What is enzyme activity and how is it measured? What is the relationship between enzyme activity and FODMAP breakdown?Updated 7 months ago
Enzyme activity refers to the rate at which a specific enzyme catalyzes a particular biochemical reaction. Often expressed in "international units" (U), it indicates the amount of enzyme required to convert one micromole of substrate per minute under standard conditions. Several factors can influence enzyme activity, including temperature, pH, time, enzyme preparation characteristics, the presence of other substances, and the mode of administration.
Moreover, enzyme activity units correspond to the substrate they target. For instance, enzymes that target Galacto-Oligosaccharides (GOS) are measured in Galactosidase Units (GalUs), while those targeting lactose are quantified in Acid Lactase Units (ALUs). FODZYME contains as much, and in many cases, more GalU and ALUs as common lactose and GOS-targeting digestive enzyme products. However, FODZYME's fructan hydrolase is a novel and first of its kind digestive enzyme. In fact, it is the only enzyme that targets the broad spectrum of naturally occurring fructans. This means there is no standard activity unit to quantify the activity of enzymes targeting fructans. Rest assured, however, that since its release in 2021 FODZYME has safely and effectively helped thousands with fructan-intolerance.
While activity units provide one method of assessing how digestive enzymes like FODZYME can help break down FODMAPs, they can be an unreliable metric due to variability in measurement conditions. A more accurate way to evaluate a digestive enzyme's efficacy is to simulate passage through the digestive tract and quantify the amount of FODMAPs broken down at each stage. This method is precisely how we designed our peer-reviewed research to assess FODZYME's efficacy and establish the recommended dose. Through our research, we demonstrated FODZYME's ability to break down 90% of a 3g dose of fructan under simulated gastric conditions. For more detailed information about these findings, head to our clinical brief.