Hello Dr Herazy,

I have a question regarding the intake of Neprinol and the absorption of proteolytic enzymes. I understand that they need to be taken away from meals. My understanding is that on an empty stomach they act/are absorbed in one way, and with food they act in another way. On your site somewhere you say they they should be taken 90 minutes before or 90 minutes after eating. 90 minutes before eating sounds extreme. Surely they are out of the stomach and on the way to the intestines in a lot less time than that. And by the same reasoning, taking them 90 minutes after eating … wouldn't there still be food in my stomach at that time? 90 minutes before suggests REALLY away from food; but 90 minutes after suggests that mixing it with food then is OK. Can you clarify this a little further. I just want to be sure what I take can be as efficacious as possible. My practice has been to take it 15 to 30 minutes before eating. (At which time I also take other herbs (for other non-PD concerns) that also need to be taken on an empty stomach.  Thanks.

Walter

Greetings Walter,

What you are asking about is called “gut transit time,” or the amount of time it takes for food to pas through the digestive tract, as well as absorption rates for different molecules that pass through the stomach wall. As you can imagine, this is a variable factor from one person to the next. The 90 minute stipulation is a good average for most men following a Peyronie's treatment plan,  but it might far shorter or far longer than it should be for some people; yet, it is a good average.

If you feel that you need to increase or decrease these times for taking Neprinol based on your personal digestion physiology, by all means please do so. Having said that, I would caution you that you should err on the side of assuming there is food in your stomach longer than what you think. Please give yourself a bit more additional time when taking the enzymes before a meal, and give yourself a bit more additional time before you eat after taking the enzymes. The world will not come to an end if you take your enzymes to close to the time you are going to eat, or you eat too soon after taking enzymes, but your therapy will be diminished and Peyronie’s treatment is too important to make this kind of error.

You write that you take your systemic enzymes 15-30 minutes before a meal. That might be perfect for you, but it might not be enough time for the next person. Further, that might not be enough time for your stomach to get the enzymes into your blood stream and into the fibrous tissues. How would you know?

You write that taking Neprinol 90 minutes before a meal sounds extreme to you, but I must wonder what you base that on. All I propose is that you give your gut ample time to get all the systemic enzymes through the gut wall, into the blood stream, and disbursed to start working on the excess foreign protein that is in the Peyronie’s scar. Maybe this can take place in 17 minutes, or 59 minutes, or 90 minutes, no one knows for sure because these particular digestive enzymes have never been studied for absorption times or delivery times. So why not make sure you allow enough time to allow it to happen so you get the best results from each and every dose you take?

If all you are doing is using that “full stomach” sensation to judge if food is still in your stomach you might be incorrect. Many people have food still being digested for hours after a meal – they might be exceptions, but it does happen. Further, gut transit time – the time food stays in the stomach – changes in the same person from one meal to the next depending what kinds of fats, carbohydrates and proteins are in each meal, and changes based on your emotional state, how well or poorly you chewed your food, how physically active or rested you might be at that time, how warm/cold you are, and other factors.

Lastly, let me guess that your question is not based on the usual situation in which you can control your food and enzymes schedule perfectly. I will guess you are asking this question really based on those days when your schedule for eating, working, and taking a handful of different therapy items is totally out of your control. We all have too many of those days when we forget to take Neprinol 90 minutes before we eat, or we absolutely will not be able to take the Neprinol 90 minutes after we eat. What do we do then? When we cannot allow ample time to take systemic enzymes on a good schedule because of forgetting or something we cannot control, what should we do? Do the best you can. Then promise yourself that the next dose will be taken at a better time to allow for better absorption and delivery. That is all you can do.

Give your gut ample time to empty food, and to absorb Neprinol, so as to maximize the ability of Neprinol and other proteolytic enzymes to the target Peyronie’s disease fibrous scar material.