Everything You Learned About Enzymes Was Wrong

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Everything You Learned About Enzymes Was Wrong

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By William Wong N.D., PhD.

Member World Sports Medicine Hall of Fame

Think you know all about nutrition? OK, name the primary functions of

proteolytic (protein eating) enzymes in the body? If you said digestion go to

the

rear of the class! Digestion is one of the last things a proteolytic enzyme

does. While most of us can name the actions of every vitamin and herb in

creation, 99% of the people in the natural health, pharmaceutical and even

medical world don't know what enzymes really are, what they do, and how they

are

being used to help human function.

First let talk about what an enzyme is – an enzyme is a large protein

molecule that cleaves, cuts or eats specific pre-designated things (think of

Pac

Man with shark-like teeth). Depending on the programming of the “teethâ€,

the

enzymes fit over certain substances in a lock and key fashion, cutting

through one specific type of thing, a particular type protein let’s say, yet

leaving undisturbed protein of a similar but slightly different type.

Enzymes are essential as “bio catalystsâ€, in other words they speed the

action of chemical reactions. Without enzymes involved in every cellular event

in our bodies, the chemical reactions within us would be so slow as to make

life as we know it impossible. There are some 3000+ enzymes in the human

body, most of them of the proteolytic type. These 3000+ enzymes create between

7000 to 25000 different enzyme reactions. The 3000 enzymes themselves are

created as a result of either our own enzyme production (which is finite in

nature), or created from ingesting enzymes from our live or uncooked food.

This leads us to two issues:

1. Enzymes are heat sensitive. Temperatures of 105 to 125 degrees F

kill enzymes and their related activity. So cooked foods have virtually

nothing in the way of enzymes. Enzyme cultured in laboratories can be made

with

an increased resistance to heat both in terms of degrees and in terms of time

exposed to higher temperatures but overall, the enzymes in food die from

cooking.

2. Many scientists and physicians in the US still believe that enzymes

are too big to pass through the intestinal tract and get into the blood

stream intact. Something the size of Pac Man when compared to the dots he eats

cannot possibly be absorbed through the tiny pores of the intestinal membrane.

This ignores the medically known fact that Salmonella, a molecule 5 times

larger than the largest enzyme, easily passes through the intestinal wall to be

absorbed whole (i.e. without being broken down and digested), into the

blood stream. For those late bloomers here in the States – there are over

200

peer reviewed medical and university studies proving beyond the shadow of a

doubt not only the absorption of enzymes but their medical therapeutic actions.

By now you may be asking yourself just what do enzymes do? Let's take a

look at the three major forms of basic enzymes in the body and look into the

work they do. There are three major subdivisions of enzymes in the human

system:

* Proteases, which eat or breakdown protein.

* Lipases, which eat or break down fats.

* Amylases, which eat or breakdown carbohydrates.

“Wait a minuteâ€, you'll say, “that all sounds like digestion; I thought

you

said that digestion is the last thing an enzymes does� Quite so; let’s

look at what these enzymes are cleaving and where!

Of the 3 enzymes listed, proteases and lipases have systemic functions. That

means they perform jobs all over the body in most every system. Only

amylase, the carbohydrate lysing (cleaving or eating) enzyme acts almost solely

in

digestion.

The first thing the proteolytic enzymes do is to create what is known as the

enzyme cascade. Most of the enzymes active in the reactions that occur

body- wide are proteolytic in nature; that is, they are concerned with cleaving

a

type of specific protein or another (we have literally hundreds of different

types and arrangements of proteins in our bodies). So the vast majority

of the 7000 to 25,000 enzymatic reactions that need to happen within us are

proteolytic in nature. Aside from the 25,000 possible reactions of protein

eating enzymes science now knows, they have 5 primary functions:

Natural Anti-Inflammatory.

They are the first line of defense against inflammation. 1, 2, 3.

Inflammation is a reaction by the immune system to an irritation. Let’s say

you have

an injured right knee. The immune system sensing the irritation the knee is

undergoing creates a protein chain called a Circulating Immune Complex (CIC

for short), tagged specifically for that right knee. (The Nobel Prize in

biology was won in 1999 by a scientist who found the tagging mechanism). This

CIC

floats down to the right knee and causes pain, redness and swelling – the

classic earmarks for inflammation. This at first is a beneficial reaction; it

warns us that a part of ourselves is hurt and needs attention. But,

inflammation is self perpetuating, itself creating an irritation that the body

makes

CIC’s to in response!

Aspirin, Ibuprofen, Celebrex, Vioxx and the rest of the Non Steroidal Anti

Inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDS) all work by keeping the body from making all CIC’

s. This ignores the fact that some CIC’s are vital to life, like those that

maintain the lining of the intestine and those that keep the kidneys

functioning! Not to mention the fact that they, along with acetaminophen are

highly

toxic to the liver. Every year 20,000 Americans die from these over the

counter drugs and another 100,000 will wind up in the hospital with liver

damage,

kidney damage or bleeding intestines from the side effects of these drugs 4,

5.

Systemic enzymes on the other hand are perfectly safe and free of dangerous

side effects. They have no LD-50, or toxic dose 6. Best of all, systemic

enzymes can tell the difference between the good CIC’s and the bad ones

because hydrolytic enzymes are lock and key mechanisms and their “teethâ€

will only

fit over the bad CIC’s. So instead of preventing the creation of all CIC’

s, systemic enzymes just “eat†the bad ones and in so doing, lower inf

lammation everywhere and with that, pain is lowered also.

Anti Fibrosis.

Enzymes eat scar tissue and fibrosis 7. Fibrosis is scar tissue and most

doctors learn in anatomy that it is fibrosis that eventually kills us all.

Let me explain. As we age, which starts at 27, we have a diminishing of the

body’s output of enzymes. This is because we make a finite amount of enzymes

in a lifetime and we use up a good deal of them by the time we are 27. At

that point the body knows that if it keeps up that rate of consumption we’ll

run

plum out of enzymes and be stone cold dead by the time we reach our 40’s.

(Cystic Fibrosis patients, who have virtually no enzyme production to speak

of, even as children, usually don’t make it past their 20’s before they die

of

the restriction and shrinkage in the lungs from the formation of fibrosis or

scar tissue).

So our body in it’s wisdom begins to dole out our enzymes with an eyedropper

instead of with a tablespoon; the result is the repair mechanism of the body

goes off balance and has nothing to reduce the over abundance of fibrin it

deposits in nearly every thing from simple cuts, to the inside of our internal

organs and blood vessels. It is then when most women begin to develop

things like fibrocystic breast disease, uterine fibroids, endometriosis, and we

all grow arterial sclerotic (meaning scar tissue) plaque, and have fibrin begin

to spider web its way inside of our internal organs reducing their size and

function over time. This is why as we age our wounds heal with thicker, less

pliable, weaker and with very visible scars.

If we replace the lost enzymes we can control and reduce the amount of scar

tissue and fibrosis our bodies have. As physicians in the US are now

discovering, even old scar tissue can be “eaten away†from surgical wounds,

pulmonary fibrosis, kidney fibrosis even keloid years after its formation.

Medical

doctors in Europe and Asia have known this and used orally administered

enzymes for such for over 40 years!

Blood Cleansing.

The blood is not only the river of life, it is also the river through which

the cells and organs dispose of their garbage and dead material. Enzymes

improve circulation by eating the excess fibrin that causes blood to sometimes

get as thick as catsup or yogurt creating the perfect environment for the

formation of clots. All of this material is supposed to be cleaned off by the

liver on “first pass†or the first time it goes through, but given the

sluggish

and near toxic or toxic state of everyone’s liver these days, that seldom

happens. So the sludge remains in the blood, waiting for the liver to have

enough free working space and enough enzymes to clean the trash out of the

blood. This can take days, and for some folks, weeks! 8

When systemic enzymes are taken they stand ready in the blood and take the

strain off of the liver by:

* Cleaning excess fibrin from the blood and reducing the stickiness of

blood cells. These two actions minimize the leading causes of stroke and

heart attack causing blood clots 8.

* Breaking dead material down small enough that it can immediately

pass into the bowel 8.

* Cleanse the FC receptors on the white blood cells improving their

function and availability to fight off infection 9.

And here we come to the only warning we have to give concerning the use of

systemic enzyme – don’t use the product if you are a hemophiliac or are on

prescription blood thinners like Coumadin, Heparin and Plavix. The enzymes

cause the drugs to work better so there is the possibility of thinning the

blood too much.

Immune System Modulating.

Enzymes are adaptogenic, seeking to restore a steady state to the body 9.

When the immune system is running low we become susceptible to infectious

disease; when it cranked up too high then the system creates antibodies that

attack its own tissues as is seen in the auto immune diseases of MS, Rheumatoid

Arthritis, and Lupus. Here therapeutic dosing of oral administered systemic

enzymes will tone down immune function and eat away at the antibodies the

immune system is making to attack its body’s own tissue.

When the immune system is run down too low the enzymes increase immune

response, producing more Natural Killer cells, and improving the efficiency of

the

white blood cells, all leading to improved immunity.

Virus Fighting.

Viruses harm us by replicating in our bodies. To do this, a virus must bond

itself to the DNA in our cells through the medium of its exterior protein

cell wall. Anything that disrupts that cell wall inhibits the ability of that

virus’s viral replication by rendering individual viruses inert 10, 11.

Systemic enzymes can tell the difference between the proteins that are supposed

to

be in your body and those that are foreign or not supposed to be there,

(again the enzyme lock and key mechanism). Even now the US Military has

developed a proteolytic enzyme blend to be used as an anti biological warfare

agent against Anthrax and viruses.

As can be seen the primary actions of proteolytic actions are impressive and

hold great promise for health and medical applications.

Though the bulk of body-wide enzyme reactions are proteolytic, the remaining

systemic enzyme, lipase performs some important jobs as well. The most

important action of lipase lends itself to service in a few different areas:

Fat Loss / Energy Releasing By Dissolving Body Fat:

Lipase breaks down body fat so that it can start the long drawn out process

of becoming blood sugar. Unfortunately as we age our own production of

enzymes decreases and with that our ability to turn fat into energy decreases

also. This could be one of the reasons why it is so difficult to lose weight

after thirty-five. Lipase supplementation could be used to cause the

breakdown of body fat, helping its conversion into energy, while decreasing body

weight and cholesterol.

Still think enzymes are used only for digestion? Stick around; there are a

myriad of other uses and applications for systemic enzymes that will come to

the fore in the near future. Enzymes are our most important nutrients!

References:

1. Bodhankar S.L., Et Al: Anti Inflammatory and Analgesic activity of

Exclzyme-EN. Scientific Abstracts, 54 th Indian Pharmaceutical Congress 2002,

Pune.

2. Mazzone A, et al.: Evaluation of Serratia peptidase in acute or

chronic inflammation of otorhinolaryngology pathology: a multicentre, double

blind, randomized trial versus placebo. J Int Med Res. 1990; 18(5):379-88.

3. Kee W., H. Tan S, L., Lee V. Salmon Y. M.: The treatment of breast

engorgement with Serrapeptaseâ„¢: a randomized double blind controlled trial.

Singapore Med J. 1989:30(l):48-54.

4. Celebrex article Wall Street Journal 19 April 1999.

5. No author listed: Regular Use of Pain Relievers Can Have Dangerous

Results. Kaleidoscope Interactive News, American Medical Association media

briefing. July 24, 1997.

6. Enzymes – A Drug of the Future, Prof. Heinrich Wrba MD and Otto

PecherMD. Published 1993 Eco Med.

7. Kakinumu A. et al.: Regression of fibrinolysis in scalded rats by

administration of Serrapeptaseâ„¢. Biochem. Pharmacol. 31:2861-2866,1982.

8. Ernst E., Matrai A.: Oral Therapy with proteolytic enzymes for

modifying blood rheology. Klin Wschr. 65 (1987), 994.

9. Kunze R., Ransberger K., et at: Humoral immunomodulatory capasity of

proteases in immune complex decomposition and formation. First International

symposium on combination therapies, Washington, DC, 1991.

10. Jager H.: Hydrolytic Enzymes in the therapy of HIV disease.

Zeitschr. Allgemeinmed., 19 (1990), 160.

11. Bartsch W.: The treatment of herpes zoster using proteolytic

enzymes. Der Informierte Arzt. 2 (1974), 424-429.