But how can this happen to someone?

Let’s concentrate on how these illnesses affect way we value self. Of all of destructive patterns of behavior these illnesses cause, way a sufferer talks to self is fuel that maintains their illness.

I have experienced depression from two sides. For 5 years, a series of traumatic events triggered a personal nightmare I believed would never end. One of these events came when my lover was diagnosed with depression. At this time, I too had entered into spiral of anxiety-induced depression. Both of these experiences have given me an insight into how sufferers destroy any value of self.

Let me give a couple of examples. With my partner, if I’d arranged an evening out with friends, she’d say:

“No, I won’t come, you go without me. I never have anything interesting to say. I just bore people. They’ll find me an effort to be with. I’ll stay here.”

If I made a mistake, I’d say to myself:

“I’m useless. I’m no good at anything. Everything I do I get wrong.”

This self-deprecation then spreads into other areas of life. You begin to criticize way you look, decisions you make or don’t make, and you focus solely on downside of life. Each time a little bit of self-worth, a little bit of self-respect and a little bit of self-confidence are eroded. Eventually, they are lost completely. When I reached my lowest point, having lost everything and everyone I loved, I’d say to myself:

“If I died tomorrow, no one would know and no one would care.”

Part 4. Compare pricing – Calculating cost comparisons

Once you have picked a product that contains enzymes you need to meet your goals, and you see that label lists certified activity units, you have several ways to further compare products. What is cost per capsule?

To find out what cost per capsule is, first find out how many capsules are in bottle from label. Capsules are better because process of making tablets is hard on enzyme integrity or activity. Write this number down as Number of Capsules per Bottle. Next, add price for bottle, any extra discounts, taxes, and/or shipping charges to find Total Cost per Bottle. Now divide Total Cost per Number of Capsules. This gives you Cost per Capsule.

What is activity per capsule? Sometimes it is helpful to compare products by activity per capsule. The product label may already list activity per capsule. You always want to buy a product that lists ingredients by acceptable units for activity, not by weight (such as in milligrams – mg). Weight tells you nothing. You can have 100 mg in an enzyme capsule but if it has zero activity, it is worthless to you. 100 mg may contain 5 units of activity or 500,000 units of activity. You can only compare values for activity if units are identical. FCCLU is not same as LU.

If units are not identical, you need to find conversion factor to get them into similar units. If units are not identical and there is no conversion factor, you cannot make a side-by-side comparison and will need to look at other factors.

The U.S. Pharmacopeia (USP) helped by establishing a standard for pancreatic enzymes (animal-derived) by which you can compare other enzyme supplements, such as plant_ and microbial-derived. This standard is called ‘X’ and contains an equivalent of:

25 USP units of amylase, 2 USP units of lipase, and 25 USP units of proteolytic enzymes If a supplement contains 5X pancreatic enzymes, it would provide five times amount of each of enzymes in this standard, or 125 USP amylase, 10 USP lipase, and 123 USP protease. There is no direct conversion between USP units and FCC units, because they are produced from different sources, using different methods.

How many capsules will you need to take? Compare activity per capsule along with how many capsules you will need to take. Some products say one capsule per mea, other say 4 or more. That can make quite a difference when buying.

Not many products are sold as straight enzyme powder because constantly exposing powder to air can drop activity level. So first doses may have a much higher activity than powder nearer bottom of container by time you actually get around to using it. Generally, one capsule's worth of enzymes equals about one-eighth teaspoon.

ALWAYS check how many capsules count as ‘one serving’ or ‘one dose.’ Just looking at list of ingredients and amount of activity on a label and automatically thinking it is for one capsule is very easy to do. Marketing departments know this too. It may look like you are getting a lot of enzyme activity per serving, however serving size may be more than one capsule. This is a common practice for many dietary supplements, not just digestive enzymes. Also, note how many capsules per bottle. Usually for enzymes, capsules come in increments of 60, 90, or 120.

Cost comparisons may look something like this:

Bio88+ (Plus) 200,000 CFUs at time of manufacture 88 Vegetarian-based certified organic products used to produce enzymes 15 Proprietary Pro-Biotics included 45 days, twice daily, supply for $40

------ 40 cents per serving

from Company A: 24.4 Prozyme Protein 21.1 Prozyme All_purpose (contains some protease) —— 45.5 cents total using 2 capsules for all food groups

from Company B: 24.4 Digestase Alpha_protein 19.1 Digestase Beta_carbs —— 43.5 cents total using 2 capsules, but have no enzymes for fats and sugars

from Company C: 30.0 Foodase Proteins and Sugars 27.8 Foodase Fats 25.0 Foodase Starches —— 82.8 cents total using 3 capsules for all food groups

You can go with one complete product, such as Bio88+ (Plus) or you can mix and match enzyme products, so you do not have to buy everything from one company. Check to see that all products you are considering use a very high standard of manufacturing methods and quality control. All products should use quality ingredients, including sulfite-free papain or a manufacturing method that does not require sulfite. This will not necessarily be listed on label, so double-check from others or manufacturer. You may want to note if products come packaged in gelatin capsules (animal based) or veggie capsules (vegetable based), if this is a concern for you.

You will also need to factor in individual responses. Any individual may have a better reaction to one formulation, but not another for some unidentifiable reason. Nothing in a real laboratory, or what other people with similar symptoms say, can always predict how any individual will respond.

Part 5. What other stuff is in product besides enzymes?