NOW Food Digest Ultimate Review

Now foods digest ultimate review - photo of the product bottle

NOW Food Digest Ultimate is an excellent little supplement, and we were impressed with the amount of enzymes they were able to pack into this price. They have a somewhat wide range of enzymes in their supplement, but unfortunately we were unable to verify whether or not they were in enteric coated capsules. Enteric coating is a special kind of coating that is designed to ensure the capsule makes it to the small intestine intact, and the contents aren’t destroyed by stomach acid. Digestive enzymes do their best work in the small intestine, so the enteric coating is important. We always encourage our readers to research *all* the elements of a supplement before they purchase it, including the capsule.

After conducting our NOW Foods Digest Ultimate review we concluded that the product earned an impressive 3 out of 5 on our units of activity scale. So, if you’re willing to take two instead of just one, you might be able to boost the dosage up to about 4 out of 5.

Digest Ultimate
  • OPTIMIZES THE NUTRITIONAL VALUE OF FOODS*: A potent proprietary combination of digestive enzymes produced through controlled fermentation of select microbial species and is stable throughout the pH range of the GI tract.*
  • FULL SPECTRUM ENZYME FORMULA: This full-spectrum digestive support formula helps to optimize nutrient absorption by assisting in the breakdown of protein, carbohydrate, and fat, as well as dairy, grains, and indigestible fibers found in foods such as vegetables and beans.*
  • VEGAN: In addition, Digest Ultimate is suitable for vegetarians
  • GMP Quality Assured: NPA A-rated GMP certification means that every aspect of the NOW manufacturing process has been examined, including our laboratory/testing methods (for stability, potency, and product formulation).
  • Packaged in the USA by a family owned and operated company since 1968.


NOW Foods Digest Ultimate Review — Is It Effective?

When we look at the effectiveness factor for digestive enzymes, we check a few different things. We look at the overall units of activity as well as the capsule — enteric-coated or not? NOW Foods Digest Ultimate earned 3 out of 5 on our units of activity scale for potency. If you wanted to take two capsules instead of one, it might bump the potency up to a 4 out of 5.

That still doesn’t change the fact that the encapsulation is less than ideal though. Although we like that a veggie capsule is used rather than gelatin, they’re still not listed as enteric coated, an oversight which we believe may reduce the effectiveness of the enzymes inside.



Is it safe?

Like most digestive enzyme supplements, we have no reason to believe that NOW Foods Digest Ultimate is unsafe.

However, we did question the health benefits of the added ingredient “medium chain triglycerides”; while it’s not going to cause direct harm, we wonder if it may detract from the overall effectiveness of the product. Some people experience side effects such as soft stool when they first start taking a digestive enzyme, and adding a fat (which is what a triglyceride is) might make that side effect worse.

As always, it’s a good idea to consult your physician before adding a new health supplement to your routine. Pregnant and nursing women should also be sure to speak with their physicians.



How much does it cost?

When we first looked at the price we were impressed… until we looked a little more closely at the label. We realized that while this looks comparable, the enzyme range is just not where we’d like it to be, and the potency level doesn’t compare well to other products on the market in the same price range.

If you’re looking for a budget option, then we can comfortably say you could try NOW Foods Digest Ultimate. But, if you’re looking for the best results, we strongly recommend going with one of our top rated brands.

We also noticed most customers liked the NOW Foods company. We saw very few complaints in the process of our research.

As a side-note, we’d also like to caution against using single-enzyme supplements such as Beano; while these may seem like a good, cheap alternative, they really don’t help you much as far as actually aiding in the absorption of nutrients because they’re not full spectrum.



Summary of NOW Foods Digest Ultimate

NOW Foods Digest Ultimate is overall a decent enzyme supplement and not a bad amount of potency for the price. We were happy to pick them as our #3 brand based off of our overall rating system.
If you are serious about your health, though, we advise going with one of our top-rated brands.

Digest Ultimate
  • OPTIMIZES THE NUTRITIONAL VALUE OF FOODS*: A potent proprietary combination of digestive enzymes produced through controlled fermentation of select microbial species and is stable throughout the pH range of the GI tract.*
  • FULL SPECTRUM ENZYME FORMULA: This full-spectrum digestive support formula helps to optimize nutrient absorption by assisting in the breakdown of protein, carbohydrate, and fat, as well as dairy, grains, and indigestible fibers found in foods such as vegetables and beans.*
  • VEGAN: In addition, Digest Ultimate is suitable for vegetarians
  • GMP Quality Assured: NPA A-rated GMP certification means that every aspect of the NOW manufacturing process has been examined, including our laboratory/testing methods (for stability, potency, and product formulation).
  • Packaged in the USA by a family owned and operated company since 1968.

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