Why Digestive Enzymes are Important
Why Digestive Enzymes are Important:
As we age our bodies ability to produce enzymes slowly diminishes, putting us at risk for degenerative diseases. Other factors such as cooked and processed foods increase the need for digestive enzymes. Without digestive enzymes the body cannot utilize proteins, fats, carbohydrates, fibers, and sugars, we eat. Digestive enzymes also help break down the supplements we take so that the vitamins, minerals and other nutrients we supplement with can be used effectively and not wasted. Digestive enzymes help ensure digestion of our food and supplements. Partial digestion of our meals can cause harmful imbalances in our body.
A Few Key Functions of Digestive Enzymes:
Undigested food begins to ferment and rot in the intestines and colon, this decaying process leads to the buildup of harmful toxins which enter the rest of our body. These toxins can cause fatigue, pre-mature aging, and numerous degenerative diseases. Most of us have experienced this fatigue after a large meal. Nutrient absorption is hindered by undigested food that has stuck to our intestinal walls. Digestive enzymes help break down this undigested food. Digestive enzymes may also help with obesity. Many health professionals believe that a low level of lipase in fatty tissue may contribute to obesity. If the lipase in the digestive enzyme supplement is not used up in the role of digestion during the meal it may be stored in the liver for future use such as digesting stored fat. This is crucial because of the correlation between obesity and Type II diabetes, hypertension, breast cancer and other prevalent American diseases. Digestive enzymes can play a vital role in improving the immune system by reducing metabolic stress on the digestive system. They may also help break down fatty deposits that build up around the inside of blood vessels, which restrict blood flow. When food is not completely broken down the undigested proteins, fats, and minerals can form uric acid crystals that may lead to kidney stones and joint pain.
Why we need Digestive Enzymes:
The body produces two types of enzymes, metabolic and digestive. When you eat cooked or processed foods, nearly all food enzymes are destroyed which forces the body to supply all of the needed digestive enzymes, which can overstress the pancreas and its ability to also produce metabolic enzymes (enzymes needed for all bodily functions). Food that is cooked over 118 degrees contains almost no functioning digestive enzymes. Approximately one third of the body’s energy is spent digesting food. People with poor digestion can expend even more energy trying to digest food properly. The less energy the body spends on digesting food the less hungry you will feel, and the more energy you will have.
Where There Is Life – There Are Enzymes
You are alive because enzymes make it possible. Enzymes are the foundation of energy and the life force in all living things. Without enzymes, seeds would not sprout, fruit would not ripen, leaves would not change color, and you would not exist. Enzymes are responsible for building, detoxifying, and healing your body. They are the force that allows your body to digest and absorb food. Enzymes also regulate tens of thousands of other biochemical functions that take place every day in your body. These functions include breathing, growing, smelling, tasting, stimulating nerves, defending your body against disease, regulating hormones, and building organs, glands, and tissues. Even your thinking involves enzymes.
What are Enzymes
Enzymes are composed of long chains of amino acids held together by peptide bonds. Amino acids are derived from protein and serve as carriers for vital enzyme activity factors. Coenzymes, which come from essential vitamins and minerals, are needed for enzymes to function effectively. Vitamins are usually a structural component of enzymes. Enzymes are activated by trace mineral content. The activation produces electrical charges so that attractions and repulsions of charged particles occur within the enzymes.
Cooking Food Kills All Enzymes
The most serious threat to the body’s supply of natural enzymes is the habit of eating cooked and processed foods. Cooking or processing food over 118 degrees totally destroys the enzymes in the food. You will not find enzymes in foods that are in a box, bottle, or can. Cooking also contributes to nutrient loss. Pasteurization, sterilization, radiation, freezing, and microwaving either render food enzymes inactive or alter their structure.
Early Signs of Enzyme Deficiency
Early signs of enzyme deficiency are digestive complaints such as heartburn, gas, bloating and belching. Other symptoms may include headaches, stomach aches, diarrhea, constipation, chronic fatigue, yeast infections, and nutritional deficiencies. Because these symptoms are so prevalent, many people consider them to be normal. However, they are an indication that the body cannot process the food eaten. Digestive problems concern the stomach, intestines, colon, liver, pancreas, and gall bladder.