Chew-Zyme contains 3 key enzymes to improve the digestion and absorption of nutrients:

• protease for protein digestion
  
• carbohydrates for carbohydrate digestion
  
• lipase for digestion of fats

Don't let bad digestion upset your life. The Institute for Vibrant Living has discovered a vegetable-based enzyme tablet that can help break down even the most hard-to-digest proteins and carbohydrates.

This great-tasting, chewable tablet is composed of protease enzymes that aid in the digestion of proteins, carbohydrases that work on carbohydrates, and lipases for fats. According to studies conducted by the TNO research organization of the Netherlands, these highly specialized enzymes successfully assist the digestive process in both the acid environment of the stomach and the alkaline environment of the small intestines. The result? Chew-Zyme may substantially improve your absorption of nutrients and the elimination of waste for optimum health.

Chew-Zyme was developed based on the results of a study conducted by the National Enzyme Company (NEC) in Forsyth, Missouri and TNO Nutrition and Food Research in Zeist, Netherlands. For more than 70 years, NEC has been advocating the use of digestive enzyme supplements to help people better absorb the nutrients they consume.

Throughout these years, they have collected an abundance of anecdotal and qualitative information supporting the use of digestive enzymes. While NEC was completely convinced of the efficacy of fungal digestive enzymes, there was a distinct lack of data to support their claims, data that could stand up to scientific scrutiny.

So, NEC partnered with TNO of the Netherlands to prove the efficacy of supplemental, fungal digestive enzymes for the digestion of food and absorption of nutrients. NEC and TNO used an application called TIM, a patented, computer-controlled dynamic gastrointestinal model to simulate the conditions of the human stomach and small intestine. Using this unique technology, they accurately replicated the dynamic environment of the human stomach and small intestine when food is being digested and absorbed.

The protocols for TIM have been validated by several studies and are well documented. For the study, the researchers tested the enzymes in two different environments: an extremely healthy intestinal environment (with sufficient gastric and intestinal secretions) and an extremely deficient intestinal environment (with insufficient gastric and intestinal secretions).

According to NEC, the two extremes were tested because the digestive capabilities of most humans fall somewhere in between. Analyzing digestion of the same meal, the researchers carried out four different tests: the meal without the digestive blend under perfect digestive conditions, the meal with addition of digestive enzyme blend under perfect digestive conditions, the meal without the digestive blend under 70 per cent reduced gastric and intestinal secretion (impaired digestion model) and the meal with added enzymes under the impaired digestion model. Samples collected at various times during the digestion process were analyzed for glucose and nitrogen content, demonstrating carbohydrate and protein digestion, respectively.

These were the results: The enzymes improved the bioavailability of both proteins and carbohydrates in the lumen of the small intestine, not only under impaired digestive conditions, but also in healthy human digestion. Glucose availability was increased 4-fold in the healthy digestive system and by 7 times in the impaired digestion model. Proteins were twice as bioavailable in the impaired digestive process. Furthermore, the researchers found that the NEC fungal enzymes not only survive the stomach acidity but are also active in that harsh environment where most other types of enzymes are inactivated. This means that the enzymes work perfectly well in chewable tablet form.