Review: DigestActiv Digestive Enzymes From Source Naturals
Digestive enzymes are an essential part of the digestive process. They are one of the three main things(enzymes,acid & muscle contractions) your stomach uses to breakdown foods into things like sugars and peptides which your small intestine can then absorb. Some are born with digestive enzymes up the wazoo while others may be deficient or as they age become deficient. Signs of enzyme deficiency are rather generic and may mimic many others issues. Usually the symptoms are bloating, belching, heartburn, nausea or indigestion. Digestive enzymes are used mainly in the stomach & don’t normally affect the intestinal tract, however upper digestive issues can manifest new or worsen existing problems in the intestinal tract.
Today I am reviewing DigestActiv by Source Naturals which is a multiple vegetarian digestive enzyme pill. It’s pretty much a standard mix of enzymes such as Amylase, Lactase, Protease, Pancreatin(vegetable based), Bromelain along with some herbs such as ginger root, peppermint & black pepper extract. They also throw in some Betaine Hydrochloric Acid(stomach acid) for good measure.
DigestActiv is a good starting point when trying out digestive enzymes because it contains lower doses of these enzymes than some of the other brands. Taking too many digestive enzymes may have the opposite effect of what you’re trying to achieve. The pill size, while not small, is about the same size as a quality multi-vitamin capsule. The serving size on the nutrition info is 2 capsules, but I usually only take one.
Source Natural’s touts that DigestActiv is “Bio-Aligned™” what this means is pretty unclear, it has something to do with their other buzzwordy “SystemiCare” system which seems to be filled with foo-foo words about bodily harmony. Ultimately “Bio-Aligned” & “SystemiCare” seem more like marketing mumbo-jumbo than anything of real value added to the product. I am not going to knock the product on the marketing though as the contents of the pills seems to be of quality.
The pills do have a funky odor to them, but this is kind of normal for digestive enzymes or hydrochloric acid pills. The stomach doesn’t smell pretty, neither should the pills.
My personal experience with these pills is that they do help from time to time & don’t have the overwhelming effect like some of the other digestive enzyme pills I’ve taken in the past. I’d suggest these for anyone who has never tried digestive enzyme pills or who has but experienced a mild-worsening of symptoms(heartburn & or nausea, etc..), which might have been a symptom of taking too many enzymes. If you’re dealing with Gastroparesis, heartburn, indigestion or Irritable Bowel Syndrome, these are definitely worth a shot.
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