An intro to enzymes and how they apply to mild gluten sensitivities, probiotics and even kids*
Good digestion is the cornerstone of robust health. While probiotics get most of the attention for supporting the digestive system and a strong intestinal lining, your body can’t use the nutrients you consume if you can’t fully absorb them.
That’s where digestive enzymes come in.
If you’ve already started on one of our premium, custom, hypoallergenic probiotics but are new to enzymes, here’s an easy intro to how integral they are.
What are digestive enzymes and how do they work?
Enzymes play a central role in breaking down foods into usable nutrients that are vital to virtually every chemical reaction in the body.* Our digestive enzymes are custom-formulated to support various digestive needs.
We have two products:
- Digestive Enzymes: Support comfy digestion and nutrient absorption. With enzymes for fat, carbs, casein and gluten. Great for tough-to-digest foods like beans and cruciferous veggies.
- HCl + Enzymes: Offer a unique formula with HCl and pepsin for folks with occasional acid reflux, gas or bloating. Plus, it has enzymes that ease the digestion of animal protein and saturated fats.
You won’t find excess ingredients that interfere with the absorption, utilization and critical work of the enzymes. Just clean, effective formulas with enzymes that get to where they need to go. They’re non-GMO, and free of additives and common allergens.
Here’s how the two products work together:
- Take what you need: Keep both at your fingertips and take what you need depending on the meal.
- Take both: Or if you have a well-rounded meal, you can take one of each.
- Travel: Don’t forget, Smidge® Digestive Enzymes and HCl + Enzymes are must-have travel companions and fantastic for toting to parties and dining out — where you may not know the ingredients, or are more likely to splurge on foods you normally avoid.
Avoiding casein and gluten
We understand that people with sensitive digestive systems, those in the autism community, and folks on gluten-free and dairy-free diets, as well as those with joint issues, need to avoid wheat.*
We also understand that enzymes don’t give your digestive system a free pass. But when you're eating somewhere where you don’t have full control over the ingredients in the food, traveling or want to have the occasional splurge, you can consider trying digestive enzymes to help break down the gluten and minimize the potential mild reaction your body might be used to experiencing.*
This applies to the other foods on your plate, too, like healthy fats, meats, casein, beans, cruciferous veggies and more.
(Please remember to run this by your certified medical practitioner as well, and that this advice doesn’t apply to those with serious medical conditions or Celiac.)
Recommending These To My Clients!"Your enzymes and probiotics are excellent products. I have multiple food and chemical sensitivities. It took me a long time to find digestive enzymes and probiotics that were clean enough for my system. These suit me very well. As a Certified Natural Health Professional, I will recommend your products, specifically the enzymes and {Sensitive Probiotic} to my clients."* - Angela H.
Digestive enzymes and kids
We also have many parent customers that give Smidge® Digestive Enzymes and HCl + Enzymes to their children, who may have sensitive digestive systems or want ensure they’re absorbing all of the nutrition they can as they’re growing strong.*
For children, you can break open the Digestive Enzymes and sprinkle it on their lukewarm food (or they can swallow the capsule if they’re able).
And if you choose the HCl + Enzymes, the child has to be able to swallow a pill, due to the HCl needing to be contained. Here are the guidelines for HCl + Enzymes and children.
- Because Smidge® HCl + Enzymes contains HCl (hydrochloric acid), it's not intended for babies or toddlers, unless otherwise prescribed by a healthcare professional.
- Please do not open the capsule; consuming the powder directly may erode tooth enamel, cause and/or irritate the soft tissue lining of the mouth and esophagus.
- Do not take this product if you have an ulcer. If you experience any stomach upset or heartburn, discontinue use immediately.
Life Changing!!"These have been a total game changer for myself and my two children who unfortunately inherited my digestive issues. Please never stop making this product!" - Brandie B.
Amazing product“I am a mother of 2, a 14yr old and a 9yr old. After having my children i have ALWAYS had bowel issues. I know for a fact for the last 9 years my bowels have always been inconsistent and I’d go as far to say for a quite a few of those years i was going once a week. I took a probiotic as a part of my supplement intake but never experienced consistency. I’d take a fiber supplement as recommend by doc but it all never worked. About a year ago i was on an Instagram account i follow and she was posting about how it may be beneficial to take a digestive enzyme... and recommended Smidge. So i tried it. And it has been life changing. It took a little bit to get regulated but for the first time in YEARS, i am having bowel movements every single day and sometimes twice a day. I know this might sound TMI but i am sure there are other people and especially mammas who have this issue. I 100% recommend.”* - Amber
How to take digestive enzymes and probiotics to make the most out of the healthy food on your plate
Our philosophy is that overall health begins in the digestive system, so a healthy gut equals a thriving, happy body. Consider that an astounding 80% of your immune system is located in your digestive tract!
Also, we believe that a real food diet is the foundation in recovering and optimizing one's health: healthy fats, wild-caught fish, organic vegetables — and the elimination of GMOs, additives, preservatives, chemicals and processed sugar/flour.
Probiotics are bacteria that line your digestive tract and support your body's ability to absorb nutrients and fight infection. They have been in our systems since the moment we stepped out into the world.
We also get probiotics from our food. Historically, there were plenty of probiotics in our diets from eating fresh foods from rich soil and by fermenting our foods. But because of dead soils from over farming and a public phobia of bacteria (like sterilized foods, antibacterial soaps, preventing children from playing in the dirt, etc.) our American way of life now contains far less probiotic bacteria.
This is why our customers opt to supplement with pure Smidge® probiotic blends.
We often get questions on how to take both their probiotics and digestive enzymes. It's best to run this question by your certified healthcare practitioner. And to start slowly with a lower dosage than the recommended starting dose found on your product.
Here are some quick and easy guidelines.
- Take your probiotic in the morning, with some organic healthy fat like butter, ghee, emu oil or coconut oil.
- Take your digestive enzymes before your meal.
- This blog post was written by Smidge® product manager, Gana Wilson. Gana is a traditional naturopath and herbalist. Our blog was reviewed by Karen Myers, Smidge® co-founder and Certified Nutritional Therapy Practitioner. Learn more about Gana and Karen here!
