NOW Foods Supplements, Gluten Digest with BioCore®DPP IV, Gastrointestinal Support*, 60 Veg Capsules

I have been treating myself for intestinal hyperpermeability, or "leaky gut", my holistic doctor diagnosed me with, and was concerned when I learned that many who have this problem have or develop gluten and/or dairly sensitivities or intolerances. "Leaky gut" is where the GI enterocytes, the cells that line the intestinal tract, are damaged to the point where they lose the "tight junctions" between them that usually prevent food particles, bacteria, and immune complexes (often created from exposure to gluten) from entering the systemic circulation. When this happens, it leads rapidly to systemic inflammation and sometimes even autoimmune diseases where the body's own immune system attacks the body's own tissue and organs. This is how I was diagnosed was my doctor discovered I had Hashimoto's autoimmune thyroiditis, a form of hypothyroidism, and the "leaky gut" is either a culprit of contributing to causing the disorder, or at the very least a result of any autoimmune disorder because of the abnormal inflammatory response. Sometimes immune complexes formed to gluten in the intestinal tract leak into the systemic circulation and directly cross-react with various tissues in the body, such as the thyroid gland, triggering the autoimmunity. The only way to tell if gluten sensitivity is a factor is to more basically closely monitor for dietary reactions to gluten, or to dairy, which is another culprit, or more gung-ho to do a major dietary overhaul on a trial basis by eating gluten and/or dairy free for a few months and then rechallenging the gut with those antigens again to see if there is a negative reaction.. I wasn't aware of having any food intolerances, and had few to no GI signs except for some acid reflux, and so I started out with continuing to try to eat as healthy and mindfully as possible, and didn't eliminate any foods right away, paying close attention for any consistent adverse reactions. Anyone with "leaky gut" has a good deal of dysbiosis, maldigestion, and malabsorption, so I started out treating myself with good strong probiotics (Hyperbiotics PRO-15 regular strength 5 billion cfu "pearls" three times daily at first, then switched to Hyperbiotics PRO-15 Advanced Strength 15 billion cfu once daily) and broad spectrum digestive enzymes (first I used Doctor's Best digestive enzymes) after every meal, for a month, and I noticed a good deal of improvement in reduction of acid reflux, and better digestion and absorption of different foods, as well as vitamins, minerals, and other supplements I was taking, just from these changes. (Drinking skim milk had started bothering me a little initially but this went away quickly - this is the distinction is temporary and changing food sensitivities can be the norm as a result of "leaky gut", not necessarily implying they are the cause, especially if they are new). I added Betaine Hcl with Pepsin (NOW brand) as another enzyme supplement and a gastric acid supplement to help with the acid reflux (Google GERD and low stomach acid - it's counterintuitive), and then learned about Gluten Digest, which I thought also could help me better digest proteins that I might be starting to have trouble digesting, even though I had no obvious symptoms of this. Low stomach acid alone is enough to cause dysbiosis, maldigestion, and malabsorption, and "leaky gut", and this is made worse by taking acid reducers such as the omeprazole I had been taking, along with the NSAIDs I had also been taking. I reasoned that since with "leaky gut" actively affecting you it was common to develop new food sensitivities even if there were none to begin with, that taking the Gluten Digest might give me the help I needed to digest gluten for long enough so my intestines could heal without forming any more immune complexes or new food sensitivities. I took all three - Doctor's Best Enzymes, Betaine Hcl with pepsin, and NOW Gluten Digest, one capsule each, after every meal, and my digestion seemed to improve further, especially since I the Betaine Hcl had allowed me to wean off the omeprazole, I added to the supplements I was taking licorice root (Nature's Way), aloe vera gel caps (NOW), and slippery elm (NOW) all to help soothe and heal the GI tract, and these three also further reduce acid reflux. I had already stopped the NSAIDs and started taking MSM (Jarrow) and Meriva Turmeric root (truNature by Costco) for my arthritis instead. I started taking the amino acid L-glutamine (Jarrow) 1000mg two tablets three times daily, which is a direct treatment for "leaky gut" because it is absorbed by the enterocytes on contact to help them heal the "tight junctions", and this time I especially noticed another clear improvement after a few weeks of this in my absorption of nutrients, vitamins, minerals, and supplements, even further. Finally, after three months of treating my GI tract and my intestinal hyperpermeability, continuing all the above interventions and supplements as described, including all three enzymes, and after two months total on the Gluten Digest enzymes, I no longer noticed any of the occasional signs of trouble with milk or carbs I had noticed occasionally in my hypervigilance, and I decided to try to wean off of the Gluten Digest, to see if my digestion really had improved enough to not need it. I noticed that I didn't do as well for the first few days, but then discovered that doubling up on the Doctor's Best broad spectrum digestive enzymes and continuing the Betaine Hcl, both after meals, seemed to work just as well, and my body seemed to adjust smoothly. The Doctor's Best enzymes do not contain any specific enzymes to break down gluten, but it seemed that just the extra support for over all digestion was enough by this time. I just switched to NOW Digest Ultimate/Platinum, which is another even more broad spectrum enzyme supplement with stronger amounts of the different enzymes (not to be confused with the several other lower quality enzyme mixtures NOW offers) to see if one capsule a day after each meal will be enough, but I am convinced I am OK now without the Gluten Digest (even though if I start to have trouble I know where to get it quick for a couple more months). I think my use of this product is probably quite unusual compared to most based on what I read in the reviews, and I don't know for sure I did the right thing compared to adopting a trial of a gluten and dairy free diet, as is usually recommended, to detect existing sensitivities and prevent development of new ones. But I used the reviews about how effective this product is for even people with full-blown Celiac disease, which I know I don't have, to know how powerful it could be, to come up with my plan. I knew I needed a way to tide myself over until my gut started healing without drastically changing my diet, but without producing any new antigenicity. I really had no consistent symptoms of poor response to any particular food - they would come and go and were so mild I thought I was making myself crazy worrying. But I know along the way the past couple months this product has made some kind of a difference, and I feel I did the right thing now that I have been able to wean myself off of it. I do recommend this product, and if I have a flare up and need to use it again, I would not hesitate to purchase and use this product for another period of time to allow my "leaky gut" to heal further, since full healing can take many months, and I strongly believe this product does what it says it does, which is impressive and useful especially in my case. Note that if I believed I had an existing gluten sensitivity or intolerance to start with, I would never recommend using this product in this way, as damage would still be happening to the intestinal tract on a microscopic level, but I was using it to prevent developing a sensitivity during a fragile period of healing while my gut was still too "leaky" to handle things on its own. Most people with known sensitivities or intolerance to gluten should only use the Gluten Digest for occasional use where cross-contamination of food may occur, i.e., where they don't always have full control over what is truly in what they eat such as in a restaurant. The most crucial thing is to avoid gluten altogether, difficult as this may be. I have mentioned dairy intolerance, too, meaning not lactose intolerance but intolerance or sensitivity to dairy proteins which become antigenic as well. NOW also makes a product called Dairy Digest for those types of situations, although I never used it, and it is unfortunate they don't make a combined product like another brand does (Pure Encapsulations - much more expensive). I do highly recommend this product for whatever you decide is your appropriate use. It clearly works and works well, and I suspect works best when combined with good broad spectrum digestive enzymes used on a regular basis..

Works well

I do not have celiac disease, but my gluten allergy gives me nausea, upset stomach, and, oddly, painful sore joints, especially fingers and toes. Taking these really minimizes the symptoms--it's not a cure, but it's helpful for dining out, or when I just can't resist a craving (Pizza Hut is my kryptonite). However, taking just one pill doesn't help nearly enough. I take one pill at the start of a light-gluten meal, one at the start and one in the middle of a more gluten-y meal, and one before, during and after a gluten overdose, like a Pizza Hut meal. That's pretty effective for me. It cuts out most of the stomach upset and all of the bloating, and the joint creakiness is still there, but without the accompanying pain. For now, they're effective enough (and I'm trying to save money), so I'll probably stick with these for awhile, but long-term, I'd like to try some of the other, often more expensive brands, to see if a more complete solution is out there. It's definitely worth a try, though!

These are great if you have a gluten intolerance. We have family dinners often with 20+ people and I'm the only one with a gluten intolerance. As much as you hope there won't be cross contamination, it's really difficult unless everyone is on board and super careful. This is a blessing to have so that you don't have to worry about cross contamination. I take these at family dinners where there is a lot of passing of foods and utensils (taco buffet sort of deal) or restaurants. I never had an issue when I took these before a possible cross contamination meal.

Different people will have different experiences. I have a gluten intolerance, this arrived a few hours after i got glutend and i took one anyway its easy to swallow. The next morning i felt good with no pain or bloating. I got a huge blueberry muffin from the gas station and ate it after taking the pill, my stomach hurt a little for about an hour but now i feel fine. Its nice to have freedom back, i wouldn't use this daily, only for special occasions but its amazing. I highly recommend trying it for yourself just be careful. Edit: i took 2 pills and ate a honeybun before going on an hour walk. The gas station bathroom, wreaked. Im dying on my own toilet now. I guess results very

DIAGNOSED CELIAC DISEASE- As other reviewers stated this product is not a "get out of glutening" free card. I use this when I go to a restaurant and I'm 98% sure my food is going to be definitely gluten free but don't want to risk symptoms from cross contamination. This will not prevent you from getting glutened but does minimize the symptoms if any accidental cross-contamination should occur. There is a Chinese restaurant in town that I like to go to and I order sauteed broccoli & brown rice, they do have gluten free soy sauce and make the sauces by hand in the establishment but I don't always trust it 100% so I take these when I eat out and usually don't have a problem. I gave the product three stars because I believe consumers should not be fooled into eating gluten-containing products and thinking this is a magical pill to help their bodies process that protein. A strictly gluten free diet is the ONLY treatment for celiac disease. I bought these so that if I'm on a date I don't spend half of it in the bathroom praying to Buddha! They have worked so far for that purpose of minimizing symptoms for accidental cross contamination.

I have gluten ataxia, where I get skunk drunk from eating gluten. It’s the ultimate ultra cheap three day hangover. 🙄 I lived in mortal fear of all food for the first two months after finally figuring out what was wrong with me. After realizing how good I could feel once I cut out gluten/dairy/sugar/nitrates/chemicals I was not willing to ever go back to drunk land. No eating out whatsoever, found out the hard way that gluten can be hiding in anything. After doing some serious digging in the medical research stacks, I found reasonable evidence that the active digestive enzyme in this supplement may be able to help me. I have learned a few things. - I need to take the pill at least 5 minutes prior to eating stuff. Give it time to dissolve and be ready. If I take it with the offending food or after, it’s useless. -for me it is not a miracle pill, dang do I wish I could eat pizza with this baby, but no. But it seems from my reactions to stuff that my level of sick/inflammation/allergy(whatever label you want to slap on there) is still pretty severe. My body still needs to heal. Maybe someday pizza is in my future, just not right now. However, this pill does keep me feeling good if I eat stuff that has hidden gluten in it. I could eat off the gluten free menu at Red Robin without getting sick, finally. One last side note? I was able to heal my body completely last summer with the GAPS intro diet, as hard as that was. My nerve pain was so bad that it interfered with walking normal, and I’m a young mom. It totally worked, even though it was really hard. After completing the gaps intro diet, I kept the main offenders (sugar gluten dairy nitrates chemicals) to a minimum and felt great. Then I fell off the bandwagon at Christmas. My body crashed hard in January, and that’s when I really started logging symptoms and connecting dots that led me to gluten ataxia, along with the other stuff that also irritates. I will go back to the Gaps diet again this summer when life calms down a touch because I felt so great on it and after three months on ‘The intro to gaps’, I could be so much more free in what I ate as long as I was careful. Look on amazon for a book called ‘What Can I Eat Now?, 30 Days on the Gaps Introductory Diet’ by Cara Comini, very helpful, especially when you feel wretchedly sick and just can’t think straight. For me, having gobs of energy and full brain processing power was totally worth the sacrifice of my taste buds.

We've been taking them for a few months now because my doctor recommended them, and honestly, they are worth it. They make me feel great and I can tell the difference.