You're sore. Maybe it was the heavy squats. The long run. The enormous number of pull-ups you cranked out. Or just ... life. So you open the refrigerator. Now you're digging around for something, anything to knock out the soreness.
And you happen upon that bottle of digestive enzymes you rarely use or only use prior to meals. You look at the label. Protease this. Amylase that. HUT. SAPU. FIP. Whatever the heck those mean (perhaps you should check out this episode of my fellow Quick & Dirty Tips podcast “The Nutrition Diva’s” piece on enzymes to learn more.)
You shrug and walk way, in search of a foam roller.
But what would've happened had you popped a few of those enzymes? You'd be surprised at what could have happened when it comes to the potential for significant increases in muscle recovery. So in this episode, you’ll learn how digestive enzymes can be used for far more than just digesting a steak or a big meal.
What Are Digestive Enzyme?
If you need a really comprehensive review of what digestive enzymes are and how digestive enzymes actually work, then you need to listen to my recent podcast episode entitled "Probiotic Enemas, Digestive Enzyme Myths, Breathing 10 Kilograms of Oxygen, Low-Protein Diets & More." In that podcast, I interview biohacker Matt Gallant and bodybuilder Wade Lightheart about their probiotic and digestive enzyme blends, and they reveal plenty of interesting facts that I didn't know about both probiotics and digestive enzymes.
Basically, the role of digestive enzymes is to act as catalysts in speeding up specific chemical reactions in your body—primarily by helping to break down larger molecules into smaller particles that the body can better absorb.
The duodenum of your small intestine is where amino acids are extracted from proteins, fatty acids and cholesterol are extracted from fats, and simple sugars are extracted from carbohydrates. All macronutrients are broken down into molecules small enough to be carried in the bloodstream, and micronutrients (if they haven’t already been cleaved in your stomach acid) are also released and transported into the bloodstream.
To get the full benefits of any digestive enzymes, you should take them anywhere from 30 minutes to immediately prior to a meal (and you'll also get plenty of benefits if you pop them directly after a meal in case you forget to take them before). This becomes all the more important as you age. According to enzyme expert Dr. Edward Howell in his book "Enzyme Nutrition," the average human loses 70% of their enzyme reserves by the time they’ve reached 40 years of age (in that book, he also states that lifespan is directly proportional to the rate of exhaustion of enzymes in the body).
But the benefits of maintaining adequate levels of digestive enzymes goes far beyond simply enhancing your absorption of nutrients and minerals from food or avoiding things like carb and protein farts. Let's take a look at another little known benefit of digest enzymes: recovery.
How to Use Digestive Enzymes for Recovery
Although facilitating digestion is what most enzyme supplements are known for, a specific class of enzymes called "proteolytic enzymes" can not only be used to help digest protein in your meals, but can also be used to help reduce pain and inflammation and to support tissue healing. Many studies, as well as preliminary clinical trials, has shown that these can actually be quite helpful, particularly for pain associated with exercise-related muscle soreness and recovery, sinus, or dental complaints.
Enzymes don't just work on your gut. They work on your muscles and inflammatory markers too.
For example, in an Annals of The NY Academy Of Science article found in the excellent book "Enzymes & Enzyme Therapy," author Anthony Cichoke highlights how recovery from sprains and strains can decrease from eight weeks of inactivity to an impressive two weeks of inactivity with the consumption of enzymes.
Another study entitled "Protease supplementation improves muscle function after eccentric exercise" looked into the use of protease supplementation to reduce the damaging effects of eccentric exercise and accelerate recovery of muscle function, possibly by regulating inflammation.
In this study, subjects performed weight training via extension/flexion of the quadriceps muscle group. They were randomly assigned to consume 5.83 g daily of either a cellulose placebo or a proteolytic supplement containing fungal proteases, bromelain, and papain. They trained for 21 days. After the supplementation period, subjects donated blood samples before performing a 45-min downhill treadmill protocol at 60% of VO2max. Significant group differences were observed for peak torque at flexion, indicating higher force production in the protease group.
Significant interactions were also observed when it came to elevations in circulating eosinophils and basophils in the protease group, which coincides with lower levels of inflammatory markers such as serum cyclooxygenase 2, interleukin 6, and interleukin 12. The researchers concluded that protease supplementation seems to attenuate muscle strength losses after eccentric exercise by regulating leukocyte activity and inflammation.
In another study entitled "Effects of a protease supplement on eccentric exercise-induced markers of delayed-onset muscle soreness and muscle damage," researchers examined the effects of a protease supplement on selected markers of muscle damage and delayed-onset muscle soreness (DOMS). The study used a double-blinded, placebo-controlled, crossover design. Twenty men were randomly assigned to either an enzyme supplement group or a placebo group.
All subjects were tested for unilateral isometric forearm flexion strength, hanging joint angle, relaxed arm circumference, subjective pain rating, and plasma creatine kinase activity and myoglobin concentration. During these tests, the subjects in the supplement group ingested a protease supplement and subjects in the placebo group took microcrystalline cellulose. After testing and 2 weeks of rest, the subjects were crossed over into the opposite group and performed the same tests as during their first visits, but with the opposite limb.
Overall, isometric forearm flexion strength was much greater (7.6%) for the supplement group than for the placebo group. These findings provided initial evidence that the protease supplement may be useful for reducing strength loss immediately after eccentric exercise and for aiding in short-term strength recovery.
Perhaps even more impressive was the study “Double-Blind Clinical Study Using Certain Proteolytic Enzymes Mixtures In Karate Fighters,” which was published in Enzymes Enzyme Therapy and showed mind blowing improvements after the use of digestive enzymes for athletic injuries and subsequent recovery, including:
-Hemotoma: recovery time decreased from 15.6 days to 6.6 days
-Swelling: recovery time decreased from 10 days to 4 days
-Restriction of movement: recovery time decreased from 12.6 days to 5 days
-Inflammation :recovery time decreased from 10.5 days to 3.8 days
-Unfit for training: recovery time decreased from 10.2 days to 4.2 days
In the study "Therapy Of Ankles Join Distortions With Hydrolytic Enzymes; Results Of Double-Blind Clinical Trials", Dr. Baumuller used enzymes in a double blind study for ankle related injuries and found people could recover up to 50% faster.
In another study entitled “Traumatic Injury In Athletes,” in the International Rec. Medicine, Dr. Lichtmann treated boxers and found that with the use of enzymes, he could drop black eyes from 10 to 14 days of recovery to 1 to 3 days.
These whole system effects of digestive enzymes show that enzymes don't just work on your gut. They work on your muscles and inflammatory markers too.
Three Quick & Dirty Tips to Use Enzymes for Recovery
So it does indeed turn out that those same enzymes you have in your fridge that might help with digestion can also be used pre or post workout. Here are the "best practices" for using enzymes for recovery:
- Take enzymes as early as possible in the day.
- Take a higher dosage (this would 5 to 15 capsules vs. the typical 2 to 5 capsules you'd take before a meal) on an empty stomach, so that they don't have food to "work on".
- Don’t take them all the time, but rather on more difficult workout days, or days that involve “eccentric” exercise that tears up muscle more, such as weight training or running.
Finally, to read up more on the systemic effect of enzymes, check out the book: Food, Enzymes, Health & Longevity by Dr. Edward Howell.
Do you have questions, comments or feedback about how to use enzymes to recover faster from exercise? Join the conversation at http://ift.tt/1PKzcip.
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