By: William Wong ND, PhD, Member World Sports Medicine Hall of Fame

Those of you who know of my role in teaching the applications of systemic enzymes these last 20+ years know how I feel about them:

"Systemic enzymes are the most important part of maintaining a healthy body; of fighting the processes of both aging and disease; and of undoing the planned obsolescence nature has built into our bodies to make sure we don’t stay on the planet for too very long.

Systemic enzymes are the only non-toxic way of controlling inflammation of every type and from whatever reason. More importantly, systemic enzymes are the only tools available in both natural and allopathic (conventional) medicine for fighting fibrosis. (1, 2 etc.). We have to remember that most all disease names end with one of two suffixes, either the “itis” denoting an inflammation or an “osis” denoting a fibrosis condition. Most of what winds up killing man is either an inflammation (itis), such as heart and vascular disease, diabetes, cancer, trauma, Alzheimer’s or a fibrosis (osis) related event such as a clot caused stroke or heart attack; fibrosis of the kidney, liver or heart valves; age related shrinking of the internal organs; etc. (3) We also have to remember that of the two things that cause fibrosis, inflammation is the #1 major thing that brings about the formation of fibrosis and scar tissue. So control the one and you prevent the further formation of the other."

My pilgrimage through the world of systemic enzymes in learning and applying has been knowledge I’ve shared with anyone who would listen to or read my work. Starting with the worlds first and most widely known systemic enzyme product I became a “true believer” traveling to Germany, learning of systemic enzymes with the enzyme makers there and helping docs and patients Stateside in applying the work that had been researched and proven in German medicine. With almost 200 peer-reviewed studies to prove absorption and therapeutic action, systemic enzymes are an accepted pharmaceutical in most of Europe and Asia (www.enzymescience.com).

So, after pouring over the peer-reviewed studies and speaking to doctors about their clinical experience, I began seeing the potential of systemic enzyme therapy and it became my passion to bring that information to the rest of the world. And that’s exactly what I have been doing for the last 20 years. After just 2 years of teaching the myriad of therapeutic applications of systemic enzymes to healthcare practitioners and consumers worldwide, the sales of systemic enzymes (at that time) increased some 11,200% in the US. And from that came the realization of what systemic enzymes could do and over 70 "new" systemic enzyme products popped up almost overnight! It was fantastic.

Most of those 70 “new” enzyme products were copy-cat-clones of the original "old school" German product, and while some of them had first class (i.e. active) enzymes in them, some of them did not. Still others were not clones of anything but completely "new school" products based on more recent enzyme technology that allowed patients to have stronger results while taking less product. Taking less of a product and gaining good results was better than getting those results by having to take more and I was sold on the "new school" systemic enzyme blends. In my personal usage, given my numerous old injuries and chronic pain, I went from taking 60 to 80 tablets of the older product daily to 30 to 40 capsules of the newer enzyme blend. That was cool!

During these last 20+ years, we have applied systemic enzymes to everything from simple osteo-arthritis to auto immune conditions like RA and MS. (4). In fibrosis conditions they were applied by docs for post-operative scar tissue to Glomerulosclerosis of the kidney and to Pulmonary Fibrosis in the lungs. (5). Plastic surgeons were even preventing the formation of scar tissue and keloids on their work! My teaching work reached even more physicians, patients and ordinary folks who came to understand the physiology and uses of proteolytic enzymes and the "new school" blends of systemic enzymes flourished. And again, more copy-cat products cropped up almost overnight!

In time, as my knowledge of systemic enzymes grew even further, I began to understand that there were advantages and drawbacks to the "new school" blends of systemic enzymes just as there were both with the "old". While both worked well, I felt that the effects of the enzymes could be made better while at the same time taking them could be made easier.

As fibromyalgia / chronic fatigue, and chronic pain patients know; even if it works, taking 20 to 30 of something a day can get to be repulsive even if it’s doing wonders for you. And so I started the quest for a "new breed" of systemic enzyme blends.

It was with these thoughts in mind that I had the pleasure to meet in ’08 with an old and very experienced hand at creating enzyme formulas. This fellow was a Texas born German trained pharmacologist very experienced in the making of systemic enzyme blends. Having the experience of working at Bavarian pharmaceutical companies and making products for the demanding German and Swiss pharmaceutical markets, this gentleman was very well versed in all of the aspects of both making pharmaceutical grade products (the highest grade of drug, herb or supplement product you can use), as well as creating the ways of making that product both absorbable and physiologically effective. Because we are, after all, not what we eat but what we absorb and utilize.

With this PhD’s guidance, I related what I wanted an enzyme product to do and what I would like to see in it. He took my ideas, made suggestions and developed a comprehensive systemic enzyme that filled all of my goals and then some:

1         I wanted my systemic enzyme product to be persistent. In other words, to have a long lasting effect in the body. German medical research shows that animal based systemic enzyme blends stay in the body working for 24 to 36 hours. While Indian pharmaceutical research shows that the purely vegetable based enzyme blends stay active in the body only some 4 to 6 hours. (6,7). So with apologies to my vegetarian friends, our new enzyme blend contains highly active animal based pancreatin instead of the vegetable imitations of pancreatic enzymes. This will ensure “persistence” which is one way of being able to lower the dose that needs to be taken. My experience and the experience of my pharmacologist friend also is that since humans are animals (not vegetables), real animal pancreatin does indeed absorb better and work better than the pancreatin imitations from vegetable sources.

2         Now, not all pancreatin is equal. Most products containing animal based pancreatin are dilutions from the full strength pancreatin. Pancreatin is diluted by cutting it with lactose (milk sugar) until the desired dilution is achieved. According to the US Pharmacopoeia (the US formulary for pharmaceutical grade products) 1X USP has the ability to:

◦                    Digest 25 times its weight in carbohydrates

◦                    Digest 25 times its weight in proteins

◦                    Digest 9 1/2 times it weight in fats.

If 1 X USP pancreatin can do that, then 10 - 12X USP will do 10 times the work! Usually 4X is the lowest dilution found in enzyme blends and finding a product with 10X is rare, though there are some. For my Zymessence™ only full strength undiluted (10 -12X) Pancreatin is used. The added advantage of using a non-diluted pancreatin aside from its strength is that there is no lactose in the product to cause stomach upset in those who are lactose intolerant nor will it interfere with the enzyme activity of the Amylase in the product.

3         In my private conversations with the late Dr. Karl Ransberger, an enzymologist I admired and held up on a pedestal, he related to me that the most important enzyme in a systemic enzyme blend was not the one in the highest quantity but the enzyme with the greatest ability to lyse (eat) away at fibrin; this action is called fibrinolysis. He told me how in enzyme blends the strongest fibrinolytic enzyme acts as the director or a general enhancing the action of all of the other enzymes and targeting their action. So, while part of the Zymessence™ formula would contain a powerful undiluted animal pancreatic enzyme which naturally contains trypsin and chymotrypsin normally found in pancreatin, I wanted to make the strongest fibrinolytic enzyme commercially available, serrapeptase, a part of the formula. Serrapeptase according to the Handbook of Proteolytic Enzymes is up to 12 to 16 times stronger a fibrin eating enzyme than chymotrypsin. And, while I wanted a good stiff amount of serrapeptase in the blend, its milligrams per dose are not as important as its true enzyme activity. Most enzymes sold are the lower-class food grade products and don't have a lot of activity, while higher-class pharmaceutical grade enzymes are an assurance of an enzyme working.

4: The fruit enzymes needed to be more than just window dressing. In most systemic enzyme formulas the fruit enzymes of papain and bromelain are present in low dose / low activity levels.    They are there just for show.   For example in Zymessence, the papain (primarily a fibrinolytic enzyme), is at its strongest potency available with 6 digits of fibrinolytic action. While the bromelain, (primarily and pro inflammatory cytokine eating enzyme) is also at it top potency.  

5: Next, I wanted a systemic enzyme product with my brand name on it to be so strong that folks could take a much lower dose than they had previously needed to take of other products. With the undiluted, full-strength pancreatin in our Zymessence™, when you then add the strength of the serrapeptase and full strength not diluted fruit enzymes over and above that, milligram per milligram 1 Zymessence™ caplet is substantially stronger than several capsules/tablets of any other systemic enzyme blend available at present.

But, since milligrams don't really mean much in systemic enzyme blends anyway and activity can only be determined by use, I always say: "The proof of any pudding is in the eating." When I personally tested samples of Zymessence™ I found its action felt much greater than the "milligram numbers" would suggest: I’m now able to achieve with 3 caplets a day of Zymessence™ what I used to have to take 30 to 40 capsules daily of one product or 60 to 80 tablets a day of another!!! While testing the new product, my wife would catch me reaching, stooping and doing things I would have normally winced at or just couldn't get myself to do at all!  

Most Zymessence™ users will find their dosing range between 3 and 6 caplets per day. So a bottle of 180 enteric matrix caplets will last 1 to 2 months. Only if you have a building fall on you or survive a parachute failure in a skydive should you ever need to use 9 or more caplets a day. Mind you, I am not saying 3 to 6 caplets a few times a day as with other products, I'm saying 3 to 6 caplets total per day tops! As most customers who have used systemic enzymes know, the dose recommendations on the label for most products are not what actually works for reducing inflammation or fibrosis; the suggestions are just there for show as actual working or “Activation Doses” are much higher. The suggested use recommendations on Zymessence™ are what will actually work. Period.

6: Finally, delivery of the enzymes had to be shielded against stomach acid destroying its action so some sort of enteric protection had to be put into the product. Having dealt with enteric coated and non-enteric coated enzymes for a decade, I’ve come to the conclusion that even when the enzymes are cultured to withstand acids, these enzymes are absorbed better and have a stronger action when they are protected against stomach acid. An enteric coating protects things from acids. Acids can destroy some enzymes; real animal based pancreatin and the serrapeptase's specifically, as acid resistant forms of those enzymes have not yet been developed. In most products, the protective enteric coating is just that, a coating on the outside of the tablet or capsule. The problem there is that if the tablets get jostled, bumped or dropped (as can easily happen inside bottles) and the coating is scratched, nicked or otherwise compromised, then it will fail and the enzymes inside will be harmed / killed-off-in-part by the stomach acids. 

With the Zymessence the most modern pharmaceutical grade enteric protection material, a polymer (long chain of molecules) made of plant wall fiber and plant glue (mucilage) surrounds the powder. This creates enteric matrix that runs throughout the Zymessence™. The coating runs through the entire preparation insuring against enteric coating failure. Again, this makes for more enzyme activity getting inside of the intestines where it is safe and alkaline. Once there, the enzymes are absorbed and taken throughout the body.

So based on our own needs, public demand and our clinical and professional experiences, we now proudly present Zymessence™: The only systemic enzyme blend of its kind. Made to exacting standards in our own pharmaceutical grade manufacturing facility. I believe Zymessence™ is the finest systemic enzyme product made. But, since the proof of the pudding is in the eating, try one bottle of Zymessence™ and feel the difference.

References:

1a) Carroll A., R.: Clinical examination of an enzymatic anti-inflammatory agent in emergency surgery. Arztl. Praxis 24 (1972), 2307.

1b) Mazzone A, et al.: Evaluation of Serratia peptidase in acute or chronic

inflammation of otorhinolaryngology pathology: a multicentre, double blind,

randomized trial versus placebo. J Int Med Res. 1990; 18(5):379-88.

1c) Kee W., H. Tan S, L., Lee V. Salmon Y. M.: The treatment of breast engorgement with Serrapeptase: a randomized double blind controlled trial. Singapore Med J. 1989:30(l):48-54.

1d) Enzymes ñ A Drug of the Future, Prof. Heinrich Wrba MD and Otto Pecher MD. Published 1993 Eco Med.

2) Kakinumu A. et al.: Regression of fibrinolysis in scalded rats by administration of serrapeptase. Biochem. Pharmacol. 31:2861-2866,1982.

3) http://www.totalityofbeing.com/FramelessPages/Articles/FibrosisEnemyArt.htm

4) Kunze R., Ransberger K., et at: Humoral immunomodulatory capasity of proteases in immune complex decomposition and formation. First International symposium on combination therapies, Washington, DC, 1991.

5) Heidland A., Sebekova K., Paczek L., Teschner M., Daemmrich J., Gaciong Z.: Renal fibrosis: Role of impaired protein degradation and potential therapeutic strategies. Medical Faculty, University of Wuerzburg, 2 Institute of Preventive and Clinical Medicine, Bratislava (Slovakia), 3 The Transplantation Institute Warsaw (Poland), 4 Institute of Pathology, University of Wuerzburg (Germany). Kidney International 1997, Vol. 52, Suppl. 62, pp. S 32- S 35 343 KA (5-08-3).

6) Oral Enzymes, Basic Information and Clinical Studies, published by Mucos Pharma, 1992, page 28.

7) Exclzyme EN, Clinical Efficacy, Dr. V. Patki, Clinical Pharmacologist http://www.enzymescience.com/Dr%20Patki%20Study/Clincal%20Efficacy.htm