lactase for lactose intolerance, alpha-galactosidase for bean-related gas), or conditions that impair enzyme production (chronic pancreatitis, cystic fibrosis, post-gallbladder removal for lipase).
The relationship between digestive enzymes and nutrient absorption is covered more broadly in the Bioavailability Guide. Vitamin B12 absorption, in particular, depends heavily on adequate digestive function. For more on the difference between food-derived enzymes and your body's own, see Exogenous vs. Endogenous Enzymes.
External resources: NCBI — Physiology, Pancreatic Secretion