Will Digestive Enzymes Help You Lose Weight?

I started reading about digestive enzymes and whether they would help someone lose weight a few months ago. It was easy for me to see that overall a digestive enzyme supplement would improve one's health and I kept seeing references to the fact that "digestive enzymes help break fat down and aid in weight loss." But no one seemed to do much to connect the two halves of that statement. Yes, there was lots of scientific research that digestive enzymes help in the digestion process. It is explained that,

"Fats require special digestive action before absorption because the end products must be carried in a water medium (blood and lymph) in which fats are not soluble. Lipase (a digestive enzyme) is the primary digestant used to split fats into fatty acids and glycerol." EnzymeEssentials.com (Many websites contain similar statements.)

But in terms of how improved fat digestion translated into weight loss, I didn't see that explained.

So, after carefully studying the Enzyme Essentials FAQ, I finally emailed
Enzyme Essentials and asked if they knew of any studies about digestive enzymes and weight loss. Here is the response I received,

I also checked about any enzyme & weight loss studies and wasn’t able to find anything on my own or from Transformation Enzymes. I did find one reference in Anthony Cichoke’s book The Complete Book of Enzyme Therapy in the Obesity section that read, “Studies also indicate that pancreatin supplementation leads to decreased appetite, which can result in significant weight loss.” But no reference is listed for the “studies.” This is the most frustrating part about enzymes – so many great anecdotal stories and so few scientific studies!

I do know that we usually recommend BalanceZyme Plus and/or LypoZyme for a weight loss program. I find that I just have more energy when I take enzymes with meals due to easier digestion which means I feel more like exercising and moving around instead of vegging on the couch. Again, anecdotal info and not any hard fact.

If you did not know, pancreatin is an enzyme made from animal (usually pig or ox) bile. Our enzymes are pure plant-based enzymes and are not animal based enzymes like pancreatin. Plant-based enzymes are more expensive to manufacture and our prices are very comparable with other plant-based digestive enzyme products. Ox Bile or pancreatin is a type of digestive enzyme derived from the pancreas of oxen or hogs. This enzyme requires an alkaline pH to begin work digesting your food which means that it won't do anything until the later stages of digestion in the small intestine. Enzyme Essentials sells mainly pure, plant-based enzymes which are vegetarian and which work throughout the entire digestive system beginning in the stomach and on through to the rectum. Plant-based digestive enzymes have a broader pH range and maintain a high activity throughout the entirety of digestion.

So, I decided that I would just have to be an experiment of one. After all, even if there were studies that showed digestive enzyme supplements helped people lose weight, that might or might not be the case for me. I purchased a general purpose digestive enzyme supplement (not specifically targeting weight loss) and so far here is what I've observed.

When I take the digestive enzyme with a meal, I can eat a small meal and not be hungry again for hours. This is a big change for me. Typically I would eat a light lunch, but be hungry again by 3 o'clock. Since I didn't necessarily expect this result, I'm inclined to think that it isn't just my expectations causing the difference (and even if it was, why would I care?) Since I've only been taking the digestive enzyme supplement for about 3 weeks, this hasn't translated into a huge weight loss YET. I do think I may have lost a pound, but I am 100% certain that I've reversed the trend of that dreaded weight creep, where every month clothes were feeling tighter and tighter and...

I'll post more if I have more results to tell you about or find some substantial scientific proof.