The Challenge of Digestion

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THE CHALLENGE OF DIGESTION by Health & Nutrition Newsletter Vol. 107 Issue 10 B Have you ever felt tired after a meal? That's because digestion requires a large amount of energy. When any form of cooked or processed food is eaten, the body must supply all of the enzymes to digest that food. Fresh, uncooked food, however, contains the right amount of enzymes to help digest itself, demanding fewer pancreatic enzymes, and therefore less energy from the digestive tract. Eating a lot of cooked or processed foods can force your digestive organs to work overtime. Some common consequences of poor digestion are heartburn, gas, bloating, constipation, and sluggishness. Recently, research scientists have found evidence that impaired digestion, as well as decreased enzyme activity in the

blood, is directly related to the aging process and many of the illnesses and chronic degenerative conditions so prevalent in modern society. These studies suggest that as we age, the number of enzymes and their activity levels decrease. An Introduction to Enzymes About two centuries ago, as modern medicine was developing, the role of enzymes in metabolic processes was discovered. You may be asking, "What are enzymes?" Enzymes are proteins that are found in all living things, either within the cells or dissolved in the fluids surrounding all cells. As biological catalysts, enzymes reduce the amount of energy required for

chemical reactions. Because of this, enzymes make it possible to control metabolic reactions which would otherwise either not take place under normal physiological conditions, or which would only take place very slowly. The body's entire metabolic process is based on the activation, inhibition, and control of enzymes. In this way, the incredible energy that creates and maintains all life comes from enzymes. Two Categories of Enzymes In the human body there are thousands of different enzymes. In fact, there are so many enzymes present in the body that enzyme activity cannot be separated from the process of life itself. Enzymes are

involved in every single chemical reaction that occurs in the body. Enzymes can be grouped into two main categories. The first category consists of metabolic enzymes, which are present in every cell, tissue, and organ in the body, and act as catalysts in the moment-to-moment functioning of living cells. They are responsible for keeping the body in proper balance by controlling virtually every chemical reaction associated with metabolism. Because of this, metabolic enzymes are the very basis of the life process. The second category of enzymes is digestive enzymes. Examples of these digestive enzymes are protease, which digests protein; amylase, which digests starch; and lipase, which digests fat. You get your digestive enzymes from two sources: your body and your food. The body uses its own energy and resources to manufacture digestive enzymes. The salivary glands in the mouth, the gastric glands in the stomach, and specific cells in the pancreas

secrete the enzymes that work to digest the proteins, fats, and sugars present in any food that is eaten. The other source, food enzymes, come from raw foods such as fruits and vegetables. Most fresh-grown foods contain enough active enzymes to digest the proteins, starches, or fats found in that food. This makes digestion of these raw foods much easier for the body. For example, avocados and nuts have naturally occurring lipase or fat-digesting enzymes, while oats have a high amount of amylase, or starch-digesting enzymes. The contribution of food enzymes to the digestive process is extremely important and too often overlooked. What does this mean? Enzymes are at the heart of two very important elements of life: metabolism and digestion. The enzymes found naturally in fresh raw foods help break those foods down, making digestion much easier for the body. What Happens Without Food Enzymes? A lack of food enzymes results in poor digestion, which can be the indirect cause of many health problems. The constant day-to-day stimulation of the immune system by unwanted unbroken-down food particles puts undue stress on the immune system and tires the whole body. This often explains the fatigue many people experience following a meal. Furthermore, some food particles can trigger the production of antibodies that may cross-react with proteins in the body, leading to autoimmune disorders. Putrefaction in the gut of undigested food may endanger the integrity of the intestinal wall, allowing various

environmental toxins present in food to find their way into the blood and the body. In this way, unnecessary stress is created for our bodies because our cells have to work overtime to get rid of potentially harmful toxins. When food is cooked or otherwise processed with heat, enzymes are destroyed and can no longer play their role in the process of predigestion. Under such conditions, food that passes into the intestine has not been properly predigested, and cannot be efficiently handled by the pancreatic enzymes. These undigested particles may be harmful to health in two ways. First, they will become fuel for unfriendly intestinal bacteria, which can lead to intestinal fermentation, bloating, and discomfort (intestinal toxemia). But more importantly, undigested particles of food may cross the intestinal wall and reach the blood stream where they are identified as foreign substances by the immune system. When this happens, the body's immune

system wastes precious defense resources on a "false alarm" rather than defending the body from true hazards. Such a phenomenon was identified nearly half a century ago and is referred to as food leucocytosis (which is a food-driven increase in white blood cells). What does this mean? Digestion without the proper enzymes will eventually lead to an overloaded immune system, and cause the introduction of unwanted toxins into the body. Enzyme Supplements and Your Body's Natural Enzymes Whether or not food enzyme supplements are taken, the digestive system works to secrete more than two gallons of digestive enzymatic

juice every single day. By adding a few hundred milligrams of natural food enzymes, you can initiate effective predigestion in the stomach so the small intestine and your own pancreatic enzymes can properly handle the food when it gets there. This predigestion phase is essential for the effective digestion and the absorption of nutrients. Actual digestion of food takes place when food particles contact the intestinal wall and are caught by the intestinal enzymes. Supplemental digestive enzymes are taken to prepare the food so that it is in a suitable form for proper processing by the enzymes embedded in the wall of the intestine. Enzymes supplements can make the difference in predigestion so the body will be able to digest and absorb properly the food you eat. The enzyme supplements you take do not replace your body's naturally secreted enzymes. Supplemental enzymes are needed simply to replace the enzymes that are always destroyed by cooking and processing

food. Also we tend to lose some of our enzyme-making ability as we age so supplements replace vital enzymes that may not be available. .In modern society, it is also common to eat when not really hungry, or to eat more than we really need when we eat socially or emotionally or from habit. What does this mean? Taking food enzyme supplements will not destroy your body's natural digestive enzyme supply, but will give you vitaly needed catalysts for your digestion and health. Suzi List Owner health/ http://360./suziesgoats What is a weed? A plant whose virtues have not yet been discovered. __________________________________________________