The human digestive process is concerned with the conversion or breakdown of the foods we eat into substances that can be absorbed across the intestinal epithelium. Very often, the conversion is a breakdown of complex food structures into their particular building blocks.

In all cases, the conversion of complex substances to simple building blocks is performed in the alimentary tract by enzymes. Thus, for the three macro nutritional components of the diet, the starting substance and the assimilable building blocks are shown below:

The Digestive Process – in Summary
The enzymatic breakdown of food begins in the mouth where salivary amylase and lipase commence the breakdown of starch and fats respectively. In the stomach, there is a continued breakdown of fats with gastric lipase, and initiation of protein breakdown via pepsin. These enzymes are adapted to the acidic environment of the stomach resulting from secretion of hydrochloric acid. In addition, the stomach physically has a ‘pummeling’ action to augment the break-up of food particles. After about two hours, the now semi-liquid chyme is passed into the duodenum and it is here where most digestion takes place. Amylases, lipases and proteases are all produced by the pancreas and secreted into the duodenum/jejunum. These important enzymic complexes perform the bulk of the breakdown process with the help of nucleotidases and bile acids completing the conversion of the digestible fraction of foods to their building block components.

Finally, in relation to the digestion of carbohydrates, enzymes bound to the epithelial surface of duodenal/jejunal cells perform the final conversion of disaccharides to monosaccharides.

Deficiencies in the Digestive Process
The digestive process can be disturbed and undermined in a number of ways. All of these can lead to a decrease in the efficiency of food conversion, with the result that undigested or partially digested material, which normally should be absorbed, can pass through the small intestine. An obvious example of this is people who are lactase intolerant because of their inability to produce the enzyme lactase.

Disturbance in digestive function can also be associated with the following:

	Irritable bowel syndrome
	Gastrointestinal dysbiosis
	Gastrointestinal infections
	Stress and anxiety
	Excessive alcohol consumption
	Chronic fatigue syndrome

The physiological effects of the underperformance of the gastrointestinal digestive process vary, and can consist of bloating, flatulence, intestinal discomfort and abdominal pains. This is caused by the undigested and partially digested food being fermented by the gut microflora, which in turn results in dysbiosis.

Hence, for many individuals, the supplementation of digestive enzymes corrects this digestive insufficiency and resolves the associated symptoms.

The Pharmax portfolio of digestive enzyme supplements addresses both general and specific enzyme deficiency. All have been specifically designed to provide tangible benefits and have been developed to be applicable to actual food intake.