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July 21, 2022

Deep Dive Into Systemic Enzymes | Catalysts of Health & Vitality

Did you know that enzymes are the catalysts for thousands of reactions, processes, and functions in the human body, down to the cellular level? 

From digestion to detoxification, and everything in between… enzymes are involved. They reduce inflammation, help fight infections, clean the blood of unwanted proteins (garbage), and much more!

And when we’re young, our bodies produce more than enough enzymes for our needs. Unfortunately, as we age, starting around 25 or 30, our enzyme levels begin to drop. 

Systemic Enzymes

That’s why systemic (also called “proteolytic enzymes”) enzymes have been in my cabinet for the last 10+ years. (I just turned 40) Generally, I take a very low maintenance dose. If I’ve been training hard, combatting an illness, or have some other acute need, I’ll increase the amount I’m taking to give my body the help it needs. 

There are well-documented potential benefits of taking supplemental systemic enzymes in regards to joint health, pain reduction, as well as improved cardiovascular health. 

There are products on the market consisting of individual systemic enzymes, such as nattokinase (shown to have benefits in regards to blood pressure & cardiovascular health), serrapeptase (congestion, mucous membranes, inflammation), and bromelain (comes from pineapple cores, and breaks down excess fibrin in the blood among other functions). 

At one point, I was personally taking 4 different enzyme products because I wanted the benefits of all of them together. While this can be effective, it also gets quite expensive.

Enzymes Formulas

Then I found combination formulas, Vitalzym and Wobenzym – both of which are well-known in the natural health/functional medicine world, with solid research behind them. Both seemed to achieve the desired effects, so I’d rotate between the two.

Even with these formulas, however, I was taking 6-12 capsules/day, and given the cost of the products, expense was still more than I’d have liked.

That’s when my friend & Microbiologist, Kiran Krishnan (Chief Science Officer at Microbiome Labs) told me about a product he’d found recently at a trade show called Fibrenza

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