Hi all,
I think I need to start taking digestive enzymes; due to my research i think I have what is known as pancreatic insufficiency..It is reccomended to take digestive enzymes 'Pancreatin'...I need someone to help me out when it comes to deciding the brand of enzyme to take..I of course want all natural and one that has a higher amount of lipases..let me know if you can help me out at all! Thanks!

Hi Ashlee,

Pancreatic insufficiency is a condition I'm all too familiar with

Try Enzymatic brand. They make a vegan enzyme called Digest Gold. It has the highest amount, and largest variety of quality vegan enzymes, but, it's expensive, and you need to take several for complex raw meals, but it really is the best on the market that I have found.

BTW The non vegan enzymes that doctors prescribe are made from ground up pigs pancreas. They are supposed to be more effective then vegan enzymes, but I wont try them.

I wish you the best!

This is a vegan forum.

arugula Wrote:
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> This is a vegan forum.


What part of my post is not vegan?
Perhaps you misunderstood, I was passing on info as to the repulsiveness of non-vegan enzymes.

arugula,

Looking back at my post, I think I wasn't as clear as I could have been.
I apologize to you and anyone else that I might have mislead.

For my crime, I have received an official Notice of Violation from the The Ministry of Clear Communication and Civil Debate, division of Unintended Misrepresentstion of Vegan Ideas.

Here is the first part of the text below:

To Swimmer.

You have been found in violation of the Vegan Communication act of 2007. On this date, you posted in an unclear fashion which could be misconstrued by any person as to not being in full support of a complete being vegan. This is a most serious violation of one of our most sacred rules. However due to your good standing in with the Ministry and your long time commitment to spreading the undeniable superiority of a vegan lifestyle. The normal harsh sentence of forty (40) lashes with a zucchini noodle has been commuted.

It goes on from there with more Ministry legal berries and jargon, but you get the picture. I'm in a bit of trouble here!

It's a darn good thing they gave me a break, cuz all my squash plants got a fungus the year and I had pull them!

Swimmer, my post was directed to Ashlee.

Darn, you mean I got busted by the ministry for nothing? lol

What about my post is not vegan? I had a question that pertained to needing advice, I got that advice and it was very helpful...it had nothing to do with animal products thank you very much

i`m confused. where in ashlees post was it not vegan?

Pancreatin is a mixture of several digestive enzymes produced by the exocrine cells of the pancreas. The pancreas of an animal.

Well you could have better INFORMED me of that and educate me on the matter rather than to call me out as you did...Im a begginner im learning as I go here..advice and direction is greatly appreciated, had I known about pancreatin I would not have asked the question; thanks!

arugula Wrote:
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> Pancreatin is a mixture of several digestive
> enzymes produced by the exocrine cells of the
> pancreas. The pancreas of an animal.

thanks for teaching
patty

I was reading about pancreatic insufficientcy, which I've often suspected that my son has, and I was wondering how one would unclog the mucus in the pancreas? My first guess would be that anything that would unclog arteries would work on the pancreatic clogs too: lemon/limade, grapefruit pectin, MSM.

[health.yahoo.com]
"In cystic fibrosis, mucus clogs the pancreas, and digestive enzymes are not able to get to the intestine. Therefore, food is not properly digested, particularly fats and proteins."

I have heard that water fasting unclogs arteries.

Lillianswan Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I was reading about pancreatic insufficientcy,
> which I've often suspected that my son has, and I
> was wondering how one would unclog the mucus in
> the pancreas? My first guess would be that
> anything that would unclog arteries would work on
> the pancreatic clogs too: lemon/limade, grapefruit
> pectin, MSM.


Lillian,
I'm sorry to hear your son or anyone else has this type of problem. Pancreatic insufficiency is both rare, and very serious. Unfortunately, it's not a temporary condition that you can unclog. The good news is the symptoms closely resemble several more common, less serious conditions, since there are many reasons for non-digestion of fats and proteins. Blood and fecal testing can rule in or out many diseases and conditions such as parasites, food allergies, celiacs disease, and chrones of Inflamed bowel disease (IBD), to name a few.

As a side note, poor chewing habits is actually the most common cause of general non-digestion of foods.

Carbohydrates are the easiest for humans to digest. Non digestion of carbs is associated with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), IBD, and certain parasites.

If pancreatic insufficiency really is found to be present, The potential causes are cystic fibrosis, type 1 diabetes, untreated type 2 diabetes,and, not associated with children, pancreatic cancer (alcohol abuse).

In the case of CF, it's not so much about the clogs, it's about the mucus. Since mucus needs to be present in the ducts to protect against disease. The problem is that a CF persons body continually produces very thick sticky mucus instead of thinner slippery stuff. Since it is a continual process, this will always build up. The pharmaceutical world would say mucus thinning drugs are the answer. Most CF patients take these. Being raw vegan definitely thins a persons mucus, making easier to flow. I'm not sure about specific foods to help that process. Unclogging arteries is not something I've ever studied, so I don't know of the similarities. But who could turn down a good glass of fresh lemon-aide!

In type 1 diabetes, as well as CFRD (cystic fibrosis related diabetes). Pancreatic insufficiency is due to the pancreas not being able to produce from the exocrine side (enzyme production) of the pancreas as well as the endocrine side (insulin production). In this case the ducts may or may not be clogged, but no enzyme can be produced to flow through the ducts. These conditions are all very serious, and should be diagnosed by a doctor.

Please understand I'm not a doctor, and I'm not giving medical advice, just passing along information that I have gathered over time. Insurance companies don't like to approve the sweat tests for CF (multiple are required) and they hate to pay for genetic testing which is often required for parents and children to confirm CF. Both parents must be carriers for CF to be inherited.

This is getting to be as long as a John Rose post, so I'll stop here, but I have more info and links to post if you need them. Just let me know.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/30/2008 11:27PM by swimmer.

Thanks for the info swimmer! I think you're right, pancreatic insuffieciency is rare and I probably shouldn't have implied that he had it or CF. Especially since, thanks to changing his diet, he no longer has super-smelly stools anymore (one of the signs of pancreatic insufficientcy)!



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 08/31/2008 06:09AM by Lillianswan.

Glad to help. In matters of health, the simplest solution is often the best!

If you want to peruse it further, you may want to look at the foods that you eliminated to see if there is a potential food allergy. You're right in thinking that nasty smelling stool is a sign of improperly digested foods. Now comes the hard part...figuring out why, what foods or what food combination causes it.

Ashlee, I believe you should look at food allergies as well.

Let me know if I can be any more help to either of you.