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..

Great product. Can eat some pasta again!

I really like this product. It works very well. The only thing I dislike is that for me, having a gluten allergy, it doesn’t work with just one pill when I eat gluten, I have to take two for it to actually do what it is supposed to do.

Helps with digestion of wheat containing products. Doesn’t specifically digest gluten.(According to my physician)Does provide me with less symptoms after ingesting wheat while using it, but, I am sensitive to wheat, not celiac.Will not help celiac.

It really worksI can’t eat without it!

Recipe had changed. My old pills are more darker than these new pills. Bottle looks the same but pills isn't the same. Disappointed.

Excellent product. But beware price hikes. 60 capsules shouldn't cost more than $12. Price check before you buy!

My body is hard to treat, even by medical professionals, so don't take this personally. I like the NOW brand. It's trustworthy, but this product is a sometimes works sometimes doesn't thing for me. I'm still using it and will continue to do so because when it works in my body, it's great.