Enzymes

The Missing Link to Radiant Health?
Clients have asked me the question numerous times, "How is it possible that I am sick even though I eat organic foods and am very careful with my diet?" The answer tends to be the same each time: ENZYME DEFICIENCY. Enzymes are energy protein molecules. They are found in all living cells, they catalyze and regulate chemical reactions and are an essential part of every activity in the body. Enzymes turn the food we eat into energy and unlock this energy for use in the body. They are needed for every chemical reaction that takes place in the body. Simply stated without enzymes, no life can exist. In essence:

	Enzymes are needed for every chemical reaction that takes place in the body
	Enzymes are catalysts
	Enzymes are connected to every working organ in our body and run our life’s processes
	Enzymes are needed by vitamins and minerals to accomplish their delivery within the body
	Enzymes are required by all food for enzymatic action to be digested
	Enzymes are destroyed by cooking and processing foods
	Enzymes can prevent partially digested foods from putrefying, carbohydrates from fermenting, and fats from turning rancid within your system
	Enzymes from a plant source become active as soon as they enter the body
	Enzymes from an animal source are only active within the small intestine in an alkaline setting of 8.0 pH

What are enzymes?
Enzymes are a delicate lifelike substance found in all living cells whether animal or vegetable. Enzymes are energized protein molecules necessary for life. They catalyze and regulate nearly all biochemical reactions that occur within the human body. In other words, enzymes turn the food we eat into energy and unlock this energy for use in the body. They cannot be seen with even the most powerful microscope, but their presence and strength can be determined by improving blood and immune system functioning. Our bodies naturally produce both digestive and metabolic enzymes as they are needed. Surplus enzymes can be stored by some organs for later use.

Metabolic Enzymes speed up the chemical reaction within the cells for detoxification and energy production. They enable us to see, hear, feel, move and think. Every organ, every tissue, and all 100 trillion cells in our body depend upon the reaction of the metabolic enzymes and their energy factor. Metabolic enzymes are produced by the liver, pancreas, gallbladder and other organs.

Digestive Enzymes are secreted along the digestive tract to break food down into nutrients and waste. This allows nutrients to be absorbed into the blood stream and the waste to be discarded. Human digestive enzymes include ptyalin, pepsin, trypsin, lipase, protease and amylase. The body does not make cellulase, an enzyme necessary for proper digestion of fiber, so it must be introduced through the raw foods we eat.

Food Enzymes are introduced to the body through the raw foods we eat and through consumption of supplemental enzyme fortifiers. Raw foods naturally contain enzymes providing an exogenous source of digestive enzymes when ingested. However raw food manifests only enough enzymes to digest that particular food, not enough to to be stored in the body for later use. The cooking and processing of food destroys all of its enzymes. Since most of the foods we eat are cooked or processed in some way and since the raw foods we eat contain only enough enzymes to process that particular food, our bodies must produce the majority of the digestive enzymes we require - unless we use supplemental enzymes to aid in the digestive process.

A variety of supplemental enzymes are available through different sources. All bodily functions can be enhanced and improved by supplemental enzymes ingested orally in capsule or powder form. It is important to understand the differences between the enzyme types and make sure you are using an enzyme which will meet your particular needs.

Your Enzyme Potential
We are all born with the ability to produce a finite number of enzymes during our lifetime. This enzyme-making potential gives our body’s organs the ability to produce either metabolic enzymes or digestive enzymes. When we eat a meal, the requirements for digestive enzymes becomes a high priority. Our body’s enzyme-making machinery must work overtime and often still cannot meet the demand for all of the enzyme requirements the body may have. Since digestion always takes precedence over nearly everything else, many body functions requiring metabolic enzymes are often short-changed during these times. The result is a lower disease-fighting capability and a general weakening of the body’s ability to mend itself.

Because over the years, we use up so much of our enzyme potential making the digestive enzymes necessary to digest our food, as we age we begin to run short; our ability to keep up with the digestive enzyme requirements begins to suffer. This deficiency leads to malabsorption and poor nutrition, plus the many digestive problems suffered by the elderly. Undigested foods collect in the colon. Poorly digested protein putrefies, the fats turn rancid and carbohydrates ferment. These undigested food particles leak back into the bloodstream from the colon and create further toxicity. As we use up and abuse our enzyme potential, we begin to lose energy, lose our ability to fight disease, and lose the ability for our body to remedy its own naturally occurring malfunctions. This loss may lead to disease and eventually death.

This enzyme potential concept clearly supports the case for supplemental plant enzymes. If the body can get the necessary extra digestive enzymes it needs to complete the digestive process without overstressing the body’s enzyme-making potential, then a metabolic enzyme shortage will not occur and our body will be in a much more favourable position to fight biologic and genetic malfunctions and diseases as they occur.

Enzyme Supplementation
Humans that eat a diet void of enzymes will use up a tremendous amount of their enzyme potential. Enzymes act as an energy or a catalyst and every action of our organs and glands needs this energy to work. We receive energy from the nutrients in our blood. These nutrients are put there through the digestion of food and carried to and throughout our system by the energy of enzymes. A lack of enzymes could result in a lowered resistance to illness, all types of stresses, and physiological environments which may lead to a shortened life span. By supplementing cooked foods with plant enzyme capsules, we can stop or at least slow down the normal and pathological ageing process.

Following are answers to some typical questions about enzyme supplements:

Does the addition of raw food or juicing to the diet guarantee enough enzymes to meet our needs?
Raw foods provide only enough enzymes to digest that particular food. There are no extra enzymes in raw food to digest cooked or processed foods. Although a totally raw diet may appear to be the best solution, it is generally not practical, and in most cases, not medically advisable. Due to the risk of bacterial contamination, many foods should not be eaten raw, including meats, poultry, eggs and beans. Many people find the fibre content in large quantities of raw food difficult to digest.

Why is Enzyme Supplementation important?
It’s important for the following reasons: 1) Most people will choose cooked foods over raw foods. 2) Some scientists believe we have lost our rich top soil necessary for producing nutritious food. 3) Our body makes our metabolic enzymes from the complete amino acid food we ingest. Complete amino acids are only found in animal products. It takes a combination of plant products to make a complete amino source, such as soybean mixed with wheat. 4) We usually cook our animal products robbing them of their enzymes. 5) Nuts that are raw contain an enzyme inhibitor (as do most beans). 6) Grains and flour are processed, robbing them of their enzymes and finally 7) Enzyme supplements assure an adequate enzyme supply.

What constitutes a healthy body?
It is probably safe to say that our complete health is the sum total of the health of our individual organs and glands. When we are ill, it is because our organs and glands, individually or collectively, cannot function at ideal levels. Diet is an influence on the health of our glands and organs, and it interacts directly with our genetics. Good nutrition can help you attain the genetic potential of your organs and glands in terms of the highest level of functioning. When your nutrition is not adequate, your glands and organs cannot receive the specific nutrients. Splitting a protein with acid, alkali or enzyme, can also be used to help people unable to digest food proteins.

Plant enzymes are grown from plant protein foods in a laboratory setting with specific actions rendered in units. They are non-pathogenic Aspergillus species and are free of mycelium contamination. Removal of all the apergilli and fungi leave only the enzymatic action. Aspergillus enzymes have a strong record of safe use in the food industry. They are considered food by the FDA. Plant enzymes are not sloughed off as if the body has no need for them. They exit only after there is no more activity left for them to do their work. Since they are food which is natural to the body, and since they are proven to be a catalyst, plant enzymes are in a completely different arena from other enzyme supplements.

What about the ageing factor?
Another factor affecting health is the process of ageing. As we grow older, many of our nutritional requirements increase, and our glands and organs do not function as well as when we were younger. Often organs and glands begin to atrophy. This is why we generally become more susceptible to degenerative and infectious diseases as we age. Enzymes are connected to every working organ in our body and run life’s processes.

Can supplemental enzymes slow the ageing process?
Research shows that rats provided with supplemental enzymes had increased enzyme levels and these enzymes were stronger than in the control group of rats. In addition, the enzyme-fed rats lived three years while the control group of rats lived only two years. This research indicated evidence of a fixed enzyme potential which diminishes over time in all living creatures. Eating uncooked and unprocessed foods and supplementing cooked foods with enzymes reduces stress on the body organs and probably slows or stops the ageing process.

It is a proven fact the enzyme lipase breaks down (digests) fat. When added to your meal as a supplement it is able to do this job in the digestive tract. This takes stress off the gallbladder, liver and pancreas. When taken between meals, it will be stored in your liver and called upon when needed. If we are able to correctly digest our food and deliver the nutrients to keep the endocrine and nervous system in sync, we can rebuild our lifestyle and energy pattern.

Improving Ageing Skin
An adequate supply of enzymes is absolutely essential for keeping your skin young-looking and healthy. According to researchers Amber Ackerson and Anthony Cichoke in Portland, Oregon, enzymes fight the ageing process by increasing blood supply to the skin, bringing with it life-giving nutrients and carrying away waste products that can make your skin look dull and wrinkled. Circulation slows down as we get older. Eating a diet of raw fruits and vegetables, which are enzyme rich, and taking a complete enzyme supplement becomes more important with age.

Can children take enzyme supplements?
Enzymes are safe for people of all ages to use. After almost 70 years of research with plant enzymes no side effects have been reported. Since children have the same enzyme deficient diet as adults, enzyme supplementation begun at an early age will help preserve the enzyme potential of the child for later life.

Even babies may benefit from enzyme supplementation. Mother’s milk is an important source of enzymes for babies. Pasteurised milk contains no enzymes so bottle-fed babies begin using up their enzyme potential from birth.

Article by Dr. DicQie Fuller, D.Sc., Ph.D.