5 Things to Know Before Buying Amylase Powder

User: Brett

Hi all. Has anyone else found that the Amylase ( bacterial source) that they are buying is inferior? We have bought some from all of the companies and it is white- rather than brown, doesn’t smell, and has to be made far stronger to work with starch.

Also because it has obviously been cut with cheaper fillers, it is milky when made up and so is no good at all for use in colorimeters.

I’ve phoned the companies and they told me they have had no other complaints. I can’t understand that as we found we were having this problem over a year ago.

If you could let me know if you have purchased any decent amylase lately and from where I’d be grateful. ( not if it’s white) User: Stokes1

I started a discussion along similar lines earlier this year! If you look back on the Biology Forum, you'll see a post entitled "Amylase Enzyme...not working very well". I had a few responses, all having the same sort of issue! Basically, amylase is a pain.

I am still using up my very old Bacterial Amylase Solution which was bought from Philip Harris back in . A 0.5% dilution works really well with a 1% starch solution and gave good results in a practical only last week!

We also do a simple practical where the students use their own saliva to show the breakdown of starch - works every time!

Sorry I can't give an answer to your problem :-( User: SWatson

Hi

We have bought from Philip Harris in too. Ours is still working and I will probably go back to them when I need to renew.

At our school we also use students' own amylase. I provide about 10ml of drinking water in a plastic cup, they use the water to swill their mouths for about 30 seconds, and return this to the drinking cup for use as is for the experiments. It always works well. All cups are disposed of in the waste.

Hope this helps. User: Brett

Yes, it seems everybody is having trouble with new enzymes then. Our main issue is A Level projects. They use colorimeters, but if we make the amylase too strong it's just too cloudy to get any good readings.



Have you complained to the suppliers? We complained to Breckland (I think it was) and they said no one else had said anything to them. User: Stokes1

Brett - I complained to Philip Harris about the powder we'd received which didn't work. Their catalogue states that enzymes should be stored in a refrigerator which "should give a shelf life of 12 months without significant loss of activity". I explained that I had stored it correctly and they sent us a replacement. This still didn't work, so I complained again and we got a refund.

I do think it's worth you trying the liquid version. It comes in a 100ml bottle which you class as 100% strength and dilute down to a working strength of 0.5 - 1%. You won't get the cloudiness you describe when using the powder, so hopefully it won't interfere with the colorimeter readings. User: Stokes1

Well, as mentioned earlier, the stock I have was purchased in and is still going strong! It was in the fridge when I first came to this school 5 years ago, and I didn't use it for a while as we had some powder which worked well. In fact, I nearly got rid of it on several occasions thinking that it was bound to be useless! However, when I started to have issues with the powder last year, I tried the liquid on the off chance it might work (it was that or nothing!)...and it worked beautifully.

Obviously, I can't vouch for more recent batches, but it's worth a try. And because you only need 0.5ml to make up a 100ml supply of working strength, it lasts for ages!

Let us know how you get on

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When people eat foods they love, sometimes those treats don’t love them back, causing digestive discomfort that has them reaching for a remedy.

At times, that’s in the form of digestive enzyme supplements — but whether people should take them and how well they work depends on how you’re getting the products, your health status and more.

The digestive enzymes naturally occurring in the body “break down our food so that we can absorb the nutrients required for our bodily functions,” said Dr. Caroline Tuck, a dietitian and senior lecturer in dietetics at Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne, Australia, via .

Digestive enzymes are made in the pancreas, small intestine and stomach, according to Johns Hopkins Medicine. The main enzymes produced by the pancreas are amylase, which breaks down complex carbohydrates; lipase, which digests fats; and proteases, which break down fats. The enzymes lactase and sucrase, made in the small intestine, break down dairy sugar and sugar, respectively. Pepsin, made in the stomach, is the main enzyme involved in the digestion of protein.

Most manufactured digestive enzymes, on the other hand, are derived from hog pancreas, Dr. Deborah Cohen, an associate professor in the department of clinical and preventive nutrition sciences at Rutgers University in New Jersey, said via .

But there are some plant-based alternatives, such as bromelain from pineapple or papain from papaya, and enzymes extracted from various microbes or yeast, Cohen added.

Despite the body’s ability to produce digestive enzymes, research has shown the market for these products is booming, estimated at nearly $700 million in and expected to hit $1.6 billion by , said Dr. Akash Goel, a clinical assistant professor of medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York City.

Here’s what you should know to determine whether these supplements are worth it.

Prescription vs. over-the-counter digestive enzymes

A key difference between prescription and over-the-counter digestive enzymes is that the US Food and Drug Administration regulates the former as drugs, “so they undergo a rigorous approval process including extensive testing with safety and efficacy data,” Goel said via .

This strict process ensures the products are pharmaceutical or prescriptive grade, Cohen said, and that the dose of the active ingredient is therapeutic enough to treat a patient’s symptoms.

Studies have shown the effectiveness of prescribed pancreatic enzyme supplementation, Goel said.

But over-the-counter supplements are regulated as food, so “there is much less standardization and quality control in terms of ingredients,” Goel said.

As a result, the source and dose of an active ingredient — or whether the product even actually contains the active ingredient in the first place — are up for grabs, Cohen said. The supplements also tend to have less of the active ingredient than prescriptions do.

“That’s the issue with supplements and digestive enzymes,” she added. “(Brands) can say whatever they want on TV ads, on magazine ads or on (social media) … and it’s perfectly legal. But whether or not it’s true is a whole different story.”

Because supplements don’t undergo FDA approval, those that have been tested by a third party are safer bets, experts said. These could include the NSF — which says it holds the only national standard that establishes requirements for the ingredients in dietary and nutritional supplements — the US Pharmacopeia or ConsumerLab.com.

Whether over-the-counter enzymes have what’s called an enteric coating also matters.

For more information, please visit Amylase Powder.

“Enteric coating protects the enzymes, which are proteins, from being digested by the acid contained in, and secreted by, the stomach,” Cohen said, so “the enzyme can safely get to the small intestine where it does its main work.”

A couple of commonly used over-the-counter enzymes have long been known to work. These include Lactaid and Beano, used by people who are lactose intolerant or who have gas or bloating after eating legumes, respectively. “Beano contains alpha galactosidase, an enzyme that our body does not produce,” Tuck said.

Regardless of whether you’re taking a prescription or over-the-counter digestive enzyme, a professional’s counseling on the timing and dosage is critical, Cohen said.

When is it OK to take digestive enzymes?

On its own, the body should produce levels of digestive enzymes sufficient for assimilation of nutrients, Goel said. But when it doesn’t, due to deficiencies evidenced by a stool test a doctor performs, prescription digestive enzymes are the primary treatment.

“Prescription enzymes are used primarily by individuals diagnosed with cystic fibrosis and exocrine pancreatic insufficiency,” Cohen said. Cystic fibrosis is a disease that damages the lungs, digestive tract and other organs, while exocrine pancreatic insufficiency is a condition in which the small intestine can’t thoroughly digest food due to problems with pancreatic enzymes.

Signs of digestive enzyme deficiencies include diarrhea, stomach pain, bloating, inexplicable weight loss and fatty, oily poop that floats, experts said.

People with those diagnoses are really the only people with a clinical or legitimate need for digestive enzyme products, Cohen said — particularly prescribed ones as, again, those are more likely to have the precise dose needed.

“If there are no medical issues or established food intolerances, then digestive enzyme supplements are not required,” Tuck said.

Some healthy people take digestive enzyme supplements after eating a heavy meal, thinking they’ll have trouble digesting the food. But the body can digest a heavy meal perfectly fine, Cohen said. It’s just that the contents may slow the process and cause bloating or gas, she added — so not overdoing it is a better choice than taking a supplement.

If you take them anyway, she added, most of the danger lies in the possible waste of your money.

But if you’re consuming them for digestive issues you’re experiencing on a regular basis, you should see a gastroenterologist or your doctor since you may be masking symptoms and delaying a diagnosis in need of supervised treatment, experts said.

Can digestive enzyme levels be improved naturally?

If you have enzyme deficiencies, nothing can be done to improve levels naturally, Cohen said. Consequently, the only options are to take prescription digestive enzymes or avoid the foods you can’t digest because of your deficiencies.

But if you’re a healthy person, you can improve your digestive health overall, including by not eating meals that are so taxing on your system.

“Something we registered dietitian nutritionists hear a lot is ‘I have trouble digesting food’ or ‘I have slow digestion’ when what they actually have is constipation,” Cohen said. “Digestive enzymes will not help with constipation.”

What can help is avoiding processed and heavily refined foods and consuming a diet rich in whole plant-based foods, with fish and lean meats in moderation, Goel said.

Goel also recommended meeting the national exercise guidelines and the guidelines for fiber intake as well as regularly getting restful sleep, being exposed to nature and spending time with loved ones.

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