The miracle of life would be impossible without enzymes. Enzymes are at the heart of all the body's activities, from digesting the food we eat to blinking our eyes. Without enzymes, there would be no life as we know it, since the human body is actually a series of thousands of enzymatic reactions happening at every moment! Today, we recognize the critical role of food-based enzymes for health and longevity, and this knowledge illuminates our understanding of the life-giving properties of food. This booklet was created for the purpose of illustrating the importance of enzymes in the digestion of food.

The Challenge of Digestion
Have you ever felt tired after a meal? That's because digestion requires a large amount of energy. When a cooked or processed food is eaten, the body must supply all of the enzymes to digest that food. A fresh raw food, however, will contain 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.

This informative document was created to help you answer these important questions about the critical role food enzymes play in human health:

• What are the connections between raw food and supplement-based enzyme intake in relation to health and longevity?
• Why is eating food in its natural, enzyme-rich state so vital to the maintenance of good health?
• What is lacking in our modern diets that makes us so susceptible to fatigue and illness?

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.

What does this mean? Enzymes sustain life by controlling the chemical reactions needed for every process in the body.

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 biochemical 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 comprised of digestive enzymes, which can be separated into intrinsic and extrinsic digestive enzymes. Intrinsic digestive enzymes are those that the body manufactures and secretes to break down food. 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. Examples of digestive enzymes are protease, which digests protein; amylase, which digests starch; and lipase, which digests fat.

Extrinsic digestive enzymes, also called food enzymes, come from raw foods such as fruits and vegetables. Most fresh-grown food contains 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.

How Does Digestion Work?
The first step in the digestive process begins in your mind! Indeed, the simple thought of your favorite dish will provoke an energetic secretion of saliva in the mouth, stimulate gastric juice in the stomach, and activate enzyme-filled pancreatic juice from the pancreas.

The next step in the digestive process takes place in the mouth by properly chewing the food. As food is chewed, the amylase present in the saliva, which is secreted by the salivary glands, begins to digest complex carbohydrates. The swallowed food then moves into the upper portion of the stomach.

Predigestion occurs during the next 45-60 minutes, as the enzymes from saliva, and those enzymes present in food or from enzyme supplements, continue the process of breaking down the food. After predigestion, food moves to the lower part of the stomach where hydrochloric acid and other proteolytic enzymes are secreted. The stomach then starts to contract, mixing the food with the gastric juice, and initiating the digestion of proteins.

Each contraction of the stomach leads to the passage of small amounts of food through the pylorus, which is the valve between the stomach and the duodenum -- the first part of the small intestine. When the food containing hydrochloric acid touches the wall of the duodenum, it sends a message to the brain, which in turn signals the pancreas and the liver to produce digestive enzymes.

Enzymes produced by the pancreas are responsible for the final digestion of proteins, carbohydrates, and fats. Liver secretions neutralize the acidity of the gastric juice and emulsify the fats for better digestion and absorption. As the digested food moves through the intestine, nutrients are absorbed along the surface of the intestine and carried into the blood. This blood is brought to the liver where it is filtered to prevent the circulation of undesirable substances in the body. Nutrients are then delivered to every cell of the body. Finally, waste products, undigested food, and bacteria move into the colon to be eliminated.

What does this mean? Enzymes are a crucial element in effective digestion. Proper, healthy digestion of food cannot be achieved without enzymes.

What Happens Without Food Enzymes?
Poor digestive activity due to a lack of food enzymes can be the indirect cause of many health problems. The constant day-to-day stimulation of the immune system by unwanted 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 caused by undigested food may jeopardize 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 crucial 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 detrimental 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 can lead to an overtaxed immune system, and may help cause the introduction of unwanted toxins into the body.

Adding Enzymes to Your Diet
Supplementing your diet with food enzymes launches efficient predigestion in the stomach, which ensures efficient digestion and healthy absorption of nutrients throughout the intestine.

When food is adequately predigested in the stomach, the particles of food passed down into the intestine are in a form suitable for the action of pancreatic enzymes. Pancreatic enzymes can then properly digest food into single nutrients that are absorbed into the blood. Food enzyme supplements prevent the intestinal toxemia that directly results from undigested food in the bowels. In addition, since all food is now digested into single nutrients, no false stimulation of the immune system occurs. The immune system is finally available to do the job it was meant to do -- maintain your immune defenses and work to keep you healthy!

What does this mean? High quality food enzyme supplements should be served with every meal to help maintain strong and healthy digestive and immune systems. Enzyme supplements help prepare food for effective nutrient absorption and may help prevent intestinal toxemia.

Note: Animals, like humans, are often fed overprocessed and enzyme-dead foods, thereby increasing the stress that digestion places on their bodies. Therefore they can also benefit from eating human-grade digestive enzymes which help promote proper enzyme activity and digestive functioning. Feed enzymes to your animals, and look for improvement in breath odor, energy levels, hair, coat, and feathers.

Where Do Natural Food Enzyme Supplements Come From?
Most food enzyme supplements present on the market are produced in controlled conditions using two microorganisms: Aspergillus oryzae and Aspergillus niger. The digestive enzymes produced by Aspergillus oryzae and Aspergillus niger work in a wide pH spectrum ranging from 2 to 12. As a result, they are active everywhere within the digestive system.

Growing Aspergillus on an edible medium, like rice, rye, or other grains, produces the enzymes used in enzyme supplements. Rather than directly eating and digesting this food, Aspergillus actually secretes digestive enzymes into the growing medium to later absorb the digested nutrients. The highest quality digestive enzyme supplements are made by simply inserting the enzyme-rich growing medium into capsules. This means there is no extraction involved, no chemicals, and no drying process that damages the integrity of the enzymes or contaminate the final product. The amount, activity, and type of the enzymes present in the final product depends upon the medium used and the length of time the Aspergillus is allowed to grow under controlled conditions.

What does this mean? The most effective enzyme supplements are made from specific microorganisms grown on an edible, plant-based medium.

Enzyme Supplements and Your Body's Natural Enzymes
Whether or not food enzyme supplements are taken, the digestive system secretes more than two gallons of digestive enzymatic juice every single day. Adding a few hundred milligrams of natural food enzymes simply initiates effective predigestion in the stomach so the small intestine and your own pancreatic enzymes can properly handle the food. 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. The 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. 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 destroyed by cooking and processing the food.

What does this mean? Taking food enzyme supplements will not destroy your body's natural digestive enzyme supply.

How to Choose the Highest Quality Enzyme Supplement
There are two very important points to keep in mind when choosing a food enzyme supplement:

• Weight measurements (mg) are not appropriate and can be misleading, as there is not necessarily a direct relationship between weight and units of activity. Enzyme activity is the acceptable way to declare enzyme potency. The biochemical assay used to quantify the enzymatic activity of an enzyme product is standardized, but the way a company reports that quantity is not. While enzymatic activity is measured in Units according to specific assays, there is no regulation stating how the activity must be reported on the labels. So, for example, if a company decides that one activity Unit equals 10 of their own units, an enzyme product that actually has 1,000 activity Units can be labeled as having 10,000.
   
• Second, many food enzyme products on the market today are either created by chemical synthesis or made from animal organs. Animal-source enzymes are often called pancreatic enzymes and usually identified on labels by the symbol "USP." Plant-source enzymes however, are either derived from actual plants, or cultivated on a plant medium. Aspergillus enzymes grown on a plant medium have a strong record of safe use within the food industry. Animal-based enzymes tend to work in a narrow pH range, while plant-based enzymes have a wider pH range of activity, allowing them to function throughout the digestive tract. Animal-source enzyme supplements are usually only capable of digesting protein, and while protein that hasn't been fully digested is a major cause of digestive complaints, other foods can also cause problems. Properly prepared plant-source enzymes can digest the full range of food groups.

What does this mean? The bottom line for choosing the highest quality enzyme supplement is knowing the company that provides these enzymes. If you find a company with integrity that carries other high quality products, you will most likely find a high quality enzyme supplement, potent and ideal for human consumption. For the most effective digestion of foods, choose an enzyme product with a wide range of enzymes (e.g., several types of proteolytic enzymes) with high activity levels.

Summary

• Many research scientists have concluded that impaired digestion caused by decreased enzyme activity is related to the aging process as well as to many illnesses and chronic degenerative conditions so prevalent in modern society.
• Food enzymes are a crucial element of digestion.
• Because of the lack of enzymes in cooked and processed foods, proper digestion is a challenge we all face daily.
• Adding food enzyme supplements will help prepare food for effective nutrient absorption and help prevent intestinal toxemia.

You already know that feeling energetic and alive is a result of creating an overall healthy lifestyle. Some of the major factors that contribute to health are adequate oxygenation of tissues by way of regular exercise, sufficient rest, and the cultivation of peace of mind. As you have learned from this document, making sure your digestion is strong by eating a predominantly whole food diet with an emphasis on uncooked foods and enzyme supplementation is just as important to proper health and feeling good. Remember, enzymes are at the very heart of life!

--from www.celltech.com

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