This myth states that taking enzyme supplements is a waste of time and money because the enzymes, being proteins, are denatured (destroyed) by the acid in the stomach.

I actually once believed this statement because it was taught to me in medical school.  Not til I was challenged to verify the statement did I find that what I was taught was not completely true.  The majority of enzymes, including pancreatic enzymes, are not stable under acid conditions and so are not effective taken orally.  There are two exceptions: enzymes that have been enteric-coated (that is, treated with a substance that prevents contact with stomach acid) and PLANT-BASED ENZYMES.  The problem with enteric-coated enzymes is that the coating prevents enzymes from working in the stomach.  Only in the neutral pH of the small intestine will they finally function.  Plant-based enzymes, which comprise the bulk of enzyme supplements, are derived from plant organisms that secrete acid-stable enzymes.  These enzymes have been purified and characterized so their pH optimum (acidity/alkalinity at which they work best) is well known and easily determined.  The majority of these enzymes can work in a pH range of 2 to 9 with no loss of activity.  This is not an opinion.  The enzymes can be assayed under lab conditions at different pH and this is easily verified by enzyme manufacturers.

The ability of enzymes to work in the stomach provides the means by which protease enzymes degrade gluten, casein, soy and other food proteins.  The peptides that many find intolerable are degraded or not produced.  The stomach actually becomes a "safe house" when a child that does not tolerate dairy ingests these foods.  No peptide or protein absorption occurs in the stomach, so one has a couple of hours to use the enzymes to break down the proteins before they move into the small intestine where the bulk of protein/peptide absorption will occur.

I was humbled years ago when I had to come back and admit to my "challenger" that I was mis-informed about plant enzymes and their acid stability.  It taught me not to take a teacher’s word, but to verify the subject matter for myself.  I highly recommend others do the same.

Ah, the magical 118 number! When Edwin Howell wrote his book on enzymes, he concluded that at above 118 degrees Fahrenheit, all enzyme activity would cease. Remember, this was someone who wrote the bulk of his material between 1930 and 1950. Determining enzyme activity and temperature profiles was not a precise science back then.

Actually, most plant-based enzymes are extremely hardy in regards to enduring high temps. Papain is probably the champ, as it is able to withstand temperatures as high as 190 degrees F for several minutes without being denatured. Most of the enzymes used in supplements are assayed for activity at temps ranging from 110 to 140 F. Enzyme assays are usually performed under conditions considered optimal for maximum activity, so obviously these temps are nowhere near the danger zone for these hardy proteins.

The notion that one temperature (118 F in this case) applies to all enzymes as the point of thermal inactivation is also not true. Resistance to heat varies with every protein, some are extremely sensitive, others are not. All plant-derived enzymes should be able to accommodate temps of 125 F with no problem.

Let’s put the above information to practical use. Summer temperatures are often a concern to customers when it comes to shipping enzymes. However, this is not a problem as the packaging and bottle should provide adequate shielding from direct heating. The worse scenario would be a package of enzymes left in a hot metal mailbox, but even this would have little effect on the enzyme activity.

Since we are discussing temperature: The best way to prolong the shelf life of your enzymes is to keep it in the bottle in the freezer. Don’t put it in the refrigerator for prolonged periods. Refrigerators have high humidity levels, freezers do not. Humidity is the worst enemy of enzyme activity, so take care to keep them in a dry place. Enzymes love the cold, so the colder the better. This is especially helpful for the chewable tablets as it keeps the tablets from getting soft (though this has no effect on the activity) which sometimes occur if a bottle is not completely emptied in a month or so.

Another comment bears repeating, though it may seem obvious. Don’t cook the enzymes. Wait until any cooked food has cooled before adding or mixing enzymes. The rule of thumb is if it’s cool enough to put into your mouth, it’s cool enough to add enzymes.

Just remember: Enzymes are cool!

Now that’s interesting. Enzymes are proteins, and any protein, even an enzyme, will eventually be broken down by the body’s own set of protease enzymes. No protein taken orally will survive intact for long (though plant enzymes are more resistant), even those that do get absorbed into the circulation. Our bodies would much rather use ingested proteins as raw materials to build its own proteins, when and where they are needed.

Another question: How would one know that the ingested enzyme is being stored? And why in the liver? And how would the liver know when we "needed" the enzyme? The liver is an organ of detoxification and produces many of its own enzymes to metabolize drugs and remove toxins (which is why I don’t eat livers, yuck!). It does not store anything.

But yet I keep seeing that statement on this company’s website, and it annoys me. They should know better. It could be that they subscribe to the unproven and debunked theory of enzyme conservation and mutation, whereby it is thought that a deficiency of enzymes in one part of the body can result in the recruitment of other enzymes in the body to compensate. But that is another myth to be scorned upon at a later date.

Bottom line: Enzymes taken orally do NOT get stored anywhere in the body. The vast bulk of the enzyme will remain in the gut, loyally accompanying and breaking down the food it was eaten with until it is inactivated or pooped out. And this is a good thing, we would not want the enzymes we eat, which are in active form, to be stored as they are foreign to the cells of our organs . In other words, the organs would not know what to do with the enzymes except tear them up or activate the immune system and remove them which is what eventually happens to any ingested enzyme/protein absorbed into the circulation.

More debunking to come…