Enzymes

[Guest guest]

Poster's Comment: I have MCS & mulitipe allergies. But regardless, recently

visited some friends and drank raw milk for 6 weeks. I also had 6 weeks of

exposures, every single day and at night too - with long air trips both before

and after. I have still not recovered, but I have wondered why I was not a

great deal sicker - thought I was just amazingly lucky. Guess this explains

it.

 

Enzymes

by Sally Fallon with Mary G Enig, PhD

 

An important branch of twentieth century nutritional research, running

parallel to and equal in significance to the discovery of vitamins and

minerals,

has been the discovery of enzymes and their function. Enzymes are complex

proteins that act as catalysts in almost every biochemical process that takes

place in the body. Their activity depends on the presence of adequate vitamins

and minerals. Many enzymes incorporate a single molecule of a trace mineral —

such as copper, iron or zinc —without which the enzyme cannot function. In

the

1930's, when enzymes first came to the attention of biochemists, some 80

were identified; today over 5,000 have been discovered.

 

Enzymes fall into one of three major classifications. The largest is the

metabolic enzymes which play a role in all bodily processes including

breathing,

talking, moving, thinking, behavior and maintenance of the immune system. A

subset of these metabolic enzymes acts to neutralize poisons and carcinogens

such as pollutants, DDT and tobacco smoke, changing them into less toxic

forms that the body can eliminate. The second category is the digestive

enzymes,

of which there are about 22 in number. Most of these are manufactured by the

pancreas. They are secreted by glands in the duodenum (a valve that separates

the stomach from the small intestine) and work to break down the bulk of

partially digested food leaving the stomach.

 

The enzymes we need to consider when planning our diets are the third

category, the food enzymes. These are present in raw foods and they initiate

the

process of digestion in the mouth and upper stomach. Food enzymes include

proteases for digesting protein, lipases for digesting fats and amylases for

digesting carbohydrates. Amylases in saliva contribute to the digestion of

carbohydrates while they are being chewed, and all enzymes found in food

continue

this process while it rests in the upper or cardiac portion of the stomach. The

upper stomach secretes no digestive juices whatsoever, but acts much like

the crop of a bird or the first stomach of ruminant animals. It can be

described as a holding tank where the enzymes present in raw foods do their work

on

what we have eaten before this more or less partially digested mass passes on

to the lower stomach, about 30 minutes after food is ingested. Hydrochloric

acid secretion occurs only in the lower stomach and is stimulated by the

passage of food from the upper to lower stomach. (This hydrochloric acid does

not

digest meat, as is commonly believed, but activates the enzyme pepsinogen to

its active form pepsin that digests protein.)

 

Enzyme research has revealed the importance of raw foods in the diet. The

enzymes in raw food help start the process of digestion and reduce the body's

need to produce digestive enzymes. All enzymes are deactivated at a wet-heat

temperature of 118 degrees Fahrenheit, and a dry-heat temperature of about 150

degrees. It is one of those happy designs of nature that foods and liquid at

117 degrees can be touched without pain, but liquids over 118 degrees will

burn. Thus we have a built-in mechanism for determining whether or not the

food we are eating still contains its enzyme content.

 

A diet composed exclusively of cooked food puts a severe strain on the

pancreas, drawing down its reserves, so to speak. If the pancreas is constantly

overstimulated to produce the enzymes that ought to be in foods, the result

over time will be inhibited function. Humans eating an enzyme-poor diet,

comprised primarily of cooked food, use up a tremendous amount of their enzyme

potential in the outpouring of secretions from the pancreas and other digestive

organs. The result, according to the late Dr. Edward Howell, a noted pioneer in

the field of enzyme research, is a shortened life-span, illness, and lowered

resistance to stress of all types. He points out that humans and animals on

a diet comprised largely of cooked food have enlarged pancreas organs while

other glands and organs, notably the brain, actually shrink in size. His

research also uncovered the fact that the body recycles enzymes by absorbing

them

through the intestine and colon and transporting them in the blood back to

the upper intestine to be used again. The body is thus designed to conserve its

precious enzyme stores.

 

Dr. Howell formulated the following Enzyme Nutrition Axiom: The length of

life is inversely proportional to the rate of exhaustion of the enzyme

potential of an organism. The increased use of food enzymes promotes a

decreased rate

of exhaustion of the enzyme potential. Another rule can be expressed as

follows: Whole foods give good health; enzyme-rich foods provide limitless

energy.

 

Almost all traditional societies incorporate raw, enzyme-rich foods into

their cuisines —not only vegetable foods but also raw animal proteins and

fats

in the form of raw dairy foods, raw muscle and organ meats, and raw fish.

These diets also traditionally include a certain amount of cultured or

fermented

foods, which have an enzyme content that is actually enhanced by the

fermenting and culturing process. The Eskimo diet, for example, is composed in

large

portion of raw fish that has been allowed to " autolate " or " predigest, " that

is, become putrefied or semi-rancid; to this predigested food they ascribe

their stamina. The culturing of dairy products, found almost universally among

pre-industrialized peoples, enhances the enzyme content of milk, cream, butter

and cheese.

 

From Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook That Challenges

Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats

by Sally Fallon and Mary G Enig, Ph D.

Available from NewTrends Publishing (877) 707-1776

 

Enzyme Nutrion and Food Enzymes for Health and Longevity

by Edward Howell are available from

Radiant Life (888)593-8333

 

 

 

 

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