Enzymes are the workers in our body that make
everything function, by enabling chemical reactions. All living cells
contain enzymes. They are hard to visualize, since they are not
something tangible, but our lives depend on them. There are many
kinds of enzymes, and they do everything from helping us breath to our
start of life at conception. Eighty percent of our DNA code relates to
enzymes. But the kind of enzymes discussed here relate to our
digestion and the food we eat.
In the process of digestion, the digestive enzymes in our bodies
break down food into tiny particles that are easily assimilated by the
body into the blood stream. These are compounds that the body can use
for fuel, growth and repair. One food may take hundreds of different
types of enzymes for the body to digest.
Food is naturally filled with enzymes, called “food enzymes”, that
help us to digest that food. The problem is that when we cook or
process it, we kill those enzymes. Temperatures over 118 degrees will
destroy the enzymes. A good example of this is pineapple, which has
some very powerful digestive enzymes in it. These enzymes work so well
that when added to gelatin (like Jell-O), the enzymes won’t allow the
gelatin to thicken. So, the only kind of pineapple you can add to
gelatin is canned pineapple, which has been cooked and processed so
that all the enzymes have been destroyed. It is now safe to add to
gelatin, but not as good for your body.
Our body can manufacture enzymes, called “digestive enzymes”, in
pancreas. But when we eat a diet that is filled with mostly cooked and
processed foods, depleted of enzymes, the pancreas is forced to work
much harder than it was meant to, manufacturing the enzymes the body
needs to digest these foods. So the pancreas ends up overworking, and
the body spends much needed energy and resources on digestion instead
of important things like boosting the immune system, growth, repairs
in the body and fighting disease. Even worse, if the pancreas becomes
so overworked that it shuts down, then bits of undigested food start
floating around the body in the bloodstream, causing all kinds of
trouble and illnesses.
The pancreas can be healed in time, with a diet filled with an
abundance of enzymes. A diet that includes raw fruits, vegetables,
seeds and nuts, as well as fermented and marinated foods, will help
keep the pancreas from getting that bad to begin with, and will enable
the body to spend it’s energy on more important processes like
boosting the immune system and fighting disease. If your pancreas is
overworked, enzyme supplementation may be a healthy and safe addition.
Check with your health care provider, or naturopathic physician to be
sure.
Food enzymes not only help with digestion, but also cleanse the
body, breaking down allergens and environmental products that can
potentially be harmful. This is why it is so vital that we eat a diet
containing lots of fresh enzyme filled foods. Especially in the world
we live in today, where we are surrounded by poisons and cancer
causing agents. We need these wholesome foods now more than humans
ever have in the past, to help our bodies stay disease free and
functioning properly.
A word of warning: some people advocate eating a diet of all raw
foods, but this may not be the best diet for everyone. An all-raw diet
is often good short term for healing and fasting purposes, but some
people have encountered health problems when staying on a raw diet
long term. Truthfully, not all foods should be eaten raw. Some foods
are digested better when cooked, such as starches like potatoes and
grains. In the end, the goal of the Enzyme Health Diet Plan is to be
healthy, not to eat 100% raw food.
Because people are different, they need different foods to fuel
their bodies. Just as an all-raw diet may not work for some, heavy
complex carb diets are not for everyone. Some people need more
carbohydrates, some need more proteins and fats and some just need an
equal mix of both of these things. If you don’t know what metabolism
type you are, you need to listen to your body. What foods does it
thrive on? If, after time, you still are having problems figuring it
out, check our recommended books and resources page on our website,
Enzyme-Health.com
There are some good books offered there by experts on the subject,
that can help your figure out what type you are.
This is an excerpt from the ebook The Enzyme Health Diet Plan
by Dianne Ronnow.
Copyright © 2005 by Mohave Publishing. All rights reserved.
The Enzyme Health Diet Plan is a FREE e-book that can be
found on the Enzyme Health website at
Enzyme-Health.com |
