Enzymes

Take the spark plug out of your car or lawn mower and what happens? The engines don’t run. Add a single spark to a pile of gasoline-soaked rags and what happens? An explosion. In each of these cases, a tiny spark (or absence of same) is responsible for a very significant change.

Constant change also occurs in our bodies, where energized protein particles known as enzymes provide the spark that makes life what it is.

Enzymes are delicate life-like substances found in all living cells – both plant and animal. They act as catalysts, literally making things happen. From the healing of a cut to the blink of an eyelid, enzymes cause and regulate every biochemical reaction that occurs in our bodies.

Digestive enzymes break down the protein, carbohydrates and fats in our food making it possible for the nutrients to be used for energy. Human digestive enzymes include ptyalin, pepsin, trypsin, lipase, protease and amylase. It is interesting to note that every food we eat comes with enough enzymes to allow us to digest that food. However, as soon as any food is processed or cooked, those living molecules are destroyed - forcing our body to produce the enzymes needed for digestion. For example, if you eat an apple - each bite is loaded with the enzymes to digest it. If you make applesauce - you are completely dependent on your own enzyme-producing organs to digest the cooked apples. The presence of enzymes is the main reason raw food diets are touted by many as the most healthful way of eating.

Since living on 100-percent raw foods would present a real challenge to most people, especially in northern climates where we long for a hot bowl of soup on a cold winter day, depending on our bodies to produce the enzymes needed to digest our food is common practice.  Although many of the body’s functions diminish with age, our ability to produce and utilize enzymes declines by the end of the second decade of life! It’s no coincidence that teenagers can get away with eating pizza and French fries and tacos and milkshakes all at the same meal and not suffer from digestive consequences. By the time we reach 30 - the days of digestive-consequence-free indulgences are over. 

For me, taking a digestive enzyme with every meal is an indispensable habit and one with long-term benefits. When we eat a meal that contains cooked food, the requirements for digestive enzymes become the highest priority. Whenever digestion takes precedence, the other body functions requiring enzymes can be shortchanged. The result is a lower disease-fighting capacity and a general weakening of the body’s ability to repair itself.

Poorly digested proteins putrefy, fats turn rancid and carbohydrates ferment. You certainly don’t want any of these processes occurring inside you!  When our food is digested properly, autointoxication is greatly diminished. The toxic burden of our bodyies is not created exclusively from chemicals in the environment - toxins are also a byproduct of poor digestion. Undigested food can be a tremendous encumbrance to the body and responsible for health challenges that range from food allergies and acid reflux to diverticuli and constipation to more serious illnesses such as colon cancer.

Not only does a full-spectrum digestive enzyme such as Digest Gold or Ultra Veggie Enzymes reduce toxins and provide the means to adequately get all the energy possible out of our food, the supplement has other benefits as well. Using too much of our body’s enzyme potential to produce digestive enzymes limits our ability to make metabolic enzymes, thus making us more susceptible to disease and aging.  Taking supplemental digestive enzymes with meals literally frees up our own enzyme-producing organs, allowing our body’s finite supply of enzymes to serve us better and longer throughout life.