WHAT IS A DIGESTIVE ENZYME?
The job of a digestive enzyme is to break down food during the digestive process. The intestine is more able to absorb food, which is thus broken down into smaller units, and the rest of the body is more easily able to utilize food, which is in this form. There are three basic types of digestive enzymes, one for each class of food: lipase for fat, protease for protein and amylase for carbohydrate.
A digestive enzyme helps in the breakdown of food into smaller particles that can be absorbed by the body. Digestive enzymes are found throughout the digestive tract, from the salivary glands, through the stomach to the lower intestine. These enzymes are found in both animals and humans, although they are present in different levels of concentration and strength. There are four main sites of digestion in the human body, and each location has a different gland that secretes a different digestive enzyme. The oral cavity, or mouth; stomach; duodenum, or large intestine; and the jejunum, or small intestine are the locations within the digestive system where the enzymes are secreted. In the oral cavity, or the mouth, the digestive enzyme is secreted by the salivary glands. These enzymes break down starch into sugar. These first level digestive enzymes are mixed in with saliva and act quickly to start this chemical process in the first stage of digestion. Within the stomach, there are glands
