Twinlab super enzyme caps | 200 Capsules | Maximum Strength Dietary Supplement for Ddigestion & Energy Production

I have used this product for many years, taking 1 capsule with each meal or snack. Many companies make this type of supplement. I prefer Twinlab because they have a good reputation and because their product covers all the bases for boosting digestion. This supplement includes both hydrochloric acid, which tends to decrease in the body as we age, and digestive enzymes, which are normally produced by a healthy pancreas. These Super Enzyme Caps contain the Big Three of digestive enzymes: lipase for digesting fat, protease for digesting protein, and amylase for digesting carbohydrates.Millions of people these days are routinely offered prescription antacid medication from their doctors or, on their own, self-medicate with over-the-counter (OTC) antacids for "heartburn," which doctors call "gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD)." In a case of actual GERD, food or liquids in the stomach leak upward from the stomach into the esophagus (the tube from the mouth to the stomach). Many, if not most, doctors do not do actual, clinical tests to determine if a given patient actually has GERD, because essentially all of the tests used to diagnose GERD are invasive, time-consuming and expensive. This has led virtually all doctors these days to automatically, as a first step when a patient comes to them complaining of "heartburn," to prescribe antacids. If the patient's pain gets better, antacids may be given to that patient the rest of the patient's life. In the 20% or so of patients who do not report their heartburn symptoms improve on antacids, the doctor then proceeds to invasive tests.Most doctors realize that obesity plays a large part in GERD-type symptoms, but since helping patients lose weight is not a common part of the medical practice of a gastroenterologist, other than to do an extreme surgical procedure for it, they don't typically address obesity. And even most general practitioners don't immediately urge patients with heartburn toward either losing weight or, for those who are not overweight, looking into other factors of diet or lifestyle, such as smoking and drinking alcohol.Apparently almost no mainstream doctors question what the long-term consequences might be for removing from the body the means to digest food adequately, such as malnutrition and diseases produced by malnutrition over a long period of time.Of greatest concern is that researchers are finding that the risk of esophageal adenocarcinoma is significantly higher among people who use acid-reducing drugs for a long time. These medications simply suppress symptoms of heartburn. They do not cure any existing, underlying disease process and they may, in a life-threatening way, mask symptoms of precancerous or cancerous esophageal cancer. Though esophageal adenocarcinoma is relatively rare, the incidence of its occurrence in the population of the U.S. has jumped six fold in the last thirty years. Many scientists speculating about this data suspect that GERD, brought on by obesity, is very likely to blame.Ingredients list on bottle:Each capsule contains betaine hydrochloride and pepsin to assist in stomach digestion along with papain, bromelain and pancreatin for the most efficient help in the small intestine.Manufacturer's suggested use:Take one or two capsules after each meal. Do not take on an empty stomach.Supplement facts:1-2 capsules per servingAmount per 2 capsules:Pancreatin (equivalent to 2000 mg of pancreatin USP, providing Amylase, 50,000 USP units, Protease 50,000 USP units [trypsin and chymotrypsin], Lipase 8,500 USP units) 500 mgBetaine Hydrochloride 324 mgPepsin NF (1:10,000) 130 mgBromelain (from pineapple) with rice flour 250 mgPapain (from papaya) with rice flour 250 mgOther ingredients:Gelatin, cellulose, medium chain triglycerides, vegetable stearic acid, silica, magnesium stearate. Free of tablet coatings, binders and colors. No yeast, wheat or egg products added.An additional, inexpensive way to boost digestion recommended by many alternative healthcare providers is to take up to 1-2 tablespoons of  vinegar  with meals. It can be used in salad dressing or drunk in tomato juice or  V8 Vegetable Juice .The old-fashioned, home remedy for heartburn is 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda in 4 ounces of water. It also helps with indigestion and nausea. Some  alternative doctors  consider baking soda to have strong healing properties on a number of fronts, which OTC antacids or prescription drugs do not.

As you can see from the other reviews, this product helps issues like IBS and GERD. I actually got to a point where I was taking 2 x 30mg of Lansoprasole (I also tried all the others) and STILL I was having life destroying reflux. I won't go into the horrible specifics and all the dietary changes I made, because if you haven't tried this product yet, today is a positive day for you, and I don't want to spoil it. You have a chance.But which brand should you try? I'm here to help you with that decision. I originally started out taking 'Now Foods Betaine HCl, 648 mg , 120 Capsules'. I have a dramatic review for that product about how it essentially turned my life around that was posted months ago. However, one thing I noticed along the way was that it didn't always work very consistently. I'd buy 3-5 at a time, and I noticed sometimes that when I started a 'different batch', I would be having problems again. A separate review for that product mentioned that he/she tried to put on in a glass of water and noticed that it wasn't dissolving like it should. And to be clear, it should dissolve fairly quickly, the capsule is just there because otherwise it would burn your throat. It should release shortly after entering the stomach.I ran a test comparing:A) Now Foods Betaine HCl, 648 mg , 120 CapsulesB) Doctor's Best Betaine HCI Pepsin and Gentian Bitters, Capsules, 120-CountC) Twinlab Super Enzyme Caps, Maximum Strength, 200 CapsulesFirst, I heated the water to 95 degrees Fahrenheit (close to body temperature) and then dropped in two pill from each of these three products to see what happened (a total of 6 pills). Generally, the results were similar between replicates. Pills from B) and C) started dissolving around the same time, within 2-3 minutes. After 6 minutes, the pills from C) generally broke open and were released into the water completely. The pills from B) broke open around this time too, but not completely. In both instances, one side of the capsule broke open and the other did not. It took another 7-8 minutes for the rest of the capsule to dissolve (13-14 minutes total). At this time, A) showed little signs of breaking open. Even when started poking it with a spoon, only a tiny amount came out of the capsule and went into the water. I want to say that ~25-30 minutes needed to pass before both were completely dissolved.So a quick summary - Time to pill dissolving completely:A) Now Foods Betaine HCl, 648 mg , 120 Capsules -- 25-30 minutesB) Doctor's Best Betaine HCI Pepsin and Gentian Bitters, Capsules, 120-Count -- 13-14 minutesC) Twinlab Super Enzyme Caps, Maximum Strength, 200 Capsules -- 6 minutesI'm not sure how much differently this process occurs in the stomach, which is more acidic but the pill is making less contact with water, but that is what I found. Based on this experiment, the fact that the product seems to work very well, and prior experience with the inconsistency of A), I will be choosing this product for the time being.Apparently, gastric emptying (emptying of stomach to the small intestine) begins just minutes after eating and can last for a couple of hours. If it takes 25-30 minutes for the product to start working, its not helping for the food that gets dumped into your intestines before that occurs. This is a problem. What if the capsule itself gets emptied during that time before ever even breaking open? That's an even bigger problem.If anything changes in the future, I will update this review.

I have never written a review for any product ever. But just had to post one for this product. I have been using it now (2 capsules 3/day) for 2 days. I am so excited to say that it is helping me with 2 major issues. One is acid reflux that has affected my voice and I am a singer. So that is a serious problem. I was prescribed omeprazole and found it to not only not work, but make it worse. I switched to Zantac. But I don't like being on such things. So I decided to try this product because I heard about it on a YouTube video. Oh my! Wow! It has already helped me so very much! I am cutting way back on the Zantac and may go off of that in a day or two.The other major issue I have been struggling with is constipation. I have had this problem for over 5 years. I have tried LOTS of things for this. But nothing really worked. I was about to ask the doctor for a prescription for constipation relieving meds, but now I don't have to!!!! I did not order this product for constipatioin. BUT I am so happy to say that I have been "regular" for 2 days (started to work in just one day!!!). I am just so happy that I ordered Super Enzyme Caps. So very happy!!!!