Guide

Does MassZymes work? The 18 enzymes, what the brand’s studies cover and the trials of other blends

BIOptimizers MassZymes is a vegan capsule of 18 digestive enzymes from a Reno, Nevada supplement company, taken with meals. What sets it apart from the other enzyme bottles is the protease figure the brand leads with, 322,000 HUT per serving. What it does not have is a trial of its own, and the studies listed on its page are about other things.

What MassZymes is, and what the label prints

The bottle is marked Version 4.0. A serving is 3 capsules, and the 120-capsule bottle holds 40 servings. The brand’s own page shows the Supplement Facts only inside marketing graphics, so we read the panel as text from a reseller listing (Dr. Hyman’s store). Its protease total matches the brand’s claim.

The panel groups the enzymes into two proprietary blends. The Protease/Peptidase Blend weighs 213.9 mg and lists a neutral/alkaline protease at 172,000 HUT, a Bacillus subtilis protease at 143,000 HUT and peptidase at 7,000 HUT, which add up to 322,000 HUT of protease per serving, the number on the brand’s graphics (HUT is a unit of protein-digesting activity, not a weight). The Enzyme Blend weighs 357.6 mg: fungal amylase, bromelain (1,800,000 FCCPU), alpha-galactosidase (475 GalU), glucoamylase, lactase, four lipases, invertase, phytase, pectinase, hemicellulase, cellulase and beta glucanase. Each enzyme has an activity figure, but the blends carry only a combined weight, so milligrams per enzyme are not printed.

The other ingredients are rice flour, hypromellose and organic rice fiber. The brand says vegan, gluten-free, soy-free and dairy-free. It cites “80,000+” in-house lab and quality tests; we found no named independent laboratory or NSF or USP mark. Version 3.0 contained a blend called AstraZyme that is not on the 4.0 panel; we found no human trial of it.

The brand’s comparison and claims

The brand’s table is footnoted “based on label-declared ingredients; no claims are made regarding relative efficacy or health outcomes.” Its ads turn it into “4x more protein breakdown power than competitors” (322,000 against 80,000), and a graphic says “300% more digestion”. The comparison is of activity units on labels, not of how people feel.

The trial of the product itself

There is no trial of MassZymes. A PubMed search for MassZymes or BiOptimizers returns one record, a 2026 rat study of a different BIOptimizers product, magnesium. The brand’s page lists eight “Scientific Studies”. By title they cover wound debridement (Sinclair 1994), muscle soreness and exercise recovery (Beck 2007, Marzin 2017), intestinal permeability in children (Mack 1992), endotoxemia and cognition (Andre 2019), wound healing in aging (Blair 2020), a bromelain review (Pavan 2012) and enzymatic processing of rice bran (Vallabha 2015). None is a trial of a digestive enzyme for bloating, gas or dyspepsia. The page’s own FAQ says clinical research on enzyme blends “also suggests support for exercise recovery”.

The evidence for enzyme blends

The closest evidence is for other multi-enzyme blends, at other doses and with other makeups. A 2023 trial gave 120 adults with functional dyspepsia either 2 capsules a day of a fungal-fermentation blend (200 mg per capsule, 400 mg a day) or placebo for two months; dyspepsia, pain and sleep scores improved against placebo with no side effects reported (Ullah et al., 2023). A 2018 trial gave 40 patients the DigeZyme complex at 50 mg three times a day or placebo for 60 days, and all five dyspepsia scores improved against placebo (P from .0401 to .0033); its authors work for Sami/Sabinsa, which makes DigeZyme (Majeed et al., 2018). A review of 60 years of multi-enzyme trials for IBS-like post-meal symptoms found success generally reported, but no study that linked a symptom to a component (Graham et al., 2018). We found no systematic review of digestive enzymes for bloating.

The two blends in MassZymes weigh 213.9 + 357.6 = 571.5 mg per serving, against 400 mg and 150 mg a day in those trials. Milligrams do not compare across blends, because the enzyme activities of the trial blends are not in the abstracts.

Alpha-galactosidase (475 GalU per serving) has its own trials, on a single enzyme with bean or high-GOS test meals. In 31 people with IBS, 300 GalU with high-GOS meals cut bloating in the 21 who were GOS-sensitive (20.5 against 6.5 mm, placebo against enzyme, P=0.017) (Tuck et al., 2018). In 20 people with IBS, 1,200 GalU per meal was “not superior to placebo” (Böhn et al., 2021). The label dose sits between the two doses.

How to take MassZymes

It is not a once-a-day product. The brand page says “Take 1-3 capsules before each meal” and, for post-meal discomfort, 1 to 3 capsules after a heavy meal as needed; its FAQ says 3 capsules with your largest meal. Amazon’s directions are 3 capsules with each meal, up to 6 meals a day. The number of daily servings is the buyer’s choice, from one to six. The two dyspepsia trials ran 60 days and 2 months.

Side effects and who should not take it

The brand says to consult a healthcare practitioner before use if pregnant, nursing, taking medication or under medical supervision. Its FAQ adds that with gastritis or ulcers it “may not be a good idea” to take digestive enzymes, that some enzymes may interact with blood-thinning medications, and that the product is not recommended in pregnancy or breastfeeding. Amazon’s safety line is blunter: do not consume if ulcers or gastritis are present. For those conditions see our gastritis guide.

The capsules hold bromelain, a pineapple protease. WebMD lists burning or tingling in the mouth or throat, diarrhea and upset stomach as its common side effects and tells people on blood thinners or antiplatelet medicines to check with a provider first, adding that its interactions with medicines are not fully understood. About 100 Amazon reviews mention side effects, with the kind hidden behind a sign-in.

What the reviews say

The brand’s own page shows 4.7 from 352 reviews on a widget it hosts. Amazon shows 4.5 from 2,596 ratings (77% five-star, 4% one-star); the review text is behind a sign-in, so we read only the scores and Amazon’s summary. Trustpilot shows 2.5 from 536 reviews for bioptimizers.com as a whole, not for MassZymes.

Reviewers praise less bloating and more comfort after meals, handling heavy high-protein meals, and the number of enzymes per capsule. They complain of no effect and, in Amazon’s summary, mixed views on value and side effects.

The guarantee and the subscription

The brand states a 365-day money-back guarantee: send back remaining unopened bottles for a full refund minus shipping and handling. If you open a second bottle, you no longer qualify for any guarantee. The refund policy adds that the first bottle counts as a trial, that this does not apply if the product has been updated to a new version (it names MassZymes 1.0 against 3.0), and that used bottles get a prorated refund. You start by phone or email for an RMA number. Amazon marks the listing non-returnable.

Subscribing takes an extra 12% off, with delivery every 1, 2, 3 or 6 months, and cancels by phone or email. Trustpilot complaints about the brand as a whole include orders shipping after a cancellation; the company replied to all negative reviews.

Cost

Amazon lists the 120-capsule bottle at $34.45 ($0.86 a serving) or $31.00 on Subscribe & Save ($0.78). On the brand’s subscription the 250-capsule bottle is $52.79, about $0.63 a serving. The daily cost follows the number of meals: one serving a day is $0.72 to $0.87; three servings is $2.16 to $2.62; 1 capsule before each of three meals is 3 capsules a day, the same $0.72 to $0.87. Free shipping starts at $99.

Who MassZymes is for

• Someone who wants an enzyme capsule with a high protease activity figure to take with meals.
• Someone who knows the trials are of other blends and will test it within the guarantee rules.
• A person the brand’s cautions do not exclude: no gastritis, ulcers, blood thinners or pregnancy.

For the wider evidence on digestive enzymes, see the digestive enzymes guide. Other enzyme products in this catalog are Enzymedica Digest Gold, NOW Super Enzymes and HUM Flatter Me, which has a published single-meal trial of its finished capsule (the guide).

The products in this catalog

Common questions

Sources

• Ullah H, Di Minno A, Piccinocchi R, et al. "Efficacy of digestive enzyme supplementation in functional dyspepsia: A monocentric, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, clinical trial." Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy, 2023;169:115858. doi.org/10.1016/j.biopha.2023.115858
• Majeed M, Majeed S, Nagabhushanam K, et al. "Evaluation of the Safety and Efficacy of a Multienzyme Complex in Patients with Functional Dyspepsia: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Study." Journal of Medicinal Food, 2018;21(11):1120–1128. doi.org/10.1089/jmf.2017.4172
• Graham DY, Ketwaroo GA, Money ME, Opekun AR. "Enzyme therapy for functional bowel disease-like post-prandial distress." Journal of Digestive Diseases, 2018;19(11):650–656. doi.org/10.1111/1751-2980.12655
• Tuck CJ, Taylor KM, Gibson PR, Barrett JS, Muir JG. "Increasing Symptoms in Irritable Bowel Symptoms With Ingestion of Galacto-Oligosaccharides Are Mitigated by α-Galactosidase Treatment." American Journal of Gastroenterology, 2018;113(1):124–134. doi.org/10.1038/ajg.2017.245
• Böhn L, Törnblom H, Van Oudenhove L, Simrén M, Störsrud S. "A randomized double-blind placebo-controlled crossover pilot study: Acute effects of the enzyme α-galactosidase on gastrointestinal symptoms in irritable bowel syndrome patients." Neurogastroenterology & Motility, 2021;33(7):e14094. doi.org/10.1111/nmo.14094
• WebMD. "Bromelain": side effects and interactions. webmd.com/vitamins-supplements/bromelain
• Brand page: directions, FAQ, cautions, comparison table, cited studies, reviews and price (bioptimizers.com/products/masszymes); refund policy (bioptimizers.com/policies/refund-policy); subscription policy (bioptimizers.com)
• Reseller listing: Supplement Facts as printed text, 120-count bottle. drhyman.com/products/masszymes
• Amazon listing: directions, safety information, price and ratings (amazon.com/dp/B07FGG77QG); Trustpilot: bioptimizers.com reviews (trustpilot.com/review/bioptimizers.com)