Hi James,

What is your opinion about this post;
(I found this post here: http://www.mothering.com/community/t/1152620/about-endocrine-supplements-causing-glandular-atrophy)

It is important to make a distinction between the use of endocrine hormones and endocrine substances. Even these early investigators realized that if the body is given a hormone which is produced by an endocrine gland, the gland, due to the natural functioning of the body's homeostatic mechanism, will stop producing its own hormone as long as the external hormone is being supplied. If this process is carried out long enough, the gland involved will actually atrophy, and eventually it stops producing hormones. If, on the other hand, a patient is given glandular substance that is free from hormones but contains the other nutrient elements of the gland intact, this substance acts as a food to build and regenerate the gland, so that it may once again be able to regain proper functioning on its own.

This sounds fairly sensible. However, if this is also true with respect to the exocrine glands (the ones that produce digestive enzymes), I would expect that supplementing digestive enzymes should neither result in gland atrophy. (Because digestive enzymes are exocrine substances, not exocrine hormones.) That would mean there would be no strong reason to not use digestive enzymes.

What is your opinion about the above thoughts? Do you have any studies that back your claim that supplementing digestive enzymes atrophy the body's own enzyme production?