Chapter 5
ENZYMES = LIFE
Anyone who has any understanding of health has got to be taking enzyme supplements with every single meal they eat. Unfortunately, most people think of enzymes (if they think of them at all) as necessary only if they have some kind of digestive problem. And, yes, it's true that people suffering from digestive problems, hiatal hernias, ulcers, and the like, have benefited greatly from using enzyme supplements. But if that's all you think enzymes are for, you've missed the point. Dr. Howell, in his book on enzyme nutrition, puts it quite clearly when he says that a person's life
span is directly related to the exhaustion of their enzyme potential. And the use of food enzymes decreases that rate of exhaustion, and thus, results in a longer, healthier, and more vital life.
Now that pretty much says it all. But just to drive the point home, let's go into the enzyme story in a little more detail.
The Enzyme Story
Enzymes are proteins that facilitate chemical reactions in living organisms. In fact, they are required for every single chemical action that takes place in your body. All of your tissues, muscles,
bones, organs, and cells are run by enzymes.
Your digestive system, immune system, blood stream, liver, kidneys, spleen, and pancreas, as well as your ability to see, think, feel, and breathe, (in fact, the very functioning of each and every cell in your body) all depend on enzymes. All of the minerals and vitamins you eat and all of the hormones your body produces need enzymes in order to work properly. In fact, every single metabolic function in your body is governed by enzymes. Your stamina, your energy level, your ability to utilize vitamins and minerals, your immune system—all governed by enzymes.
But where do enzymes come from? As it happens, they are produced both internally (in every cell in your body, but most notably in the pancreas and the other endocrine glands), and they are present in all of the RAW foods that we eat. At birth,we are endowed with a certain potential for manufacturing enzymes in our bodies, an enzyme “reserve,” if you will. Nature intended that we
continually replenish that reserve through proper nutrition and eating habits. Unfortunately, that just doesn't happen. Let's take a look at why.
Most people believe that when you eat a meal it drops into a pool of stomach acid, where it's broken down, then goes into the small intestine to have nutrients taken out, and then into the colon
to be passed out of the body—if you're lucky. Not quite.
What nature intended is that you eat enzyme rich foods and chew your food properly. If you did that, the food would enter the stomach laced with digestive enzymes. These enzymes would
then "predigest" your food for about an hour—actually breaking down as much as 75% of your meal.
After this period of "pre-digestion," hydrochloric acid is introduced. The acid inactivates all of the food-based enzymes, but begins its own function of breaking down what is left of the meal.
Eventually, this nutrient-rich food concentrate moves on into the small intestine. Once this concentrate
enters the small intestine, the acid is neutralized and the pancreas reintroduces digestive
enzymes to the process. As digestion is completed, nutrients are passed through the intestinal wall
and into the blood stream.
That's what nature intended. Unfortunately, most of us don't live our lives as nature intended!
Processing and cooking destroy enzymes in food. (Man is the only animal that cooks his food.) In fact, any sustained heat of approximately 1180 degree Fahrenheit - 1290 F destroys virtually all enzymes.
This means that, for most of us, the food entering our stomachs is severely enzyme deficient. (Actually, there are some enzymes present from our saliva. The amount, however, is minuscule
since we only chew our food about 25% as much as is required.) The result is that most of our meals enter our stomachs woefully devoid of enzymes.
The food then sits there for an hour, like a heavy lump, with very little pre-digestion taking place. Even after the stomach acid has done its work, the meal enters the small intestine largely undigested.
At this point, the pancreas and the other organs of the endocrine system are put under tremendous stress since they have to draw reserves from the entire body in order to produce massive amounts of the proper enzymes. The less digestion that takes place before food reaches the small intestine, the greater the stress placed on the endocrine systems. Recent studies have shown that virtually 100% of all Americans have an enlarged pancreas by the time they are 40. Is it any wonder that the incidence of diabetes is exploding in the developed world?[1]
[1 The ever increasing intake of refined carbohydrates such as sugar is also a major contributing factor.]
ENZYMES = LIFE
Anyone who has any understanding of health has got to be taking enzyme supplements with every single meal they eat. Unfortunately, most people think of enzymes (if they think of them at all) as necessary only if they have some kind of digestive problem. And, yes, it's true that people suffering from digestive problems, hiatal hernias, ulcers, and the like, have benefited greatly from using enzyme supplements. But if that's all you think enzymes are for, you've missed the point. Dr. Howell, in his book on enzyme nutrition, puts it quite clearly when he says that a person's life
span is directly related to the exhaustion of their enzyme potential. And the use of food enzymes decreases that rate of exhaustion, and thus, results in a longer, healthier, and more vital life.
Now that pretty much says it all. But just to drive the point home, let's go into the enzyme story in a little more detail.
The Enzyme Story
Enzymes are proteins that facilitate chemical reactions in living organisms. In fact, they are required for every single chemical action that takes place in your body. All of your tissues, muscles,
bones, organs, and cells are run by enzymes.
Your digestive system, immune system, blood stream, liver, kidneys, spleen, and pancreas, as well as your ability to see, think, feel, and breathe, (in fact, the very functioning of each and every cell in your body) all depend on enzymes. All of the minerals and vitamins you eat and all of the hormones your body produces need enzymes in order to work properly. In fact, every single metabolic function in your body is governed by enzymes. Your stamina, your energy level, your ability to utilize vitamins and minerals, your immune system—all governed by enzymes.
But where do enzymes come from? As it happens, they are produced both internally (in every cell in your body, but most notably in the pancreas and the other endocrine glands), and they are present in all of the RAW foods that we eat. At birth,we are endowed with a certain potential for manufacturing enzymes in our bodies, an enzyme “reserve,” if you will. Nature intended that we
continually replenish that reserve through proper nutrition and eating habits. Unfortunately, that just doesn't happen. Let's take a look at why.
Most people believe that when you eat a meal it drops into a pool of stomach acid, where it's broken down, then goes into the small intestine to have nutrients taken out, and then into the colon
to be passed out of the body—if you're lucky. Not quite.
What nature intended is that you eat enzyme rich foods and chew your food properly. If you did that, the food would enter the stomach laced with digestive enzymes. These enzymes would
then "predigest" your food for about an hour—actually breaking down as much as 75% of your meal.
After this period of "pre-digestion," hydrochloric acid is introduced. The acid inactivates all of the food-based enzymes, but begins its own function of breaking down what is left of the meal.
Eventually, this nutrient-rich food concentrate moves on into the small intestine. Once this concentrate
enters the small intestine, the acid is neutralized and the pancreas reintroduces digestive
enzymes to the process. As digestion is completed, nutrients are passed through the intestinal wall
and into the blood stream.
That's what nature intended. Unfortunately, most of us don't live our lives as nature intended!
Processing and cooking destroy enzymes in food. (Man is the only animal that cooks his food.) In fact, any sustained heat of approximately 1180 degree Fahrenheit - 1290 F destroys virtually all enzymes.
This means that, for most of us, the food entering our stomachs is severely enzyme deficient. (Actually, there are some enzymes present from our saliva. The amount, however, is minuscule
since we only chew our food about 25% as much as is required.) The result is that most of our meals enter our stomachs woefully devoid of enzymes.
The food then sits there for an hour, like a heavy lump, with very little pre-digestion taking place. Even after the stomach acid has done its work, the meal enters the small intestine largely undigested.
At this point, the pancreas and the other organs of the endocrine system are put under tremendous stress since they have to draw reserves from the entire body in order to produce massive amounts of the proper enzymes. The less digestion that takes place before food reaches the small intestine, the greater the stress placed on the endocrine systems. Recent studies have shown that virtually 100% of all Americans have an enlarged pancreas by the time they are 40. Is it any wonder that the incidence of diabetes is exploding in the developed world?[1]
[1 The ever increasing intake of refined carbohydrates such as sugar is also a major contributing factor.]
No comments:
Post a Comment