What do you guys think about these supplements ????

Do any of you have any thoughts or experiences with either of these "supplement" type products: 1)  Something called Omnigest EZ -- it's sort of like a combination of lactaid, beano, and other digestive enzymes -- it has 7 different types of enzymes, to digest proteins, fats, different types of carbs, etc.   2)  Papaya Extract -- papain mostly.  Claimed to help digest proteins. I have read about both of these somewhere lately, just wondered if anyone had tried either of them and had any thoughts, good or bad.  Supossedly, the Omnigest product is good to help prevent gas. I checked out both of these at Wally World -- they're both really cheap, like under $5 or $6.   Good, bad, indifferent, safe, unsafe?  

Don't know about Omnigest EZ - maybe one of the other guys does. As for the Papaya extract (enzymes),  I got a bottle at Wally-World, after several here touted it as a way to prevent or reduce those sickening nauseous 'foamies'.  Well, I CAN say that I haven't had a 'foamie' episode since.  Now whether it's because of the papaya, or I'm just subconsciously being more careful, I can't say.  But I'm carrying those little pills around from now on!  I pop 3 or 4 of them whenever I eat any meat that hasn't had the hell beat out of it first.  (Think 'pureed'.) They're cheap insurance, in my book.

Why would anyone who has had WLS surgery take digestive enzymes routinely?  I can understand a reason for occasional use, e.g., papain/bromelain/meat tenderizer in the case of getting some meat "stuck". RNY and DS surgeries separate the gut into three separate segments: one that carries food without digestive enzymes, one that carries digestive enzymes without food, and then the final "common channel" where the food and digestive enzymes meet.  People who have had DS surgeries have a relatively short common channel (more malabsorption); with RNY surgeries, the common channel tends to be longer (less malabsorption). The whole purpose of both surgeries is to defer exposure of the food to some (not all) digestive enzymes, precisely so that you can achieve as much malabsorption as possible given a particular surgical technique.  Taking digestive enzymes would seem to be subverting this intent.  Most RNYers, who have relatively little bypassed, if they're also taking digestive enzymes, might as well have had the LapBand! /Steve

I guess I don't know about ALL digestive enzymes.  But the papaya enzyme only works on protein.  If you clog up your pouch with carbs or fat, papaya won't do squat, to my understanding. And I also wonder why one would want to take the papya routinely.  I don't.  But I've decided it's a really good thing to have on hand, for when you need it.  At 5+ months out, my pouch is still pretty sensitive to most 'dense' protein - even when I chew the snot out of it.  It doesn't happen always, but when I feel that sickening feeling that preceeds the foamies, I take the papaya.  Beats the hell out of retching and feeling like crap for an hour or longer. I try to avoid dense protein before noon, so as to avoid the nausea.  Breakfast is usually warm chocolate whey drink to get my protein in liquid form, and some warm cream of wheat for some starch volume in the pouch.  Even THAT'S liquid-y.