How Much and How Often? 4 Enzyme Tips for Best Results

Clock eating utensils


If you’ve ever wondered how much enzyme supplement to take, as well as how often — you aren’t alone.

We frequently hear questions such as “Can I take my enzymes just once a day in the morning?” “Is one capsule of TriEnza enough?” And, “Do enzymes need to be taken with a meal?”

With 15 to 20% of the population reporting a food intolerance,there is good reason to share the correct information about digestive aids.

Here are our top 4 tips for how much enzyme to take and when to take it: 

  1. When is the best time to take enzymes?
    For digestive purposes, it’s best to take enzymes near the beginning of the meal. The goal is to maximize the amount of time the enzymes have in contact with the food.

  2. Can enzymes be taken with breakfast, and last all day?
    When you take enzymes with any meal, the enzymes churn with that meal in your stomach. When the meal moves out into the small intestine 2 to 5 hours later, the enzymes move out with it. 

    The enzymes you take with breakfast probably won’t still be around for lunch. If you want to support the digestion of a food you eat at lunch, another dose of enzymes will be needed. 

    Your evening dinner is also a new event. If you have an intolerance to a food on your dinner plate, it’s time again for enzymes.

  3. Do I need to take enzymes with every meal?
    If you are only concerned about an intolerance to a food you eat occasionally, you only need to take enzymes with that food. If all meals are a concern, take enzymes with each meal. If you are a “grazer”, that is, you like to eat smaller amounts frequently during the day, you may wish to take the enzymes at fixed dosing intervals every 4 to 5 hours. 

  4. How do I know how much to take with the meal?
    Enzyme products have a suggested use on the label. Most of our product labels recommend 1 capsule per meal. TriEnza is an exception with a suggested dose of 2 capsules per meal. Our TriEnza Chewable has a suggested dose of 4 chewable tablets. 

    With any product, you can start with half the recommended dose to see if that works for your meal, keeping in mind that more may be needed to get complete breakdown before the stomach empties.

    Smaller meals may not require as much enzyme as an average-sized meal, though it’s safe to take a full dose. 

    If you wish, you can start lower than the suggested use and increase gradually. For capsule products, check the label to see if capsules can be opened for taking smaller doses. 

One more tip for taking enzymes

It’s ok to change what you take from day to day as your meals vary. For example, you might only need AFP Peptizyde for support for eating gluten at restaurants. But  you may find you need Lypazyme’s digestive support of fats in all your meals at home as well as away. 

Enzyme success

Enzymes do their job every time you take them — as long as they are in contact with the specific food they are intended to break down. The amount of enzymes you take is important too so there are enough enzyme workers for the size of the meal. 

The goal is to give the appropriate digestive support needed before the stomach empties. This allows you to enjoy the foods you love to eat.

 
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1Aliment Pharmacol Ther. 2015;41(3):262. Epub 2014 Dec 3.


These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

 

 


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