How Digestive Enzymes Can Tackle an Upset Stomach

The Machinery of Digestion

Digestion is a complex process that starts in the mouth and ends in the colon. The breakdown of large, complex carbohydrates, fats, and proteins begins in the mouth with chewing. Next, specialized enzymes, aided by a surge of stomach acid, unravel large proteins in the stomach. After a few hours, the food bolus exits the stomach and continues to the small intestine, where the remaining components are broken down using bile (released from the gallbladder) and a range of enzymes secreted by the pancreas and other organs.

If all goes well, the bits of food are broken down into small enough particles to cross from the intestines into nutrient-hungry tissues. Non-digestible fibres pass through to the colon and provide energy to bacterial guests, who in turn produce vitamins and short-chain fatty acids that benefit overall health.

What Can Go Wrong?

In an ideal world, digestion would be a seamless process. However, meals are often followed by unpleasant symptoms such as bloating, heartburn, and discomfort. Indigestion is often the result of poor habits, including eating large portions, consuming food too quickly, eating late into the night, and indulging in low-fibre, high-sugar, and high-fat processed foods.

These problems are exacerbated by pharmaceuticals such as NSAIDs (used for pain), antibiotics (which upset the balance of gut flora), and over-the-counter antacids (which reduce acid needed for digestion in the stomach). Smoking and excessive alcohol consumption can also damage the stomach lining. For mature adults, diminishing reserves of both stomach acid and enzymes can create a perfect storm.

Stress can also contribute by shifting the body away from rest-and-digest mode, causing abdominal pain, diarrhea, constipation, gas, bloating, heartburn, nausea, and loss of appetite.

Enzymes to the Rescue

NOW^® Super Enzymes provides a comprehensive range of digestive aids to target macronutrients: fats, proteins, and carbohydrates. Super Enzymes offers both pancreatic and food-derived (papaya and pineapple) enzymes. Pancreatic enzymes have a long history of use in mainstream medicine. However, fruit-derived enzymes can survive across a broader pH range, providing additional assurance of efficacy.

This formula also contains bile, which is essential for the digestion and absorption of fats and fat-soluble vitamins, as well as betaine hydrochloride (essentially supplemental stomach acid) to assist with protein digestion and help protect against foodborne pathogens.

For vegetarians or those seeking convenient, chewable enzymes for on-the-go use, NOW^® Papaya Enzyme Chewable Lozenges are another option. They have a subtle, pleasant flavour and can double as a breath mint.

Acid to the Rescue

For those who associate acid with pain, taking hydrochloric acid may seem counterintuitive. However, the stomach is designed to be highly acidic for optimal protein digestion and to prevent the entry of foodborne bacteria that can cause food poisoning.

A 2020 study found that many elderly individuals experience “functional hypochlorhydria,” meaning they are less efficient at reacidifying the stomach after a meal than younger individuals. This can reduce protein digestion efficiency and may explain some cases of post-meal indigestion. NOW^® Betaine HCL also includes an acid-stable, protein-digesting enzyme.

Fibre to the Rescue

A 2015 survey estimated that Canadians consume only about half of their recommended fibre intake. Soluble fibre, such as psyllium, helps lubricate stools for easier passage, supports satiety, and helps normalize blood sugar and cholesterol levels.

Psyllium has been shown to be beneficial for both constipation and diarrhea due to its exceptional ability to absorb water. Among dietary fibre types, psyllium has some of the strongest clinical evidence, particularly for constipation, irritable bowel syndrome (especially IBS-D), and cardiometabolic outcomes.

Thalia Charney, MA
Holistic Nutrition and Wellness Coach
Nutrition and Health Education Manager, NOW^® Brand

Thalia has a lifelong passion for nutrition and healthy living. She has 30 years of experience in the health industry, beginning as a fitness instructor and personal trainer, then progressing to 13 years as a holistic nutritionist and wellness coach. For the past nine years, she has held a purely educational role as the exclusive Nutrition and Health Education Manager of the largest family-owned natural products brand in North America. Her background includes comprehensive knowledge of herbal medicine, nutrition, essential oils, Vipassana meditation, and vegetarian cooking. Thalia is also the author of The Confident Food Shopper: The Guide to Food Labels and Fables, The Expert Patient: Health Is Not a Spectator Sport, and The 3-Minute Liquid Meal Blueprint.

References
Dahl WJ, Stewart ML. Position of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics: Health Implications of Dietary Fiber. J Acad Nutr Diet. 2015 Nov;115(11):1861–70.
Attia, Peter. “Dietary fiber and health outcomes: real benefits, overhyped claims, and practical applications.” The Drive, 11/10/2025.
van der Schoot A, et al. The Effect of Fiber Supplementation on Chronic Constipation in Adults: An Updated Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials. Am J Clin Nutr. 2022 Oct 6;116(4):953–969.
Guilliams TG, Drake LE. Meal-Time Supplementation with Betaine HCl for Functional Hypochlorhydria: What Is the Evidence? Integr Med (Encinitas). 2020 Feb;19(1):32–36.

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