Science 201: Enzyme activity and the power of powder

Important factors to support enzyme efficacy and FODMAP breakdown

One of our favorite questions to be asked is about the enzyme activity of FODZYME. The answer involves a bit of history, science and research.

Because we're all scientists and educators at heart, let's dive in so you can help patients understand this complex topic, too.

What is enzyme activity?

Enzyme activity refers to the rate at which a specific enzyme catalyzes a particular biochemical reaction. It indicates the amount of enzyme required to convert one micromole of substrate per minute under standard conditions and is typically expressed in International Units (U).

Enzyme activity units correspond to the substrate they target. For instance, enzymes that target Galacto-Oligosaccharides (GOS) are measured in Galactosidase Units (GALUs), while those targeting lactose are quantified in Acid Lactase Units (ALUs).

Factors influencing enzyme activity

Temperature, pH, time, enzyme preparation characteristics, the presence of other substances and the mode of administration all influence enzyme activity.

While activity units provide one method of assessing how digestive enzymes can help break down FODMAPs, they can be an unreliable metric due to variations in how they're measured and how the enzymes are utilized.

FODZYME's mode of administration as a powder is designed with this knowledge that how enzymes are applied to food greatly influences their activity and therefore their efficacy.

Measuring fructan hydrolase

FODZYME's fructan hydrolase is a novel and first of its kind digestive enzyme. In fact, it is the only enzyme that targets the broad spectrum of fructans.

This means there is no standard activity unit established by the scientific community to quantify the activity of enzymes targeting fructans — at least not yet!

A more accurate way to evaluate a digestive enzyme than using enzyme activity is to simulate passage through the digestive tract. With a simulated digestive environment, the amount of FODMAPs broken down at each stage of digestion can be directly quantified.

This method is precisely how we assessed FODZYME's efficacy at fructan break down. Through our peer-reviewed research, we demonstrated FODZYME's ability to break down 90% of a 3g dose of fructan under simulated gastric conditions (that's 6 garlic cloves worth!).

So how much enzyme activity is in FODZYME?

We used findings from this research and common FODMAP tolerance thresholds to establish the recommended dose. Each dose of FODZYME contains as much, and in many cases more, GALUs and ALUs as common lactose and GOS-targeting digestive enzyme products.

What other questions do your patients have on dosing and administration? Head to our YouTube for more videos on how to help patients get started with FODZYME.

FODZYME VIDEOS

p.s. another common question we hear is: how do our stick packs get their 33% extra enzymatic activity? The answer: they have 33% more enzyme powder by volume than a scoop from our Home Kit. The enzyme blend in both is the same.