Proteolytic Enzyme Complex

What Is Proteolytic Enzyme Complex?

A protease is an enzyme that cuts protein apart; your own gut makes several. Two blends of them are here, both made by fungal cultures rather than taken from an animal. Nattozimes comes from Aspergillus oryzae, the mold behind miso and soy sauce, and Serrazimes from Aspergillus melleus, a related species.

How It Works in the Body

Proteins are amino acids strung together by peptide bonds. Proteases break those bonds, and they come in two working styles. Endopeptidases cut in the middle of a chain and leave shorter pieces behind; exopeptidases trim single amino acids off an end.

Both blends carry both styles, which is what the exo and endo prefixes mean. Fungal proteases of this kind stay active across a wide span of acidity, so they keep working as material moves along the gut.

What It Supports

• Protein digestion: Proteases cut dietary protein into peptides and amino acids, the forms the gut can absorb, so they support normal protein digestion.
• Two kinds of cut: Endopeptidases work in the middle of a protein chain and exopeptidases trim the ends, so together they take a chain further apart.
• Measured by activity: Enzyme strength is a rate rather than a weight, so these blends are measured in activity units as well as milligrams.
• Grown, not extracted: Both blends come from fed fungal cultures, so nothing here is animal-derived.

Who It May Suit

People who want protease enzymes without pancreatin, which is drawn from pigs, and anyone who prefers a short ingredient list to a broad digestive blend. The capsule is hypromellose and the filler is beet root fiber, so vegan eating is covered.

Good To Know

Enzymes are proteins themselves, which is why their strength is stated in activity units. Talk with your provider before use if you take a blood thinner or an antiplatelet medicine, since proteases can act on the proteins that make blood clot, or if you have surgery coming. Mention any mold allergy.