Physician's Choice

What Are Digestive Enzymes? Where Each One Is Made in Your GI Tract

Updated Oct 23, 2026 · 13 sources

What are digestive enzymes? They are proteins your body makes to cut food into parts small enough to absorb: amylase works on carbohydrates, protease on proteins and lipase on fats.^1,2 Your mouth, stomach, pancreas and small intestine all release them, and the pancreas alone puts out about 1 to 4 liters of enzyme-rich juice a day, Cleveland Clinic says.^1,2,3

Key points

Digestion begins in the mouth, where an enzyme in saliva starts breaking down starches, and the small intestine absorbs most of the nutrients.²
Johns Hopkins Medicine calls the pancreas the enzyme powerhouse of digestion: it makes amylase, lipase and protease.¹
Cells lining the small intestine make lactase and sucrase-isomaltase, which split milk sugar, table sugar and maltose into simple sugars.^4,5
A supplement can add an enzyme the body does not make, such as alpha-galactosidase; prescription pancreatic enzymes are a separate category, sold by prescription only.^1,6

What are digestive enzymes, and what do they do?

They turn a meal into molecules your body can take in. NIDDK lists the end products: proteins become amino acids, fats become fatty acids and glycerol, and carbohydrates become simple sugars, which the body uses for energy, growth and cell repair.² Enzymes share the work with motion, such as chewing, squeezing and mixing, and with bile, a digestive juice from the liver that helps digest fats.²

Even gut bacteria pitch in: bacteria in the small intestine make some of the enzymes used to digest carbohydrates.² Wondering whether enzymes help with bowel movements too? See do digestive enzymes help with constipation.

Where are digestive enzymes made? The enzymes in your GI tract, organ by organ

In four places: your mouth, stomach, pancreas and small intestine. Digestion begins in the mouth, Johns Hopkins Medicine notes, and the pancreas sends its digestive juice to the small intestine through small ducts.^1,2 Here are the enzymes in your GI tract, sometimes called GI enzymes, with where each one is made and where it works.

The main digestive enzymes your body makes. Sources read October 23, 2026.
Enzyme	Made in	Works in	Breaks down
Amylase in saliva	Salivary glands in the mouth^1,2	Mouth, as you chew²	Starches²
Pepsin	Cells lining the stomach, released as a precursor⁷	Stomach, where acid lets it work⁷	Proteins, including collagen in meat⁷
Pancreatic amylase	Pancreas⁸	Small intestine^8,9	Carbohydrates⁸
Lipase	Pancreas, which makes most of the body’s lipase¹⁰	Small intestine¹⁰	Fats¹⁰
Trypsin and chymotrypsin	Pancreas, released in an inactive form^8,11	Small intestine, switched on once they reach the digestive tract⁸	Proteins^8,11
Lactase	Cells lining the small intestine⁴	The brush border, the lining’s surface⁴	Lactose, the sugar in milk, into glucose and galactose⁴
Sucrase-isomaltase	Cells lining the small intestine⁵	The brush border⁵	Sucrose (table sugar) and maltose into simple sugars⁵
Smaller amounts of other enzymes	Wall of the small intestine⁹	Small intestine⁹	Proteins, sugars and fats⁹

The pancreas is the main lipase maker, though Cleveland Clinic notes that the stomach and salivary glands make smaller amounts.¹⁰

What are the main digestive enzymes?

Amylase, protease and lipase, the three that break down carbohydrates, proteins and fats. Johns Hopkins Medicine calls the pancreas’s versions of these the most important digestive enzymes, and names lactase and sucrase as common enzymes made in the small intestine.¹ Protease is a family name: the pancreas makes trypsin and chymotrypsin, and the stomach makes pepsin.^7,11

Enzymes your body makes vs enzyme supplements

Your body times its own enzymes to meals: signals from the stomach and small intestine tell it when to make digestive juices, NIDDK explains.² A supplement adds a set mix of enzymes to the meal you take it with. Over-the-counter blends may hold amylase, lipase and protease, and some include lactase plus alpha-galactosidase, an enzyme the human body does not make.¹

Humans do not make cellulase either, which breaks down cellulose in plant cell walls.¹² Supplement enzymes can come from microbes: lactase, for example, can be made by yeasts or fungi.¹¹

The FDA does not approve dietary supplements before they are sold, but it does regulate their safety, manufacturing, and labeling. Prescription pancreatic enzyme products sit in a different category: the FDA classes them as drugs, available by prescription only and cleared product by product to standardize enzyme activity, for a pancreas condition a doctor diagnoses.⁶ Whether you need a supplement at all is the subject of our page Do I Need Digestive Enzymes?

Which of these the Physician’s Choice Digestive Enzymes label lists

Digestive Enzymes is a broad-spectrum blend designed to be taken with meals to help break down proteins, fats, dairy, and carbohydrates.‡ The label puts it this way: “16 digestive enzymes to help break down food in the stomach”‡.¹³

Its 16 enzymes include types from the table above (amylase, lipase, lactase and three proteases numbered 3.0, 4.5 and 6.0), plus peptidase, glucoamylase and invertase, which works on sucrose.^12,13 It also lists alpha-galactosidase and cellulase, two enzymes the body does not make, plus hemicellulase, xylanase and beta-glucanase for plant fiber, and the protein enzymes bromelain and papain.^1,12,13 All 16 sit in one Digestive Enzyme Blend of 85 mg per capsule.¹³

The capsule also lists a 159 mg Prebiotic and Probiotic Blend, with inulin from Jerusalem artichoke and from chicory, acacia fiber and three Bacillus probiotics; peppermint leaf and ginger root fill a separate 150 mg Herbal Blend.¹³ The label direction is 1 capsule with your largest meal of the day.¹³ See the label. Activity units, enzyme by enzyme, are covered in our guide to reading a digestive enzyme label.

Every lot of every product is tested for purity and potency at ISO/IEC 17025-accredited labs, the international standard for testing-lab competence.

Safety: who should check with a healthcare provider first

If you are pregnant or breastfeeding, are seriously ill, or have a weakened immune system, consult your healthcare provider before taking a probiotic or any other dietary supplement.

Our Kids line includes a Kids Chewable Probiotic, Fiber Gummies, and a Probiotic + Fiber Powder. These are the only Physician’s Choice products we recommend for children under 18, and each should be used according to its labeled age range and directions. Always consult your child’s pediatrician or healthcare provider before starting a new supplement routine.

If you have known allergies, review the product’s ingredient list and allergen information and consult your healthcare provider before purchasing or using it. Most of our products are formulated without the top 9 common allergens, but ingredients vary by product.

Our 60 Billion Probiotic and Digestive Enzymes contain inulin, and our Fiber Gummies contain chicory root fiber; gut bacteria break down fibers like these, which can cause gas.

If bloating is persistent, severe, or feels different than usual, talk with your healthcare provider.

If you experience an adverse event, stop using the product and contact your healthcare provider immediately. Please also notify us at support@physicianschoice.com or 1-877-395-2707. More on what people notice early: our side effects page.

Questions people ask

What are digestive enzymes?

Proteins your body makes to break food into parts small enough to absorb. Amylase works on carbohydrates, protease on proteins and lipase on fats, and the mouth, stomach, pancreas and small intestine all release them.

What produces digestive enzymes?

Your salivary glands, stomach, pancreas and small intestine. Johns Hopkins Medicine calls the pancreas the enzyme powerhouse of digestion; it sends amylase, lipase and proteases such as trypsin to the small intestine.

What are the enzymes in the GI tract?

Amylase in saliva, pepsin in the stomach, pancreatic amylase, lipase, trypsin and chymotrypsin in the small intestine, and lactase and sucrase-isomaltase on the lining of the small intestine. Some people call them GI enzymes.

What digestive enzymes does the pancreas produce?

Amylase for carbohydrates, lipase for fats, and proteases such as trypsin and chymotrypsin for proteins. The Merck Manual notes that they leave the pancreas in an inactive form and switch on once they reach the digestive tract.

What do digestive enzymes do?

They break proteins into amino acids, fats into fatty acids and glycerol, and carbohydrates into simple sugars, parts small enough for the small intestine to absorb. NIDDK notes that the body uses them for energy, growth and cell repair.

The short version

Digestive enzymes are the proteins your mouth, stomach, pancreas and small intestine release to break food into parts you can absorb. Amylase, protease and lipase do most of the work, and a supplement can add enzymes the body does not make, such as alpha-galactosidase.

Sources

How this page was made

Sources fetched October 23, 2026. Label facts: our Digestive Enzymes 60 count label and product page. Written by Physician’s Choice.

‡These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.