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What are digestive enzymes, and how do they work?
Learn how digestive enzymes work, how your body breaks down food, and whether you should think about adding digestive enzyme supplements to your wellness routine.
Every time we sit down to eat, our bodies begin the process of changing food into nutrients we can use for energy, repair, and growth. Digestive enzymes are at the center of this process. Residing in the gut, digestive enzymes are vital proteins that work to support digestive health, provide your body with nutrients, and even support a healthy immune system. Here, we'll explore more about digestive enzymes, including how they function, why they're so important for your overall health, and whether it makes more sense to get your digestive enzymes from food or from supplements.
What are digestive enzymes?
Simply put, enzymes are proteins that facilitate chemical reactions. Digestive enzymes are proteins that help the digestive system break down food to give the body energy. These proteins are released at multiple places as food travels through the body. Made by the mouth, stomach, small intestine, and pancreas, digestive enzymes work to break down fats, carbohydrates, and proteins. While the body primarily makes its own digestive enzymes, some can be found in foods, like pineapple, papaya, and fermented foods (like kimchi and sauerkraut).
Most people's bodies make plenty of enzymes for healthy digestion. Certain conditions like cystic fibrosis, pancreatic cancer, gastrointestinal issues, and chronic pancreatitis can inhibit the body's ability to create digestive enzymes. People who have these health conditions may need to take digestive enzyme supplements to support healthy digestion. Many people find they respond well to over-the-counter digestive enzymes, while others require prescription digestive enzyme replacement therapy known as pancreatic enzyme replacement therapy, or PERT.
The body releases a number of digestive enzymes throughout the digestive process, including:
- Amylase: This enzyme is vital for digesting carbohydrates, as it breaks starches down to sugars.
- Maltase: This enzyme converts malt sugar into glucose, which can be used immediately or stored in the liver for use at another time.
- Lactase: If you're lactose intolerant, your body likely does not produce enough lactase. This enzyme breaks down lactose, a simple sugar found in milk.
- Lipase: This enzyme helps to break down fatty acids (like those found in fish).
- Proteases: This group of digestive enzymes works to break protein down into amino acids, and supports immune function, blood clotting, cell division, and more.
- Sucrase: This enzyme converts sucrose into fructose and glucose, which are easier for the body to absorb and use for quick energy.
How do digestive enzymes function?
When you eat, digestion begins immediately. As you chew, a digestive enzyme in saliva—amylase—begins to break starches in your food down into simple sugars, providing the body with a quick source of energy as your food continues to move through your digestive system.
After you swallow your food, protease enzymes in the stomach begin to break down protein. Food then moves into the small intestine, where it encounters digestive enzymes released by the pancreas, including lipase, amylase, and more protease. These enzymes work together to further break down carbohydrates, proteins, and fats. Lactase is also released in the small intestine. These nutrients are then absorbed into the bloodstream through the lining of the small intestine, where they're used as energy throughout the body.
Signs that you may have a digestive enzyme insufficiency
As we mentioned, certain health issues—especially issues that affect the pancreas—can make it harder for your body to make enough digestive enzymes to properly support the digestive process.
Signs of digestive enzyme insufficiency can include:
- Unexplained weight loss
- Oily bowel movements
- Constipation
- Unexplained, ongoing abdominal pain or cramping
- Bloating
- Diarrhea
- Persistent gas
If you notice that you have these symptoms continually, it's a good idea to talk with your doctor. While some of these symptoms could simply be signs you need to make some dietary changes, they could also be indicative of a serious health condition, like diverticulitis or pancreatic problems. Left untreated, digestive enzyme insufficiency can result in serious health problems, including malnutrition.
Supplements vs. food: what's the best choice?
There's little research to suggest the digestive enzymes contained in certain foods (like pineapples and avocados) do much to aid digestion. Instead of trying to load up on enzyme-rich foods, it's a better idea to cut processed foods from your diet and add in fiber-rich fruits and vegetables to support healthy digestion.
If you're experiencing symptoms of a digestive enzyme deficiency and believe you may need digestive enzyme supplementation, talk with your doctor. Some simple digestive enzyme issues (like lactose intolerance) are easily treated with over-the-counter digestive enzymes. Your doctor can help to guide you in the right direction if you need additional enzymes, or can recommend further testing to rule out serious digestive issues.
Are digestive enzymes and probiotics the same thing?
While both are important for digestion, digestive enzymes and probiotics are not the same thing. Digestive enzymes are proteins that facilitate chemical reactions that allow the body to get energy, while probiotics are live microorganisms that live in the gut and help to maintain a healthy balance of bacteria throughout the digestive system. You can (and should!) eat foods rich in probiotics (like yogurt and kefir) to support a healthy digestive system.
If you're ready to improve your health, we're here to help
Whether you're working to improve your digestive health, are trying to become more active, or simply want to enhance your overall wellness, Evidation is here to support you as you work toward your health goals. When you download our free app, you'll be asked if you'd like to share any of the health data you're already tracking with us (for example, data from your wearable fitness tracker, or from your nutrition tracking app). We'll use the data you choose to share to find patterns and trends, then share actionable, personalized, content-based insights to help you make the decisions that keep your health moving forward. We'd love to start supporting you today. Click here to download the Evidation app and get started.
Why Evidation Believes Everyone Can Participate in Better Health Outcomes
Evidation Members share their experiences and how they use Evidation to improve health outcomes
At Evidation, we’re passionate about helping everyone reach their individual health goals. That could be in the form of getting paid for doing health-related activities as a little extra motivation, or by providing you with easy ways to understand your personal health. We also help to connect you with ways to contribute to cutting-edge research, where you can help to improve health for everyone. We wanted to share 5 of Achievement’s values that are important in our mission of helping everyone to participate in better health outcomes.
We meet you where you’re at
We understand that everyone’s health goals and needs are not the same; that’s why we individualize your experience based on what you tell us is relevant to you. You can also choose to earn points for everything from step tracking, sleep tracking, continuous glucose monitoring, meditation and more. We are here to support your health goals, regardless of where you’re at in your personal health journey, like Sarai (a long time Achiever) explains:
“I have Fibromyalgia and chronic Myositis …. Life can become difficult and overbearing … Many, like me, are bound to a wheelchair 50% or more of the time. Can you imagine how unmotivated you can feel to get out of bed, let alone workout!? But as it stands, the best treatment for this condition, is to KEEP MOVING. Achievement provides that imaginary friend. One who will not give you unwanted advice, or invite you to things you cannot go to. It provides that gentle motivation, for you to set your own goals. Not that of your doctor, friend, or family member. But YOURS. You know your body best …. With Achievement I can keep track of my progress…” -Sarai H.
When you get started with Evidation, we encourage you to take the time to fill out your Health Survey so that we can provide you with study invitations, and other opportunities that are relevant to you.
You are in full control of your data
Evidation provides a place for you to view your data from your connected apps in one place. By centralizing this information, we can help you to better understand your health and ultimately achieve your health goals.
It’s entirely up to you to choose what you want to share and earn points for on Evidation. Whether you’re interested in steps, exercise, sleep, nutrition, meditation or something else, you can choose what activities will be shared.
This member shares how they’ve used multiple apps on Evidation to track their health:
“I’ve been a member of Evidation for a while and it has motivated me to take control of my health by syncing all of my apps into one place and then rewarding me for it. This has been vital for me recently because my health has taken a toll lately and I’ve needed to really step up my game and take control of what I can in my personal health, Evidation has made that simple.” — Isis F.
You can access and download all of your Evidation data in one place at any time, giving you more insight into your health. You can change your mind about what activities you want to track at any time. We provide you with control over what data you share with us and we do not sell your data to third parties without your clear consent. Your health data is yours.
We are transparent
We believe that it is important to always be clear and transparent with our members about how their data is used. We may use your anonymized data for our own internal research to advance the forefront of healthcare and share back insightful health trends and tips, such as whether or not air quality can affect activity patterns or how the World Series affected sleep patterns. Tristan shares why he chooses to share his data with Evidation:
“…Evidation is exciting for me as I get to send data to [them] every single day. Data gathering is fulfilling for me, especially knowing it’ll be put to good use, so that inspires me to log my activities all the time” — Tristan R.
We also give you the choice to participate in research projects related to your health interests, goals or conditions. The specific information you will be asked to share will be disclosed in the consent and/or disclosures for that particular project (each project may be different). Evidation Members have had the opportunity to participate in groundbreaking research around diabetes, mental health, and more.
We provide you the opportunity to give back to the causes you care about
It’s great to earn personal rewards for all of your health actions; however, many members also choose to use their rewards for a good cause. That’s why Evidation also provides the opportunity to donate your points to a health charity of your choice through Benevity when you reach 10,000 points. The points you earn for taking healthy actions can also go back to organizations that are working towards creating a healthier world. Elizabeth shares why she decided to donate her points:
“Evidation motivates me to exercise more since it adds points each time. It also motivates me to join support apps for my type 1 diabetes and read more research articles. When I hit 10,000 points I donated the $10 to JDRF International [Type 1 diabetes researching funding and advocacy] to help support the continuation of research to find a cure.” — Elizabeth P.
Your actions can impact many
At the individual level, we can take actions to control our health, but we believe that we can achieve and learn even more as a community. We’ve sent out offers to members with similar health conditions, allowing them to ask relevant questions they would like answered about health topics that matter to them, such as anxiety or diabetes.
You’ll also have the opportunity to qualify for and participate in cutting-edge research studies related to various conditions, for which you can earn additional points or money, and together we can contribute to and advance research that can help improve health for everyone. This Evidation Member shares how her participation in a study has helped in improving her health outcomes:
“I have been using Evidation for a few years now. I participated in the 1yr Cognitive Health Study that really helped me to know how to improve my cognitive health and protect my brain from damage due to diet and environment. It motivated me to start an exercise class for seniors … As of today we have 11 in the class…” — Janet A.
We’ve worked with a variety of research partners to conduct groundbreaking research and studies where members could participate and earn. Evidation members who participated in studies and research helped to advance research in conditions ranging from like asthma, cystic fibrosis, diabetes, mental health, migraines, rheumatoid arthritis and more. The contributions made to these studies could impact millions in the future, and help to bring new understanding about these conditions. We think Jenny, a long time Evidation Member, sums it up best:
“…[Evidation] makes me feel good knowing that maybe one day my tracking could maybe help someone. I have depression and anxiety. If that helps even one person with this data collection I stand by it 100%.” — Jenny B.
Why you might be stuck in your health goals
We’ve all been there — the “new year, new me” mindset where the first few months of the year we quickly shift our habits in order to become a better version of ourselves. However, right as the ball gets rolling, the progress suddenly stops.
We’ve all been there — the “new year, new me” mindset where the first few months of the year we quickly shift our habits in order to become a better version of ourselves. However, right as the ball gets rolling, the progress suddenly stops. Why am I not running as far? Why am I not losing any more weight? What am I doing wrong? Here are 5 key points we found that might have you stuck with your health goals (hint: it’s not your fault!)
1. The Inevitable Plateau
According to a Washington post article, once you gain the initial traction, there will be an inevitable plateau. It’s actually part of the journey. You didn’t do anything wrong, but rather you hit a milestone. Once you achieve your small goals, the journey is just beginning!
The plateau is your body’s way of telling you that you may need to switch up your fitness or eating regime to keep your body stimulated and get the most benefits from your efforts! Remember that health does not have an endpoint, it is a journey with a myriad of challenges and achievements that help sustain healthy behaviors.
2. Having grit: make a plan and stick to it!
To overcome the plateau, it’s important to analyze your goals. But first, what are they? Why do you want to achieve these goals? What steps can you take right now to achieve your goals? Having grit shows that you are resilient, able to persevere through tough situations, and keep your eye on the prize.
Remember that your journey towards better health may be nonlinear and may come with obstacles. But it’s important to create a system that works for you and make your goals attainable. According to Plunkett of the Washington Post, “the main difference between an average adult and a high-level athlete isn’t a lack of talent or willpower but rather a lack of a system.” At Achievement, we’re here to help you reach your goals no matter how big or small. Whether it is walking 5,000 steps or 25,000 steps per day, you will be rewarded for your healthy actions!
3. Have someone nudge you — accountability and buddy system
A few health experts like Dr. Arefa Cassoobhoy found that she does better when she shares her health goals with someone else. It’s important to have someone support you and be able to share wins and losses during your health journey. Having someone join you will also hold you accountable to reach your goals, and you may be helping someone else reach theirs! Win-win!
Additionally, digital health trackers are a great way to help hold you accountable to health goals and track your journey. Our in-house research team looked at thousands of individuals using digital health trackers and found a positive association between activity tracking frequency and weight loss. Just one more reason to try out a new health and wellness app for some extra accountability.
4. Rethink, don’t sink.
Perspective is key — making healthy choices shouldn’t be seen as a chore, but more of making everyday incremental investments to be a better version of yourself. Instead of having the same routine for months straight, mix it up. Try a new exercise, mix up your sleep routine, or try adding daily meditation to your day to see what works for you. This will stimulate more progression and get you out of the plateau sooner.
If you dislike running, try substituting running for something that still keeps your heart going like swimming. If you dislike eating certain foods, try substituting those foods with other ones you like that offer the same nutrition. Your health journey is not a race to the finish line — remember that this journey is about learning and creating the best version of yourself.
Cultivating confidence and finding the reasons behind your goals will help motivate you through the journey. PennState Extension Educator Lynn James stated building confidence, praise, and support are key factors in motivating you to reach your health goals. Furthermore, take time to thank your body. Akin to health expert Samantha Heller, a registered dietitian and exercise physiologist, shares that your body is working 24/7 to keep you alive; therefore, we should appreciate our body and hone in on practicing positive body image.
5. Pat yourself on the back: reward yourself.
Lastly, recognize that you are making strides and meeting milestones in your journey. For all the hard work you put in, you deserve to treat yourself! Through the Achievement app, you can connect and earn points for cash for your hard work! Woo-hoo! Our research team notes how incentives can help form habits. In this case, we want to reward you for the healthy actions you take to form healthy habits.
You can make a reward system that best suits your lifestyle, such as going to the movies or going out with your loved ones after completing your week’s workout. If you have been diligent in preparing your meals and enjoy making your own meals and drinks, use your Achievement reward to treat yourself to buying the nice blender that you wanted for your smoothies or slow cooker for your weekly meals. If you have been sticking to your exercise routine, use your rest day to spend some time hanging out with your family or friends and share your journey with them.
At Achievement, we strive to support you along your health journey and make it enjoyable. We hope that these key points and tips will give you the boost you needed to carry on and continue to progress. Was there something that we missed that made it on your motivator list? We’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below!
Meet Our Community of Evidation Members
We recently shared a survey out to our community. The feedback and responses we’ve been receiving from our work and research brings us comfort and assurance knowing that the Evidation app has made a positive impact on your lives.
At Evidation, we're committed to putting our community first and to helping you reach your health goals no matter how big or small. We recently shared a survey out to our community. The feedback and responses we’ve been receiving from our work and research brings us comfort and assurance knowing that the Evidation app has made a positive impact on your lives. Our community of members is our driving force to create and learn new things that help you reach your health goals. Your stories have truly hit it home for us, and we love reading them.
We’re excited to continue to be part of your health journey and guide you in any step you need to keep achieving. Want to hear more about what our community of members feel? Meet the community and read their responses:
“I’ve been using Evidation for about 2 months now. I need to get back into exercising to earn more points. I like that it offers interesting articles to read and surveys. I enjoy Evidation because it will help me to reach my goals!” — (Emily D., Michigan)
“I have been using Evidation for a few years now. I participated in the 1yr Cognitive Health Study that really helped me to know how to improve my cognitive health and protect my brain from damage due to diet and environment. It motivated me to start an exercise class for seniors. This photo was last week. As of today we have 11 in the class. I am blessed!” — (Janet A., California)
“I have been using Evidation for probably close to 2 years now. I am hoping more people continue to use this so that data can be collected on activity, diet, weight, and sleep patterns and be studied to see the effects on health. This app has definitely made me track my weight closer and log my food more as well. I think this is a great app that may motivate people to make changes for a healthier lifestyle and better quality of life.” — (Ryan A., Florida)
“I was lucky enough to be chosen as one of the participants in the [cognitive health] study. It was a great experience and has made me more aware of what I need to do to keep my memory healthy. It has taught me which foods are essential for mental health and the need for exercise.” — (Carol C., PA)
“I have been using Evidation since the beginning of the year and it has been an awesome tool to quantifying my activities each day. I am a marathon runner but Evidation has been awesome for seeing all of the activities aside from running. It also just runs in the background of my daily life and will eventually earn me some money. I have been managing my own blog for my running for the past year and Evidation is changing the game for me.” — (Amanda R., South Carolina)
“I’ve been using Evidation now for about a month and a half and it’s amazing that I can earn money for being active! I challenge myself everyday to walk more and more to earn even more points then I did the day before. Cheers to being healthy! :)” — (Madison S., Indiana)
“It has been difficult to find a health routine to fit my third shift schedule. Working from midnight to 8 am sometimes forces you to eat bad food to stay awake! Fitbit and Evidation keep me accountable. I am now on a workout routine that gives me energy to put my all into work and my relationships outside of work.” — (Lauren B., Ohio)
“Evidation has been great in motivating me to get to a better place. Seeing the points I accumulate only makes me want to do more! I signed up as a means to better my health due to having high blood pressure since the age of 3. About two years ago, I decided to take up running to help do my part. Since then I have been getting faster, going farther, and feeling better than I ever have!” — (Eddy R., Pennsylvania)
“Having an app pay me to work out definitely has given me the motivation to join a gym and become a healthier happier person. I was also part of a migraine study which I hope my data is used to help someway in the future.” — (Katie N., MA)
Thanks again to all of our Evidation Members who have already shared their amazing stories. We’d love to hear from more of you! What does Evidation mean to you? What do you want to achieve? How can we help get you there? And let’s not forget, you can be a part of our Evidation community! Check out some of their awesome smiles below.
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Can sleep patterns tell us the severity of our anxiety or depression?
Depression and anxiety can have a huge impact on our daily lives and overall health. It can affect our mood, social interactions, sleep and more, but can our daily behaviors predict the severity of our anxiety and depression? Our research team sought to find out more.
We know that anxiety and depression affect many of you, with 7 out of 10 adults in the U.S. saying they experience stress or anxiety daily. Depression and anxiety can have a huge impact on our daily lives and overall health. It can affect our mood, social interactions, sleep and more, but can our daily behaviors predict the severity of our anxiety and depression? Our research team sought to find out more.
What we tested
We enrolled over 1,000 participants in a clinical study with self-reported anxiety and depression and assessed the participants’ mental health states by looking at the following for each individual:
- Anxiety and depression symptoms
- Number of hospitalizations and ER visits for anxiety/depression
- Use of anxiety and depression medications
We then looked at participants’ sleep metrics and patterns for the previous three months.
What we learned
Severe depression was significantly associated with inconsistent and disordered sleep patterns, such as spending a great amount of time in bed awake. Individuals taking medications for their anxiety and/or depression were likely to sleep more compared to those not receiving treatment, however, they also had inconsistent sleep patterns. Participants who had been previously hospitalized for anxiety and/or depression were more likely to have inconsistent sleep patterns as well.
What does this mean?
We all know that a lack of sleep can affect our daily lives, but it can also be associated with severe depression and anxiety. This means that certain sleep patterns might be able to predict the severity of an individual’s mental well-being in the future. With further research we’d like to understand if tracking sleep behavior could predict changes in the severity of an individual’s mental health condition.
Thanks to all of our members who participated in this research about how daily behaviors, like sleep, can tell help researchers to better understand anxiety and depression. If you’re interested in contributing to innovative research, we are regularly running new studies at Evidation.
3 Reasons Why Tracking Your Health Can Help You Participate in Better Health Outcomes
Here are the top three reasons why tracking your health with Evidation will help you be part of something just a little bit bigger than yourself this holiday season.
According to 2015 Pew Research, “one in three cell phone owners have used their phone to look for health information.” Four years ago, we started Evidation to help everyone understand their personal health, take control of their health journey, and help contribute to improving the health of everyone. Here are the top three reasons why tracking your health with Evidation will help you be part of something just a little bit bigger than yourself this holiday season.
1. Actively participate in your health
With the over 30+ apps that you can connect to Evidation, we’re able to look at patterns of activity levels and do a deep dive into tracking health and wellness. We’ve published research around how your social engagements can impact activity levels. Lastly, we’ve given our community a chance to learn from each other, asking communities of individuals what questions they have for one another and sharing back the results.
2. Learn about health and research through insights
With a community of over a million, we’re constantly looking for opportunities to highlight and share relevant research tailored to you. We’ve also done deep dives on seasonal trends over the last year, including a step analysis around the Pokemon Go phenomenon, the difference between men and women during Back to School, and a look across the United States at Halloween calorie count.
3. Participate in ground-breaking research to advance the health of everyone
We’re focused on building a product that makes your interactions with health unified. We believe that health is much more than a visit to the doctor. It’s a constant effort every day of how to track/monitor healthy activities — whether it be steps taken, heart rate monitored, sleep tracked, or even meditation sessions executed. Sign up for Evidation today and starting taking health-related actions, including contributing to cutting-edge clinical studies that are tailored to your specific health conditions.
Dads vs. Moms: How does the transition from summer to fall impact activity levels?
The change in seasons often brings with it a change in routine. We wanted to know how the transition from summer to fall affects our health and wellness, and we’re excited to share these insights from members.
The change in seasons often brings with it a change in routine. So we wanted to know how the transition from summer to fall affects our health and wellness, and we’re excited to share these insights from Evidation Members.
The transition to fall can be especially cumbersome for parents as they juggle back to school duties, but is one parent more impacted than the other by the changing season? We decided to take a closer look at how moms and dads health holds up during the seasonal transition. We were also curious to explore how sleep and steps between parents and non-parents compared.
Who is catching more zzzs?
We uncovered a statistically significant gender disparity between moms and dads. Moms sleep 5 minutes less in the summer than their non-mom counterparts. As the school year ramps up in late August and early September, the difference is significantly more pronounced on weekdays. Moms sleep 10 minutes less than their non-mom counterparts. Dads, on the other hand, show no consistent differences from their counterparts in summer or fall. If anything, they may sleep slightly more.
Moms are also taking a bigger hit in sleep interruption than Dads. Moms sleep 0.34% less than non-moms and 1.4% less than dads. Surprisingly though, non-dads have the most sleep interruptions, spending 8.3% of the night awake.
What time is everyone falling asleep?
Moms fall asleep 12 minutes earlier than non-moms, while dads fall asleep 24 minutes earlier than non-dads. So, while dads don’t seem to be sleeping any less if they are a parent, they appear to be shifting their sleep schedules more. Interestingly, all four groups shift their bedtimes earlier in fall, possibly due to earlier sunsets.
Who is taking more steps?
Moms take fewer steps than non-moms in general. During the summer, moms take 427 fewer steps/day on weekends and 243 fewer steps/day on weekdays. However, when the school year starts, their weekends show an even larger deficit, at 543 fewer steps/day vs non-moms. Their weekdays step counts improve markedly, though, at just 85 fewer steps/day than non-moms.
Dads show the opposite pattern. They actually take more steps than non-dads. In the summer, they have an average of 250 steps/day more than non-dads, while in the fall, they have an average of 348 steps/day more than non-dads.