Do Digestive Enzymes Help IBS? with Anjie Liu and David Hachuel

08/09/22 • 41 min

Let's Gut Real - Easy to Digest Nutrition Science

Enzymes are important for any living organism and play a huge part in the day-to-day operations of the human body. Enzymes provide a number of very vital processes – not only for digestion but for the nervous system, muscles, and many other important bodily functions.

This week I interview Anjie Liu and David Hachuel creators of FODZYME® to discuss how digestive enzymes can specifically help with IBS symptoms.

Co-founded by Anjie Liu and David Hachuel, MPH, Kiwi Biosciences is a human-centered biotech company developing elegant scientific solutions for extraordinary gut relief. FODZYME® was developed with a group of world-class experts in enzymology, biotechnology, medicine, and nutrition, FODZYME® was released to the world in Spring 2021. On a mission to make more foods painless, the team is working on a novel polyol-targeting enzyme to address the polyol group of the FODMAP family in development. The new solution will be transforming polyols like sorbitol and mannitol into sorbose and mannose that are more readily absorbed in the gut.

We talk about:

What enzymes are, and how they work in the body
Why certain enzymes are beneficial in IBS
Why FODMAPs cause symptoms
What enzymes are found in FODZYME® (including information about alpha galactosidase, lactase, and inulinase) and what their research has found
How FODZYME® and its unique delivery system works to improve patient symptoms
How the production of fructose occurs with inulinase, and when this may or may not be problematic
Glucose isomerase - is it beneficial to fructose malabsorption? Why or why not
Next steps in novel enzyme development

Connect with FODZYME® on their website at fodzyme.com on Instagram @fodzyme or on Twitter or on their Facebook here as well!

This week I interview Anjie Liu and David Hachuel creators of FODZYME® to discuss how digestive enzymes can specifically help with IBS symptoms.

We talk about:

What enzymes are, and how they work in the body
Why certain enzymes are beneficial in IBS
Why FODMAPs cause symptoms
What enzymes are found in FODZYME® (including information about alpha galactosidase, lactase, and inulinase) and what their research has found
How FODZYME® and its unique delivery system works to improve patient symptoms
How the production of fructose occurs with inulinase, and when this may or may not be problematic
Glucose isomerase - is it beneficial to fructose malabsorption? Why or why not
Next steps in novel enzyme development

Connect with FODZYME® on their website at fodzyme.com on Instagram @fodzyme or on Twitter or on their Facebook here as well!

Previous Episode

How do Eating Disorders Impact Digestive Symptoms? with Jessica Begg, RD

Diet culture has a profound impact on our beliefs about nutrition and health. It can impact our behaviours and may lead to disordered eating which can have far reaching impacts on our bodies ability to digest food and further lead to uncomfortable digestive symptoms.

This week I interview Jessica Begg, RD on how emotional eating and binge eating influences our digestive symptoms.

Jessica Begg is both a Registered Dietitian as well as a Registered Clinical Counsellor. Jessica’s double qualifications make her uniquely suited to helping clients address the psychological issues that underpin their challenges with eating. She has been working in the area of disordered eating and within eating disorders treatment programs since 2006. Jessica works from a trauma-informed, emotion-focused, weight-inclusive and weight-neutral, anti-diet or non-diet approach. Jessica’s approach allows her clients to live their lives to the full by unshackling their beliefs about diet culture.

She is currently living in Vancouver where she practices clinical nutrition counselling.

We talk about:

How Jessica became involved in working with patients with eating disorders
The prevalence of digestive symptoms in eating disorders and what symptoms people usually complain of
Why manipulating the diet, being the knee jerk approach that registered dietitians MIGHT use, may not be appropriate (Especially registered dietitians without eating disorder experience)
The importance of screening for eating disorder behaviours
How emotional and binge eating influences digestive symptoms
Important things to consider/do to reduce emotional and binge eating
How restrictive diets for digestive disorders might trigger binge eating /emotional eating, and the problems with that

Connect with Jessica on her website at shiftnutrition.com or on Instagram or on her Facebook or on Twitter here as well!

Next Episode

Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis and IBD Nutrition with Brittany Roman-Green, RD

Although the etiology of primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) is poorly understood it is a progressive disease characterized by inflammation of the bile ducts.

This week I interview RD Brittany Roman-Green and we discuss primary sclerosing cholangitis, its relationship to ulcerative colitis and what the current research says about it.

Brittany Roman-Green is the founder of Romanwell and is an IBD focused registered dietitian nutritionist, certified personal trainer, and behavior change specialist. Brittany's the national coleader of the diet and nutrition national scientific advisory committee for the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation and the national leader of the registered dietitians in IBD practice group for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Brittany has lived with ulcerative colitis for over 20 years and also has IBS and PSC.

We talk about:

What is primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC)
What are the symptoms of PSC?
Why do people with IBD develop PSC?
Does nutrition influence PSC management?
Nutrition management of IBD, including a discussion about inflammatory foods
The use of restrictive diets and their potential side effects
The 2020 International Organization for the study of IBD guidelines

Connect with Roman-Green on her website at romanwell.com on Instagram @weareromanwell or on her Facebook here as well! You can also checkout their IBD starter kit that's full of tips for advocating for oneself when you have IBD.