What you eat matters. Something as simple as eating more fruits and vegetables each day can trigger a cascade of health benefits — a really healthy foods diet similar to the Mediterranean diet rich in fruits, veggies, nuts, legumes, healthy fats and healthy carbohydrate alternatives, has been proven to protect both the body and the brain from illness, even preventing depression.

THE SECRET TO A LONG AND HAPPY LIFE

University of Warwick researchers believe that fruits and vegetables have such a beneficial effect that eating up to eight servings a day could make you happier.l

Only a few years ago, researchers from University College London asserted that eating seven or more servings of fruits and vegetables a day could reduce the risk of death at any given point by 42 percent, compared to eating less than one serving a day.2

Happiness and a long life — who could ask for more? But what if your body isn’t fully equipped to absorb the nutrient-rich fruits and vegetables that you eat?

For many of us, the promise of a full and fulfilling life remains just out of our reach because we aren’t able to digest the healthy foods we eat.

Unfortunately, digestive enzymes in the body decrease with age. And with each passing year, your digestive system may be less able to break down, absorb and utilise the nutrients in the fresh foods you eat, unless it receives outside help.

CHEW ON THIS: DIGESTIVE ENZYMES KEEP THINGS MOVING

Specific enzymes released in the digestive process have their own unique jobs. If you have noticed that your digestion has slowed down with age, as digestive enzymes naturally start to decrease, you may find it harder to digest protein, fat and carbohydrates than it was only years ago.

Three main digestive enzymes are released by the pancreas to help break down food that enters the small intestine: protease to digest protein, lipase to digest fat and amylase to digest carbohydrates.

Supplementing these essential digestive enzymes, along with peptidase and protease to improve gluten digestion, could mean the difference between processing and completely absorbing the nutrients you eat. 3

A full spectrum of digestive enzymes is important to take at each meal to give the body an extra digestive boost for proper breakdown and absorption.
Digestive enzymes taken with inulin, a naturally occurring polysaccharide and prebiotic, can strengthen digestion even further by stimulating the growth of good bacteria in the gut. In 2015, the prebiotic inulin was also proven to promote weight loss and reduce prediabetes risk factors.4

With your health hanging in the balance and your happiness on the line, more efficient digestion may be the answer you have been looking for all along. Even eating the healthiest diet may not be enough if you are not able to digest and absorb the foods you eat.