Welcome to Dishing Up Nutrition's Ask a Nutritionist podcast brought to you by Nutritional

Weight and Wellness. My name is Brittany Vincent and I am a registered and licensed

dietitian. We at Nutritional Weight and Wellness are thrilled

to be celebrating 20 years on air discussing the connection between what you eat, how you feel,

while sharing practical real-life solutions for healthier living. And we want to thank you so much for your support

and your listenership over the years. It is greatly appreciated. Now let's get into today's topic.

On today's show, I will be answering a nutrition question we've received from one of our

Dishing Up Nutrition listeners. The question is,

what are signs you need a digestive enzyme supplement? Before I get into answering the question

and providing you some signs and symptoms, I first just want to talk about digestive enzymes and

what they are so you have a better understanding.

And digestive enzymes play a really critical role in overall digestion.

And specifically what they do is break down food into smaller pieces, making it easier for your body to absorb and digest.

And your body does naturally make digestive enzymes, but there are some factors that impact how well your body is actually making

them, like age and just overall health of your gut. And the process of breaking down and digesting your food actually starts in your

mouth because your saliva contains enzymes that begin to break down your food. Your stomach,

pancreas, and small intestine also produce some digestive enzymes. When you don't have enough digestive enzymes on board,

you can't properly convert the foods you eat into the raw materials necessary for your brain

and your body to function efficiently. And not only that, but lack of digestive enzymes can

lean to a lot of uncomfortable digestive symptoms as well as a lower immune response, too.

Let's talk a little bit about types of enzymes.

Each enzyme targets a different nutrient.

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