The human body contains two kinds of enzymes: metabolic, which are found in every cell of the body and cause various chemical reactions, and digestive, which are released in the stomach and intestines and help break food down into usable nutrients. A third kind, known as food enzymes, are found in uncooked nuts, vegetables and fruit. Raw-food advocates argue that, when eaten, food enzymes can help “predigest” nutrients, a process they claim allows the body to use less of its own digestive enzymes and direct more energy to other functions, like organ repair and detoxification.

Raw-food diets and juice fasts, which have been championed by the actress Gwyneth Paltrow and the designer Donna Karan, have grown in popularity. But some find the rigid regimens, which can involve extensive shopping, preparation and luridly colored liquids, difficult to follow. “That’s why enzymes come in handy,” said Robert Dagger, who owns a raw-food lifestyle store in the East Village that sells fresh-pressed juices and enzyme supplements in capsule form that Mr. Dagger formulates himself. “I’ll be out to dinner with people who aren’t healthy at all, and at the end of dinner they break out the enzymes,” he said.Enzymes are also an important component in a few products from Immunocologie, a skin-care line introduced in 2010 and made with ingredients that are blended together via fermentation rather than heating. The company’s founder, Manzoor Jaffery, decided to start experimenting with enzymes because he’d read that they were added to animal feed to aid in digestion and thought the same idea could apply to the skin to help ingredients penetrate more deeply. “The enzymes break down the amino acids into smaller molecules,” said Mr. Jaffery, a chemist in Stratford, Conn.

Dr. Adam R. Kolker, a Manhattan plastic surgeon, sells a line of products that includes a papaya face polish. “For skin that is sensitive, enzymes are wonderful,” Dr. Kolker said. “Enzymes affect the peptide bonds between cells on the dead outer layer of skin cells. In time that bond will break; what the enzymes do is speed that reaction,” he explained, adding that as skin ages, that process slows down, making skin appear dull and flat.

Those who believe beauty starts from within might be curious about “The Beauty Detox Solution,” a diet guide released last spring by Kimberly Snyder, a nutritionist in Los Angeles and New York who advocates taking one digestive enzyme a day, plus before eating cooked food. “It’s one of the few supplements I recommend,” said Ms. Snyder, whose celebrity following includes Drew Barrymore and Channing Tatum. “Enzymes are one of the secrets to longevity,” she said.supplements help,” she said.

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