Enzyme Functions

Enzymes serve several different functions depending on what enzyme supplement a person takes and for what purpose someone is taking an enzyme regimen. Also, it is important to consider the type of enzyme meaning digestive or systemic. Innerzyme’s Digestive Enzyme Complex and Papaya Enzyme Chewable are digestive enzyme formulas, both which contain proteolytic and digestive enzymes. Digestive enzymes are taken with a meal and begin to break down food in the digestive tract supporting better absorption of nutrients and proper digestion.

Much different than a digestive enzyme, a systemic enzyme like Innerzyme’s Pain & Inflammation Blend serves the following main functions: Natural anti-inflammatory, anti-fibrin, blood cleansing and healthy immune system functioning.

Innerzyme’s Pain & Inflammation Blend is a systemic enzyme formula of proteolytic enzymes, herbs and bioflavonoids specially formulated to support the body’s naturally inflammatory response. Much different than the role of a digestive enzyme, a systemic enzyme begins to break down in the small intestine and focuses on the reduction of pain and inflammation throughout the entire body. Inflammation is a reaction by the immune system to an irritation which often results in pain, swelling and tenderness.*

Proteolytic enzymes or “protein eating enzymes” are the first line of defense against body-wide inflammation which may begin in the stomach and expand throughout the body to all the major organs.

Proteolytic enzymes eat away scar tissue and reduce the development of excess fibrin throughout the body. Fibrin is just another name for scar tissue which is also referred to as fibrosis. When the body is healthy and producing an efficient amount of enzymes, most cuts, scraps and woulds leave small, nearly invisible scars.*

How come our cuts, scraps and wounds do not heal so well the older we get and they often leave a thick and very visible scar? The answer is enzymes! Before a person reaches their late twenties, the body can afford to disperse out an ample amount of enzymes to travel to the site where excess scar tissue is present. Those enzymes which are naturally produced by the body when a person is younger will eat away the excess scar tissue leaving a small trace of a scar. However, as we age, our enzyme pool starts to decrease and we naturally have less and less enzymes present to help rid the body of excess scar tissue.

The good news is…if we replenish our lost enzymes through supplementation, we can fill our enzyme pool back up so the body can regulate like it used to years ago and in turn reduce the amount of excess fibrin throughout the body.*

Systemic enzymes may help clean excess fibrin and exogenous material from the blood. Cleaner blood means better nutrient absorption and improved circulation. So how do these toxins and fibrin get into the blood in the first place? The organs and cells in our bodies dispose of these materials in our blood which can cause clots, poor circulation, blood thickening and other health issues.*

When implementing an enzyme regimen, large exogenous materials and fibrin in the blood can be broken down dramatically allowing the material to flow through the body and pass into the bowel faster.

So systemic enzymes have blood cleansing properties but does that mean they are blood thinners?

The answer is no. Since a systemic enzyme will rid the body of toxins and fibrin in the blood making it cleaner, they body is able to absorb more nutrients. So you may have read some warnings about not taking a systemic enzyme if you are on blood thinners and the reason boils down to cleaner blood and better absorption. Since the blood is cleaner, some people have reported an increase in the effectiveness of prescription drugs so there may be a chance of thinning the blood too much by pairing an enzyme supplement with a prescription blood thinner. Either way, it is best to take precaution and talk to your doctor if you are beginning the Innerzyme Pain & Inflammation Blend and you are currently taking a blood thinner.

Systemic enzymes assist the body to balance the immune system and restore a steady state to the body. A low functioning immune system means the body is more susceptible to disease. However, an extremely high functioning immune system will often create antibodies that attach the tissues within the body such as with autoimmune diseases or arthritis. Supplementation of a well balanced systemic enzyme formula like Innerzyme’s Pain & Inflammation Blend may help regulate the immune system and eat away at those antibodies that are attacking the body’s tissue creating a disease state within the body.*

When it comes to viruses, protein cell walls build up around a virus and then bond together and replicate to cause harm throughout the body. The body knows what the body needs and these harmful protein walls are definitely not needed. The good thing about enzymes is they already know what protein to leave alone and what “foreign” protein to attack and eat away in order to inhibit the replication of the virus.*