About the Product
Marvelous Nutrition's Super Digestive is a digestive enzyme supplement in HPMC vegetable capsules, formulated with the DigeZyme® Enzyme Complex — Sabinsa Corporation's patented digestive enzyme complex with 5 enzymes covering the digestion of all macronutrients — complemented with Chromium Picolinate for insulin sensitivity and glucose metabolism support. Minimalist and fully transparent composition: waxy corn starch as an excipient + DigeZyme® + HPMC capsule + chromium picolinate. 1 capsule with breakfast. Vegan.
Ingredients: Waxy corn starch + DigeZyme® Enzyme Complex (amylase, lactase, cellulase, protease, lipase) + Vegetable capsule (HPMC) + Chromium picolinate.
Benefits
The role of digestive enzymes in sports nutrition: why athletes with high protein and calorie intake benefit from enzyme support:
The human digestive system endogenously produces a set of digestive enzymes — pancreatic proteases (trypsin, chymotrypsin, elastase, carboxypeptidases), salivary and pancreatic amylase, pancreatic lipase, and lingual lipases — for macronutrient digestion. Under normal conditions and with moderate food intake, these endogenous enzymes are sufficient for complete digestion. However, athletes with high protein intake (1.6 to 2.2g/kg/day of protein, often achieved with multiple protein shakes per day), or with very high caloric intake during a bulking phase, can overload endogenous enzymatic capacity, resulting in incomplete digestion of proteins and carbohydrates — which manifests as abdominal distension, flatulence, post-meal gastrointestinal discomfort, and reduced effective nutrient absorption. Super Digestive provides additional exogenous enzymes that complement endogenous ones and ensure more complete digestion and absorption even with high food intake.
DigeZyme® Enzyme Complex: the patented enzyme complex that covers all macronutrients:
DigeZyme® (registered trademark of Sabinsa Corporation, India) is the same enzyme complex included in Marvelous Nutrition's MUSCLES (WPC80 protein with DigeZyme®), here in a standalone capsule for use with any meal. DigeZyme® contains 5 digestive enzymes with distinct and complementary substrates and mechanisms:
Amylase (alpha-amylase): hydrolyzes the α-1,4-glycosidic bonds of starch (amylose and amylopectin) and complex carbohydrates into short-chain dextrins and maltose. It complements salivary amylase (which acts in the mouth and is inactivated by acidic gastric pH) and pancreatic amylase (which acts in the small intestine). Relevant for athletes with high intake of complex carbohydrates (rice, oats, sweet potato, pasta).
Lactase (β-galactosidase): hydrolyzes lactose (milk disaccharide) into glucose + galactose. It is the enzyme missing in people with lactose intolerance. For athletes who consume high amounts of whey protein (whey concentrate with lactose), exogenous lactase from DigeZyme® prevents gastrointestinal discomfort (cramps, diarrhea, flatulence) associated with undigested lactose fermenting in the colon.
Cellulase: hydrolyzes the β-1,4-glycosidic bonds of cellulose (the indigestible fiber of plant cell walls). Humans do not produce cellulase endogenously — conventional cellulose passes intact through the small intestine and is only partially fermented by colon bacteria. Exogenous cellulase improves the digestibility of soluble fibers and the release of nutrients encapsulated in plant cell walls (such as vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals that are "trapped" inside undigested plant cells).
Neutral Protease: hydrolyzes the peptide bonds of dietary proteins into peptides and amino acids. It complements endogenous pancreatic proteases (trypsin, chymotrypsin) to ensure complete hydrolysis of proteins into absorbable amino acids — especially relevant for athletes who consume large amounts of protein per meal (>40g of protein in a single meal can overload endogenous proteolytic capacity).
Lipase: hydrolyzes triglycerides (fats) into free fatty acids + glycerol for intestinal absorption. It complements pancreatic lipase and gastric lipases to ensure complete digestion of dietary fats, including fats from protein sources (meat, egg, fish) and supplements (omega-3, CLA, fat-soluble vitamins in oil capsules).
Chromium Picolinate: the mineral cofactor of insulin sensitivity integrated into the digestive formula:
As already described in detail in the Recharge section, chromium picolinate improves the sensitivity of insulin receptors via chromodulin (LMWCr), supporting glucose uptake by muscle cells and the management of post-prandial insulin spikes. Its inclusion in Super Digestive is an intelligent synergistic addition: Super Digestive is taken with breakfast (typically the most carbohydrate-rich meal), where the insulin spike is most relevant. Improved digestion (DigeZyme®) and improved insulin sensitivity (chromium) work together to maximize nutrient absorption and utilization from the meal — more glucose taken up by muscle, less deposited as fat.
Waxy corn starch as an excipient: the choice of a low GI carbohydrate as a vehicle:
Waxy corn starch is used as an excipient (bulking agent) for the capsule. Unlike conventional corn starch (with amylose and amylopectin), waxy corn starch is composed almost exclusively of highly branched amylopectin, which makes it faster to digest but with a lower glycemic impact than linear starches. As an excipient, its presence in minimal quantities per capsule has negligible nutritional impact.
Uses
Recommended dose: Take 1 capsule with breakfast. For athletes with particularly compromised digestion or very high protein and calorie intake, 1 capsule can be taken with each main meal (up to 3 capsules/day). Take with food — digestive enzymes act on the food bolus in the stomach and small intestine and have no effect when taken on an empty stomach. 60 capsules = 60 days of use at 1 capsule/day.
