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Best Digestive Enzymes?

CGally81

By CGally81
in Coping with Celiac Disease

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CGally81 Enthusiast
CGally81
Posted

Okay, I take digestive enzymes before breakfast and dinner now, to deal with possible cross contamination.

Well, dinner was flounder, brown rice, carrots (in butter), and apple sauce. I took 2 enzymes before dinner, but after dinner, felt a slight blood sugar drop (I think) and a little strange in the forehead. But I didn't have any gastro symptoms, D, or other stuff I had with being glutened in the past (like the time after discovering I had celiac/NCGS that I ate breaded fish and got glutened by the bread, and had D several times in an hour). I rushed to take a bunch of L-glutamine. The symptoms began to disappear very quickly after that, though it's possible they were going to anyway, if this was caused by something else.

Do you think I was glutened somehow from CC? I'm still in the "hungry a heck of a lot" phase, so it could have been just a random sudden hunger onset (I've gotten that before without eating anything that should be glutening, like for instance, 2 hours after a normal dinner a few weeks ago. A sudden blood sugar drop and feeling strange in the forehead. It's rare).

Anyway, my digestive enzyme is AFP Peptizide. Manufacturer claims it can be used as a companion to or alternative to the Gluten-free Casein-free diet. Well, I use it to deal with CC issues. Does it help? Are there better (chewable!) enzymes I can take? I've heard GlutenEase is really good, but it's not chewable, nor in powder form.

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ciavyn Contributor
ciavyn
Posted

I can't promise you that they work just yet, but I just bought the chewable Super Papaya Enzyme Plus, and they taste good and so far (two days) I feel awesome on them. Worth checking out?

CGally81 Enthusiast
CGally81
Posted
  • Author
I can't promise you that they work just yet, but I just bought the chewable Super Papaya Enzyme Plus, and they taste good and so far (two days) I feel awesome on them. Worth checking out?

I can't find info claiming that this particular product is designed to help with celiac disease. I'd try it if other people could vouch for it, or if you noticed it helped with glutenings (i.e. you knew for a fact that you accidentally ate gluten, but you took this and felt no symptoms).

GFinDC Veteran
GFinDC
Posted

Hi Cgalley,

I don't know of an enzyme that you can take and have zero symptoms after CC. I don't think one exists currently.

ciavyn Contributor
ciavyn
Posted

CGally - I got the papaya mixture because it has the enzymes in it that many told me help with digestion. I don't know if there is something out there to avoid all symptoms...otherwise, could we just eat wheat them? ;) But I didn't feel bad on the pill, and it's very chewable and tastes decent...I'll let you know after I've used it for a week.

ravenwoodglass Mentor
ravenwoodglass
Posted
Anyway, my digestive enzyme is AFP Peptizide. Manufacturer claims it can be used as a companion to or alternative to the Gluten-free Casein-free diet. Well, I use it to deal with CC issues. Does it help? Are there better (chewable!) enzymes I can take? I've heard GlutenEase is really good, but it's not chewable, nor in powder form.

If this is being advertised as an alternative to the gluten-free CF diet I would return it and get your money back. I would not trust this drug. Your dinner sounds safe, why are you concerned with CC issues for this meal? Was it in a restaurant? If it was a homecooked meal you shouldn't need to worry about CC issues. I wonder if the daily use of enzymes before every meal isn't doing you more harm than good. There is nothing but time that is going to do away with a glutening, there are no pills that will magically remove gluten once it gets into your system.

The Papaya enzyme mentioned likely also contains papain if it is the same one I used. I took it for a while after an attack of pancreatitis when I was seeing undigested food in my stool. If you don't like to swallow pills then you can add pineapple to your meals as that will do the same thing.

CGally81 Enthusiast
CGally81
Posted
  • Author
If this is being advertised as an alternative to the gluten-free CF diet I would return it and get your money back. I would not trust this drug. Your dinner sounds safe, why are you concerned with CC issues for this meal? Was it in a restaurant? If it was a homecooked meal you shouldn't need to worry about CC issues. I wonder if the daily use of enzymes before every meal isn't doing you more harm than good. There is nothing but time that is going to do away with a glutening, there are no pills that will magically remove gluten once it gets into your system.

The Papaya enzyme mentioned likely also contains papain if it is the same one I used. I took it for a while after an attack of pancreatitis when I was seeing undigested food in my stool. If you don't like to swallow pills then you can add pineapple to your meals as that will do the same thing.

Yeah, I think it's meant to be such an alternative only to those on the autism spectrum, who have a problem with gluten for different reasons. I'm on the autism spectrum myself, but just my luck that I randomly got NCGS or Celiac (without the 2 genes it's known for). I've heard Peptizyde makes things worse by breaking gluten down into smaller chunks that the immune system attacks anyway, but I assumed AFP Peptizyde was somehow different? I guess not.

I can't tell you how much I hate having no guard whatsoever against accidental glutenings. I can't take GlutenEase because it's not chewable. There's no known drug or anything you can take every day to guard against CC.

I very likely got sick from CC involving a bread crumb or something in the butter the carrots were dipped in. I can't imagine what else would gluten me, if indeed my blood sugar drop only a half hour after dinner was caused by gluten. And I did take my enzymes (2 of them, not 3 or 4) before dinner.

Is GlutenEase any good? I can't swallow pills; could it be taken in powder form? The company claims it's not "formulated to prevent celiac symptoms." But "proactively supports the gut, allowing proteins to be properly broken down and absorbed in their digested state; broadening the potential food groups a person may eat. GlutenEase may also be used by those who wish to remain on the Gluten-free Casein-free diet to ensure complete breakdown of proteins safe and effectively." Whatever that means. A small handful of testimonials say that they were able to eat gluten without symptoms.

Is anyone famliar with GlutenEase? There a similar product? Anyone here know of a digestive enzyme that has worked for you, after you accidentally consumed gluten?

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txplowgirl Enthusiast
txplowgirl
Posted

Hi again CGally,

Sorry to say it, but I think GlutenEase is just taking your money. It has not worked for me at all.

CGally81 Enthusiast
CGally81
Posted
  • Author
Hi again CGally,

Sorry to say it, but I think GlutenEase is just taking your money. It has not worked for me at all.

So there really is, as yet, no known way to deal with possible cross contamination? That really sucks. I hold out hope that cures or treatments will be developed some day, but still...

Has anyone else tried any enzymes and knowingly had gluten (even a tiny amount), and vouch for if any brand works or not?

CGally81 Enthusiast
CGally81
Posted
  • Author
Hi again CGally,

Sorry to say it, but I think GlutenEase is just taking your money. It has not worked for me at all.

A question: did you eat a trace amount of gluten and still get glutened, or did you try it for a normal-sized gluten food?

Supposedly DPP IV and Glucoamylase are the big things in enzymes now. Or do they only help people on the autism spectrum, and not celiacs?

Our silver bullet would probably be something that kills the gliadin.

There are people who say that enzymes do help repair damage done in the body and reduce symptoms, though. I'd love to find those types of enzymes in CHEWABLE form. It would be nice if they could help a bit. (Would I be able to break open the Glutenease capsule and just eat the powder?)

Also, if it means anything (because some say it might), I am not confirmed Celiac. I don't have the 2 genes associated with it. I may be non-Celiac Gluten intolerant. Same symptoms, of course... but apparently a different reaction. People were saying that enzymes might work for non-Celiacs. I don't know, but I hope something does.

ravenwoodglass Mentor
ravenwoodglass
Posted
Also, if it means anything (because some say it might), I am not confirmed Celiac. I don't have the 2 genes associated with it. I may be non-Celiac Gluten intolerant. Same symptoms, of course... but apparently a different reaction. People were saying that enzymes might work for non-Celiacs. I don't know, but I hope something does.

Do you know what genes you do have? I would have been told I don't have celiac either if I had been gene tested before I was firmly diagnosed. There have recently been 7 other celiac related genes (most recognized as such in countries other than the US) that are now being acknowledged as celiac related here in the US. We can not go off gene testing for diagnosis.

CGally81 Enthusiast
CGally81
Posted
  • Author
Do you know what genes you do have? I would have been told I don't have celiac either if I had been gene tested before I was firmly diagnosed. There have recently been 7 other celiac related genes (most recognized as such in countries other than the US) that are now being acknowledged as celiac related here in the US. We can not go off gene testing for diagnosis.

Allegedly, 95% of Celiacs have either HLA DQ2 or HLA DQ8, which I was tested for and do not have. Is the number lower than that? What are the other genes?

I do feel like while knowledge of Celiac/gluten intolerance is increasing, doctors are still not quite caught up to the newest knowledge. At my gastroentrologist's office, I was given a pamphlet on celiac disease with somewhat outdated information (i.e. that the immune system "is involved in some yet unknown way", and that "oats might or might not be acceptable"). I get the impression that even if I asked to be tested for certain genes, they wouldn't be able to test me unless they themselves knew what those genes were.

I'm going to an endocronologist later in the search for answers to both this and my constant hunger problem. I hope I get some. I don't know what kinds of answers I'd get, since I'm not sure what endocronologists do or what they might find.

  • 7 years later...
glutenfreecharlotte Newbie
glutenfreecharlotte
Posted

I've been gluten-free for 6 years now after getting really bad acid reflux. I've started getting interesting in enzymes and VeganZyme is a vegan, gluten-free option that the staff at a holistic wellness center recommended to me. If you'd like to learn more about the product, this page has some good FAQs in the description section. Open Original Shared Link

Scott Adams Grand Master
Scott Adams
Posted

If your goal is to deal with trace amounts of gluten that you may encounter, I'd have to go with GliadinX, as it has some real science behind it, and has been shown to break down gliadin in the gut...more at:

 

Ennis-TX Grand Master
Ennis-TX
Posted

If your goal is gluten enzymes then know NOO amount of enzymes will help with gluten exposure completely. They might lessen symptoms but your antibodies will spike and your body will do damage to itself.. Admin gets commission for selling this stuff I swear.

As for digestive enzymes I use a super papaya blend and also take extra bromelain but that is due to my extreme protein intake. Everyone is a bit different in what kind they will need and how much based on ones diet and how their digestive system works. Mine I have to up my dose quite a bit but find it helps with my digestion taking 5-7 papaya ones. 1 bromelain, and my normal jarrow ones. Been buying mine on luckyvitamin and have a monthly sub to them.

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