Enzymes are complex proteins that stimulate chemical changes or reactions in other substances. Enzymes are a very important catalyst in our bodies, and they do so many important functions.
There are three types of enzymes: digestive enzymes, food enzymes and metabolic enzymes.
A) First and most important, digestive enzymes help us to digest, assimilate, utilize and eliminate our food by breaking the food down into a liquid called bile so that we can absorb nutrients in our small intestine. An experiment I do when teaching classes on nutrition is to take 2 bowls and 2 packages of instant oatmeal. In one bowl, put just the oatmeal and water, and in the other bowl, but the oatmeal, water and a capsule or two of enzymes. Within one hour, the bowl with the enzymes in it has turned into a thin liquid, because the enzymes break down the oatmeal flakes. This illustrates how enzymes work to break down our food for us.
Enzymes also help to pull toxins out of our bodies, they help to repair tissue, and build new cells, and they also help to prevent buildup of calcium in our bodies, such as gall stones and kidney stones.
We are all born with a ‘bank account’ full of enzymes. Every time we eat raw foods, we put enzymes in our bank account. Every time we eat ‘dead’ food, or food with no enzymes (cooked, processed), we must pull enzymes out of our bank account to help us digest the food. Once we get to 30-35 years old, our bodies are often depleted of enzymes – our bank accounts are empty! Unfortunately I am seeing this age drop more and more every month with my customers. People do not eat enough enzymes.
You may have heard of ‘raw food’ or ‘living food’ diets. This is a diet where people only eat live or raw food that contains enzymes. The idea is that if the food doesn’t have enzymes it is considered dead. Live food has a completely different frequency than dead food. It is actually alive, thereby feeding the person with food that is moving in a positive energy.
So let’s say we eat a carrot. We have enough enzymes to digest the carrot and a little bit left over to put in our bank account. But then let’s say we eat a roll. There are no enzymes in the roll. So if we don’t have enough enzymes, what happens? Our pancreas produces enzymes, our liver produces enzymes and our stomach produces enzymes. But if our bank account is empty, where can our body get enzymes? Our bodies then go to our bones to get enzymes – as our body uses enzymes to hold calcium in our bones. So now our body says – digestion is much more important than holding the body up. So now we end up with calcium out of solution from our bones, which causes osteoporosis.
Now the good news is you can start to eat more raw foods to get more enzymes in your body. Also you can purchase food enzymes to help replenish your bank account. When purchasing enzymes, you should look for words that end in the suffix –ase. Some popular enzymes are: Protease, Amylase, Glucoamalyse, Lipase, Cellulase, Invertase, and so on.
Enzymes in bottles do not have a life span per se, but can die if they are boiled or heated. For example, if you have a high fever, this can also affect your enzymes as it may kill some of them. If I had a bottle of enzymes that was 10 years old, I would probably toss it, but if it was a couple of years old, I would probably still use it if it has been kept in a cool dark place.
Another important fact to know is that all enzymes are not the same. Some enzymes help to digest proteins, others carbohydrates, some digest fats, and some help digest milk products. For example, Lipase is the enzyme that our bodies use to digest fat. If you no longer have a gal bladder, I highly recommend that you take Lipase on a regular basis to help the liver do the job previous done by the gal bladder.
Enzymes do so many other important functions in our bodies such as catalyze oxidation-reduction reactions, promote the transfer of a group of one molecule to another and help catalyze the linking together of two molecules.
Enzymes help activate digestion, but also enzymes can help buffer or neutralize acid in our bodies. They can especially help with over acidic stomachs. And it is also important to know that enzymes can vary greatly in what pH they are activated in. It may be best to take your saliva pH, and find the appropriate enzymes that work best with your digestion. Ask your health professional for some help if you have questions on this.
Some enzymes are sold with Hydrochloric Acid, others without. Some other popular enzymes are from papaya –simply papaya enzymes, or from pineapples – called bromelain.
C) Finally, metabolic enzymes are those enzymes that the body makes. These enzymes help with detoxification and energy production. They run the body’s systems and are connected to every working organ in the body. Even our spinal disks are composed mostly of enzymes. That is why taking enzymes internally as well as spraying them on topically can help repair disk injuries.
Here's where the problem occurs. Cooked food contains no enzymes because they have been destroyed. If you eat a meal consisting of a salad, a steak and a baked potato, there are likely enough food enzymes contained in the salad to digest it (break it down so your body can use its nutrients). But, there are no extra enzymes available to help digest the steak or the baked potato. Because the steak and potato are cooked, there are no FOOD ENZYMES available to digest them, so our body must take over and internally create the needed amount of DIGESTIVE ENZYMES to handle the digestive task.
The more we depend on our internally generated DIGESTIVE ENZYMES, the more stress we put on our body's systems and organs and the less time these systems and organs have for rebuilding and replacing worn out and damaged cells and tissue and keeping our immune system strong. Your body’s top priority is making sure it has enough nutrients to run its systems. This means digesting food and converting it into nutrients. There is no activity more important to the body than this. This takes a lot of energy and enzymes, particularly if the body must make most or all of these enzymes. Remember that no food can be digested without digestive enzymes.
Source 2
I would recommend to eat 2 out of 3 meals raw, uncooked. That would of course go for vegetables and fruit. We can also eat sprouted grains which are filled with enzymes. Vegetable juicing is No 1 immunity support as we can juice 4x the amount of raw vegetables we can eat (providing the juicer removes the fiber) and fill the body with nutrients without having to digest and break down the fiber. The body saves a lot of energy that way and many many people, including myself see amazing health benefits with juicing, especially leafy green vegetables. kb
Benefits of Probiotics Hydrocarbons are broken down by probiotic bacteria which means the food is being split into its most basic elements. This allows almost total absorption through the digestive system. In this way probiotics dramatically increase overall nutrition and enhance rapid cellular growth and development.
The intestinal tract is cleaned by probiotics. They go under the layer of crud on the intestinal walls, attach themselves and dislodge the accumulated decay. This waste is then flushed out naturally.
Probiotics also produce many important enzymes and increase the availability of vitamins and nutrients, especially Vitamin B, Vitamin K, lactase, fatty acids and calcium.
Another one of the benefits of probiotics is that the bacteria strengthen the immune system. Because of this support to the immune system, they have been used in alleviating allergies, chronic fatigue syndrome and systemic candida.
Constipation is quickly relieved by probiotics and the bowel movements become normalized, which means diarrhea is also reduced.
These good bacteria produce specific proteins that act as antigens. The reservoirs of nonspecific antigens are then available for the immune system to use in battling all kinds of different disease conditions.
When probiotics attach themselves to the intestinal walls they produce a mildly acidic environment that slows the growth of disease-causing bacteria. This also helps the immune system because it is freed from some of the work in the intestines and can carry on its work in the rest of the body.
Probiotic bacteria work in symbiosis with tissue and organ cells to metabolize proteins and help eliminate toxic wastes from the body.
Additional benefits of probiotics come from the fact that they stimulate B-Lymphocyte and related anti-body production. They produce huge pools of extra anti-bodies, ready to protect and defend against infection.
Probiotic bacteria produce Lactoferrin as a by-product of their metabolism. Lactoferrin is an iron-binding protein essential to retrieving iron from foods we eat. Increased Lactoferrin can help relieve iron-assimilation deficiencies.
They help to kill viruses and parasites thus providing benefits of increased health. People taking probiotics have experienced lowered cholesterol. Allergies and skin problems are aided by taking probiotic bacteria. Yeast and fungal infections are prevented, and sometimes eliminated with supplements of probiotics. They also stimulate the body's own production of alpha-interferon, a key regulator of our immune response.
Since probiotics clean the colon, bad breath and body odor are greatly reduced. This is because the lungs and skin will be utilized by the body to help eliminate toxins when the intestinal tract is clogged and functioning poorly.
There are so many benefits to be had! Today we need probiotic supplements because there are so many influences that prevent us from getting the probiotics our bodies need.
Today, at least in the United States, many people eat a horrible diet composed of highly processed foods that are filled with chemicals and simple sugars and carbohydrates. Potato chips and Oreo's are utterly devoid of anything living as are most of the boxed and prepared foods sold in the grocery stores.
Because of the modern agricultural practices, such as the heavy use of pesticides and fertilizers, the soil-based microorganisms are no longer living in the dirt of most farms. We need probiotic supplements to replace what is missing in our food.
Source
- Dr Salerno's webpage hosting an article about a research done that probiotics inhibit E Coli infection! Click Reference: “Probiotics,” O’ Sullivan GC, Br J Surg, 2001;88:161-162
- Here is a great short report (on the USA governmental medical site) about a research done with selenium enriched probiotics and E Coli. Click
Source: Institute of Nutritional and Metabolic Disorders, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, China.