Say goodbye to gluten and dairy-free diets with Peptizyde

Food allergies are fast becoming recognized as one of the major contributors to physical and psychological illness in the West but Peptizyde a revolutionary plant-derived digestive enzyme may be the first product of its kind to offer relief to millions of individuals crippled with allergies to dairy, wheat, soy and yeast products.

Allergy is widespread and affects approximately one in four of the population in the UK at some time in their lives. Each year the numbers are increasing by 5% with as many as half of all sufferers being children.1 Although poor diet and environmental pollution are thought to be factors, a major contributor accounting for a variety of afflictions from a simple runny nose, itchy eyes and palate to more visible symptoms like skin rashes, hives and even behavioural disorders is the incomplete digestion of certain proteins present in the diet that accompanies conditions like Leaky Gut Syndrome and Malabsorption. Incomplete digestion of food protein by the body's pancreatic enzymes owing to factors like age, disease states like pancreatic insufficiency and food processing which destroys the natural enzyme content of raw foods, can result in undigested protein triggering food allergies, sensitivities and irregular immune response.2 For this reason digestive enzyme supplements are big business and there is no shortage of them on the market containing an assortment of plant and animal derived proteases (protein digesting enzymes) like brome lain, papain, pepsin and pancreatin that can help combat general deficiencies of an overworked pancreas.

But Peptizyde developed by Dr Devin Houston and manufactured by Houston Nutraceuticals in the U.S is a new class of digestive enzyme that supersedes conventional supplements in one significant way. Whereas orthodox digestive enzymes fail to sufficiently break up resistant dietary proteins like gluten and casein found in wheat and dairy products, Peptizyde contains a family of enzymes designed to target their digestion. It has been championed from the work of Dr Karl Reichelt a Biochemist in the U.S. who found that certain pancreatic and stomach enzymes namely pepsin, trypsin and elastase were not only insufficient to break down gluten and casein but could actually mis-digest these problem-proteins into narcotic-like chemicals known as exorphins. Under these conditions exorphins are readily transmitted from the gut, to the bloodstream where they trigger a cascade of immune reactions like inflammation, congestion and swelling. Ultimately they also enter the brain where they can induce anything from dysphoria (low mood) and sluggishness to the serious behavioural problems seen in conditions like Autism, Depression and even Schizophrenia.

Peptizyde contains a combination of powerful enzymes designed to predigest gluten and casein

Peptizyde contains a combination of powerful enzymes designed to predigest gluten and casein while they are still in the stomach. By "pre-digesting" troublesome proteins found in wheat and dairy products prior to contact with pancreatic enzymes in the intestine, it ensures they are broken down and converted to the proper compounds needed for healthy metabolism.2 Fortunately Peptizyde not only deftly deals with the principle allergy-forming foods like wheat and dairy products but it also renders all other problem-proteins harmless such as those present in soy, corn, yeast, beef and eggs. Peptizyde proteases can manage all these different foodstuffs because each has a different specificity for breaking apart proteins. Like extra pairs of scissors cutting at different parts of a ribbon each acts independently so the process is quicker and allows different smaller lengths of "ribbon" to be produced that are not allergenic. Not only that but peptizyde contains DPP IV one of only two peptidases which specifically destroys casomorphin (an exorphin) yielded from incomplete breakdown of dairy products. It also consists of two other peptidases leucin amino peptidase and carboxypeptidase which similarly destroy exorphins remaining from the action of the proteases. Studies published in April last year in the Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry prove that peptidases as an additional line of defence are particularly effective in the enzymatic hydrolysis (breakdown) of casein, soy and gluten proteins and act synergistically to achieve an effect unobtainable with individual enzymes.

One capsule of Peptizyde may be all that stands between the misery of chronic food allergy, a strictly controlled diet and relaxing at ones favourite restaurant.

The benefits don't end with wheat, soy and dairy products. Dr Houston is confident that Peptizyde will be of help to other food allergy sufferers too.

"While we know that gluten, casein, and possibly soy produce exorphins when exposed to pancreatic enzymes, there may be other sources that have not been identified which explains why some do not see much improvement with the diet."

Peptizyde is such a breakthrough product for those suffering with allied food allergies because until now the only option has been to supplement with conventional digestives and implement dietary restriction of the offending foodstuffs. What with pre-cooked and pre-packaged foods dominating the supermarket shelves, shopping on a restricted diet free from common foods like wheat, dairy and soy products is no mean feat. What's more until Peptizyde came along dodging problem foods meant that the allergy sufferer missed out on grains, cereals and other important food groups essential for a balanced diet. Peptizyde is great news for those with multiple food allergies or related conditions like leaky gut syndrome who are often forced to prepare all their own food from scratch. The implications are far reaching: One capsule of Peptizyde may be all that stands between the misery of chronic food allergy, a strictly controlled diet and relaxing at ones favourite restaurant.

As of this writing Peptizyde has only been tested in Autistics but given that the severity of this condition is largely determined by the intake of offending allergenic foods the results speak for themselves. Over 1500 families have tried Peptizyde on their own children and nearly all have reported better focus, awareness, socialization and learning and the absence of any regressive allergic symptoms associated with forbidden foods. Follow up studies conducted by the Enzymes and Autism Board have confirmed these findings with 92% of participants reporting significant improvements in allergic symptoms like anxiety, sleep, aggression, short term memory, problem solving, pain and headaches after 6 months and no regression in symptoms. For this reason the manufacturers claim Peptizyde can produce as good or even better results as a Gluten and Casein free diet and that, they believe, can be extended to other food allergies.2

According to Dr Houston "Peptizyde helps to not only reduce or inhibit the production of exorphins from food proteins, but supports digestion, insures complete degradation of food proteins such that they are not allergenic, and increases bioavailability of food proteins"

To that end Peptizyde may yet also prove to be a promising adjunct in the management of conditions like celiac disease where wheat proteins like gluten and gliadin are responsible for damaging the surface of the bowels. For now though peptizyde will enable those with multiple food allergies forced to avoid forbidden foods to enjoy a normal balanced diet.

Directions for use
Peptizyde comes in bottles of 90 capsules and the recommended dosage is 1-2 capsules per significant meal taken 10-15 minutes before you eat. It is unusual for an individual to need more than 2 capsules at a time. The manufacturers caution that if you have not weaned yourself off gluten and casein containing foods before you use Peptizyde you may experience an "opiate withdrawal" effect similar to but far less intense than heroin addicts going "cold turkey". For this reason you may actually feel worse for the first few days and exhibit symptoms of hyperactivity, sensitivity to pain and stimuli, aggression and sleep disturbances owing to exorphin craving by your body.

References

1. The British Allergy Foundation. What is allergy? http://www.allergyfoundation.com
2. Why Use Enzyme Based Dietary Supplements? http://www.houstonni.com/pages/why_enzymes.html
3. Enzyme FAQ. Houston Nutraceuticals Inc. http://www.houstonni.com/pages/enzyme_faq.html