Can dietary supplement digestive enzymes be taken long-term by women?

For the vast majority of healthy women, dietary supplements of digestive enzymes are not recommended for long-term use without indications. Only those with clear indications can take long-term supplements under medical guidance.

A while ago, I met a 28-year-old Internet planning girl who always eats takeout while rushing for projects. She always suffers from abdominal bloating and acid reflux. She bought a celebrity digestive enzyme and took it for half a month. Her stomach was no longer bloated and even her constipation was much better. She regarded this product as a "gastrointestinal protection umbrella" and took two pills with every meal. After eating for more than three months, she accidentally forgot to take it with her for two days without eating. She was so bloated that she couldn't stand up straight, and her constipation was even worse than before. She went to the gastroenterology department for a check-up. The doctor said that due to long-term supplementation of exogenous digestive enzymes, her own pancreas' function of secreting pancreatic enzymes was a bit "lazy", and she had to slowly adjust to recover.

Of course, this does not mean that long-term consumption of digestive enzymes will not work in all cases. For example, women with congenital lactose intolerance can avoid diarrhea by taking a lactase-containing supplement every time they drink milk or eat dairy products. This long-term consumption is completely fine.； There are also women with chronic pancreatitis, pancreatic insufficiency, or women who have undergone gastrointestinal and pancreatic surgery. The digestive enzymes they secrete are simply not enough. The doctor itself will require long-term supplementation of exogenous enzymes. This is a therapeutic need and is completely different from ordinary people taking it as health supplements.

I also took digestive enzymes for a while when I was working on a quarterly project two years ago. At that time, I kept going for almost half a month. Every meal was takeout with heavy oil and salt. After eating, I sat down to change the plan. Every afternoon, my stomach was as bloated as a small rubber ball, and even my belt had to be loosened. After taking digestive enzymes for less than a week, I recovered, and then stopped, and I didn’t have any dependence. In fact, to put it bluntly, exogenous digestive enzymes are like "temporary helpers" for the gastrointestinal tract. If your digestion function is temporarily offline due to eating too much meat or fish or being stressed, it is no problem to call it over to help. If you let the helper do all the work every day, your own digestive function will be "use it or lose it".

I have met many girls before who bought digestive enzymes for the purpose of "losing weight", thinking that eating them can decompose the fat in food, and you will not gain weight no matter how much you eat. In fact, it is a complete misunderstanding. Additional digestive enzymes will only decompose food more thoroughly, but will increase the absorption rate of nutrients. If you don't control your mouth, you may gain weight faster than if you don't eat. Don't believe this exaggerated propaganda.

If you encounter special cases of poor digestion during pregnancy or lactation, don’t buy digestive enzymes on your own. Many complex digestive enzymes contain ingredients that promote gastrointestinal motility, which may not be suitable for pregnancy and lactation. You must first ask your obstetrician before deciding whether to take them.

In fact, the fresh fruits and vegetables, fermented yogurt, and natto that we usually eat contain many natural enzymes. As long as the diet is regular and the gastrointestinal function is normal, it is completely self-sufficient. There is really no need to supplement it every day.