Do you need extra protease on a high-protein diet?
Not established as a routine need — two small, acute randomized trials found that the same proprietary microbial protease blend increased postprandial amino acid availability when taken with pea or whey protein, but neither trial measured a long-term clinical benefit, better tolerance over time, or a routine need for extra protease in healthy adults.
Quick answer
Best suited for
- People curious about the plausibility-based case for extra protease on a high-protein diet, understanding it is not proven as a routine practice.
It is unlikely to help with
- Healthy adults expecting proven long-term benefit, better tolerance over time, or reduced GI symptoms from added protease — the available randomized trials measured a short-term blood marker, not a clinical outcome.
- A substitute for prescription pancreatic enzyme replacement therapy in people with a genuine enzyme deficiency — see the EPI guide for that distinct, medically-managed situation.
What to compare on the label
- Activity unit — Look for HUT (Hemoglobin Unit on a Tyrosine basis) at the labeled serving size.
- Underlying need — Consider whether there's an actual diagnosed deficiency (EPI) versus a general high-protein-diet rationale — the evidence base differs sharply between the two.
Where to find it
Nature's Sunshine — Nature's Sunshine Protease Plus
Single active-enzyme formula — protease is the only enzyme in the product; beet root fiber and trace mineral concentrate are inert excipients, not additional enzymes. Activity is labeled in HUT, the unit this guide's own comparison-criteria section tells readers to look for. This reflects the manufacturer's own published label (naturessunshine.com), not Enzyax's independent lab testing — we have not run our own potency assays on any product. Noted here strictly as a documented purchase option matching this guide's own evidence section; not a recommendation, ranking, or dosing guidance, and not an endorsement of the manufacturer's separate immune-system marketing claims, which this guide does not address.
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What the body already does
Healthy digestion already produces protease in two places: pepsin in the stomach, activated by stomach acid, and a set of pancreatic proteases (trypsin, chymotrypsin, and others) released into the small intestine. In someone with normal pancreatic and stomach function, protein digestion capacity is substantial and scales reasonably well with intake.
What the randomized trials actually found
Two small, acute randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover trials in healthy adults tested a specific microbial protease blend taken alongside a single serving of pea protein or whey protein. Both found the protease increased postprandial plasma amino acid concentrations — a short-term blood marker of how much protein-derived amino acid entered circulation — compared to the same protein taken with a placebo.
Neither trial measured, and neither found, a longer-term clinical outcome: better digestive tolerance over weeks or months, improved muscle protein synthesis, reduced GI symptoms, or any benefit beyond that single-meal blood marker. Both were single-dose, acute studies in healthy young adults, not trials of routine daily supplementation.
Both trials also tested the same proprietary microbial protease blend and were funded by its manufacturer, with company-affiliated researchers involved in the more recent one — so they shouldn't be read as two independent replications of the same finding by unrelated research groups.
Where the supplement claim gets thinner
The specific claim that healthy adults on high-protein diets need additional protease beyond what the body already produces is not established by this research. The two trials above show the enzyme measurably changes one acute blood marker when paired with a specific plant or dairy protein — they don't show that healthy adults routinely need it, that it improves tolerance over time, or that it produces a meaningful clinical benefit beyond that marker.
This doesn't mean protease supplements do nothing for everyone — people with a genuine underlying deficiency have a real, medically-managed need for enzyme replacement. But that's a different population and a different product category (prescription PERT) than an over-the-counter protease capsule marketed to healthy high-protein eaters.
Our editorial position
We treat "protease for general high-protein digestion support" as a limited-evidence claim: a couple of small, acute trials show a measurable short-term effect on amino acid availability with specific protein sources, but that's a narrower and more recent finding than either "it works" or "controlled research doesn't support it" would suggest. Neither phrase fits what's actually been shown.
- If you suspect an actual enzyme deficiency rather than just a high-protein diet, that's a medical question — see the exocrine pancreatic insufficiency guide.
Sources: General digestive physiology (pepsin, pancreatic proteases) — standard, well-established clinical knowledge; no single citation is attached because it is not a contested or novel claim; Paulussen et al. (2024), "Acute Microbial Protease Supplementation Increases Net Postprandial Plasma Amino Acid Concentrations After Pea Protein Ingestion in Healthy Adults: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial" — PubMed 38467279 (Industry-funded (BIO-CAT, Inc.)); Huang et al. (2025), "Acute Effects of Oral Microbial Protease Co-ingestion with Whey Protein on Postprandial Plasma Amino Acid Concentrations, Appetite, and Satiety in Healthy Adults: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled, Crossover Clinical Trial" — PubMed 40675336 (Industry-funded (BIO-CAT, Inc.); some authors are company-affiliated). Last reviewed: July 29, 2026.