DIGESTIVE ENZYMES:
Supplements For Better Health, Not Just Deficiencies
© 1995 by Martin Zucker
You are what you digest. The same is true for your pets.
And that's why
many veterinarians and pet nutrition experts are increasingly recommending
digestive enzyme supplements.The role of enzymes to health
is far greater than has been previously understood, says Mary L. Brennan,
DVM, of Snellville, GA, in her book "The Natural Dog: A Complete Guide
for Caring Owners" (Penguin, New York).
"
In addition to the role that enzymes play in digesting foods," she
points out, "they are involved in every metabolic process, including
the functions of the immune system, blood system, and the organs."
Digestive enzymes are produced in the pancreas and salivary glands and
help to break down the protein, carbohydrate, and fat components of food
for use by the body. As animals age, the production of these enzymes
often slows down. Deficiencies can also be genetically-related and symptoms
will
show up among kittens and puppies.
Research shows a strong connection between deficiencies and diseases
-- both acute and chronic.
Typical signs of deficiencies are voluminous stool, often with undigested
fat clearly visible; animals who eat their own feces; and animals who
are overtly underweight despite big appetites.
Michael Lemmon, DVM, at his Highlands Veterinary Clinic in Renton, Wash,
employs many nutritional approaches in his practice and is a long-time
advocate of digestive enzymes. Lemmon often refers to the pioneering
research of Frances Pottenger, Jr. a California doctor who conducted
a 10-year study
of cats a half-century ago. Pottenger found a strong relationship between
cooked meat and allergic reactions. Compared to cats fed raw meat, the
animals on cooked diets developed skin problems and allergies that became
progressively worse from one generation to the next.
Dogs and cats, of course, evolved on raw food, including raw meat, and
not on the highly-processed, highly-cooked commercial food that is doled
out to the domesticated pets of today. Raw foods contain their own built-in
supply of enzymes, which facilitates the process of digestion. When food
is cooked, the naturally-occurring enzymes are destroyed, causing the
body to activate its own enzyme production to break down the food.
According to Dr. Edward Howell, a pioneering biochemist and researcher
in enzyme nutrition, this situation robs enzymes for use in other important
metabolic functions, such as helping the healing and immune systems of
the body.
Many years ago, Howell talked in terms of an enzyme bank account, a reserve
that we are born with but that becomes depleted by use over time. He
believed that we (pets and people alike) should eat more raw food. If
we didn't,
than, in the interest of a longer and healthier life, enzyme supplements
should be used to "spare" the reserves, he said. Otherwise, the
resulting metabolic dislocations could contribute to serious disease.
"
My first recommendation is to raise the level of the quality of a pet's
food," says Lemmon. "That means taking the time, if possible,
to provide your pet with range-fed, organically-grown raw meat."
Lemmon's recipe calls for one-third each of uncooked meat, raw vegetables
(grated or chopped into smaller pieces with a food processor) and either
soaked or cooked whole grains such as rolled oats.
If you do introduce raw food into your pet's diet, do it slowly, advises
veterinarian Brennan. Too much, too quickly can create diarrhea.
Since most pet owners, for convenience sake, will opt for commercial
food, veterinarians like Lemmon and Brennan recommend a high-quality
supplement
of digestive enzyme added to the food.
"
Enzymes are a primary tool in dealing with many different problems," says
Lemmon. "In some cases I will recommend enzymes alone, while in many
others it is one part of a multiple remedy approach."
Improved hair coat and skin, and maintenance of good body weight are
some of the typical benefits of supplementation. "If is an underweight
problem, the added enzymes -- often by themselves -- will help the situation," he
says.
In Lemmon's experience, the enzymes may also aid older animals suffering
from joint ailments. By enhancing digestion and absorption of nutrients,
including anti-oxidants and the mineral magnesium, the body is better
able to counteract harmful degenerative processes.
Supplements are particularly beneficial to aging animals with slumping
pancreatic enzyme production, a common condition. In his two landmark
books on pet supplementation ("How to Have a Healthier Dog" and "The
Very Healthy Cat Book," Orthomolecular Specialties, San Jose), Wendell
Belfield, DVM, reports that added enzymes can often restore normal appearance
and vigor in a few weeks.
The added enzymes enable animals to extract more nutrition from their
food and thus better nourish bodily systems. With supplementation, many
become
more resistant to disease and infections.
In "Pet Allergies: Remedies For An Epidemic" (Very Healthy
Enterprises, Inglewood, CA), Alfred Plechner, DVM, recommends routine
testing of patients
for enzyme deficiencies. In his practice, he finds moderate deficiencies
in about a quarter of all cases, even in young animals. Because many
deficiencies are not severe, the resulting problems are often attributed
to other causes.
Even a small deficiency, he says, can create allergic problems.
Anitra Frazier, the author of "The New Natural Cat Book" (Plume,
New York), recommends digestive enzymes, among other supplements, as an
aid in dealing with stress, allergies, arthritis, feline infectious peritonitis,
liver, kidney and other common problems.
Supplements contain fractions or component enzymes that break down different
kinds of food. Protease is the enzyme that breaks down protein. Amylase
works on carbohydrate and lipase is the fat-breaking enzyme. Veterinarians
advise that it is important to use supplements with a balanced formula
of enzymes.
Howell, the enzyme pioneer, developed supplements derived from aspergillis
oryzae (a fungus) after finding them to be more effective than animal-based
pancreatic supplements. Subsequent research has confirmed his original
conclusions.
A comprehensive article on digestive enzymes in the August 1993 issue
of The Townsend Letter For Doctors, cited the following scientific findings:
Aspergillis enzymes possess unusually high stability and activity under
a wide range of pH conditions, distinguishing them from animal enzymes
(i.e., pepsin, pancreatin, trypsin, chymotrypsin, pancrelipase, and pancreatic
amylase), which require pH conditions often lacking when impaired health
is involved.
Protease from aspergillis, absorbed into the bloodstream, may be able
to hydrolyze (break down) dietary proteins and polypeptides which have
leaked
into the bloodstream as food antigens. Such substances absorbed intact
from the gut can cause disturbances in the body.
Human and animal studies find lipase from aspergillis effective in the
treatment of malabsorption and steatorrhea (excess amounts of fat in
the feces, as a result of malabsorption) due to pancreatic enzyme insufficiency.
Studies show that gastric acidity destroys up to 90% of the lipase content
of exposed pancreatin given in powder, capsule or tablet form. This necessitates
large dosages and greater expense for efficacy. Aspergillis lipase, by
comparison, is resistant to inactivation by gastric acidity.
A 1988 study in England with dogs found that a small dose (400 mg) of
aspergillis lipase was as effective as conventional pancreatin 25 times
larger (10,000
mg) in the treatment of malabsorption, malnutrition and steatorrhea due
to pancreatic insufficiency.
Aspergillis enzymes are used worldwide. In the United States, they are
available in either canine or feline formulas from Dr. Goodpet Laboratories
(1-800-222-9932) of Inglewood, CA.The Goodpet products also contain cellulase,
an enzyme that helps breaks down dietary fiber. Unlike some other supplements
on the market, they have no brewer's yeast, which may cause allergic
reactions in sensitive animals.
