Choosing the Right Digestive Enzymes
A question asked frequently relating to nutritional supplements is how to compare products. This is especially true of digestive enzymes. With so many digestive products available, relying on the labeling units to compare the products can be confusing and challenging.
First and foremost, when you buy enzymes, using the weight (usually listed in mg.), does not reveal anything about the activity units of the enzymes.
Quality enzyme products use the standard FCC (Food Chemical Codex) units of measurement. This establishes the activity levels for the enzymes.
Here’s a handy table to give you some approximate conversion factors.
| Enzyme Name | Common Labeling Units | Conversion |
| Protease | HUT, USP, SAP | 1 HUT = approx. 6.5 USP |
| Amylase | DU | 1 DU = approx. 48 USP |
| Lipase | FIP, LU, FCCLU | 1FIP = approx. 2.5 LU/FCCLU No conversion available to USP |
Major national retail chains offer products listing enzymes only in milligrams (mg) which fails to inform the consumer about the potency of the enzymes. Unfortunately, disclosing metric weight on the labeling is enough for compliance with FDA guidelines for enzyme supplements.
Therefore, to select a quality enzyme product, take care to compare the units of activity to the price. One product may have a higher price, but when you truly compare the activity units, you may need only 1 capsule of a product – instead of 3 or 4 capsules of a competitor product.
Just as important as the potency of the enzyme, is detecting the addition of “fillers.” Many manufacturers use magnesium stearate, silica, either to “fill-up” a standard sized capsule or to prevent caking or clumping.
Dr.Newtons Naturals avoids using inactive ingredients to “fill” a capsule. We are committed to your health, so we don’t substitute with ingredients you don’t need. You may view our manufacturing process and the quality assurance dedicated to our products by visiting www.nulabinc.com