Priority One Vitamins

With food — and the page does not say so, which is a real omission. Digestive enzymes only work on the meal they are mixed with, so two capsules immediately before or at the start of a meal is the standard approach. Taken on an empty stomach they do essentially nothing useful. No frequency or duration guidance is given either, so if a practitioner has not directed you, start with your largest meal of the day.

No — treat it as an enzyme product that happens to contain a little probiotic. It supplies 260 million CFU each of Bifidobacterium bifidum and Lactobacillus acidophilus, about half a billion in total, where clinical probiotic studies typically use 10 to 50 billion CFU. Those counts are also stated at encapsulation rather than at expiry, the capsule has no enteric coating described, and the organisms share the capsule with two proteolytic enzymes that can degrade them. If gut flora is your aim, buy a dedicated probiotic.

Possibly, and the page carries no allergen warning. Papain is derived from papaya and is a recognised allergen with documented cross-reactivity in people sensitive to papaya or latex, and a known cause of occupational asthma. Several of the other enzymes come from Aspergillus oryzae and Aspergillus niger, relevant if you have a mould sensitivity, and the gamma oryzanol is rice-bran derived. If you have a latex or papaya allergy, do not take this without clearing it with your allergist.

It can. Slippery elm and marshmallow root both work through mucilage, a gel that coats the gut lining — which is how they soothe, but it also slows and reduces absorption of drugs taken at the same time. Separate this product from any prescription medication by about two hours, and be particularly careful with levothyroxine, which is notoriously sensitive to anything taken alongside it. The page advises consulting a healthcare provider if you take medications; take that advice to your pharmacist with the label.

Ask your doctor first. The good news is that this formula contains no betaine HCl or pepsin, which makes it far gentler than the acid-based digestive supplements that commonly worsen reflux and gastritis — and the slippery elm and marshmallow root are traditionally used precisely for mucosal irritation. However, proteolytic enzymes may still aggravate an actively ulcerated or eroded stomach lining, particularly if you are taking NSAIDs, and the page gives no specific caution on this.

They are activity measures rather than weights, which is why they matter more than milligrams. HUT measures protease activity on haemoglobin, SKB measures starch-degrading amylase activity, DP measures maltase, ALU measures lactase, LU lipase, CU cellulase and Su sucrase. Publishing these rather than just a blend weight is genuinely good practice — an enzyme's mass tells you nothing about whether it works, while its activity does.

None is cited. The page relies on mechanism descriptions and traditional use, and the single statistic it offers — that lactase deficiency affects around 65% of adults globally — appears without a source, though that figure is broadly consistent with published prevalence estimates. The lactase component has the clearest rationale; the rest is plausible but unevidenced for this specific product.

The page states third-party testing for purity and potency and GMP-certified manufacturing, but names neither the laboratory nor the certifying body, and offers no certificate of analysis. For a probiotic-containing product, a COA confirming CFU counts at release would be particularly worth having. Request one through the contact page.

If your symptoms are persistent, worsening, or come with weight loss, blood in the stool, difficulty swallowing, vomiting or anaemia, yes — see a doctor before buying supplements. Coeliac disease, H. pylori infection, inflammatory bowel disease, pancreatic insufficiency and bile acid issues all present as poor digestion and none is treated by an over-the-counter enzyme blend. If you suspect lactose intolerance specifically, that is testable and a dedicated lactase tablet is much cheaper than this.

$60.50 for 120 capsules at two capsules per serving is $1.01 per serving, or about $30 a month if you take it once daily and more if you take it with every meal. That is high for what is delivered, particularly given the token probiotic content. Note the product was listed as unavailable at the time of review, with a notify-me option, and the listing describes a subscription or recurring purchase arrangement.

The page links to a refund policy and a subscription policy without stating either, and gives no shipping information at all. Before ordering — especially on a subscription — read both policies and confirm the return window, whether opened bottles are accepted, and how to cancel a recurring order. No phone number or email is published, only a contact-page link, so establish how to reach the company first.

Yes. Every Priority One Vitamins code listed on smartstorereview is tested before publication and rechecked regularly. Check whether a code applies to subscription orders as well as one-off purchases, and bear in mind this item was out of stock at the time of review.