The power of digestive enzymesDigestive enzymes are a very important part of our daily diet for health. Digestive enzymes are what we need to stay healthy.
According to Ron Harder, a nutritional health consultant, “One of the most common health problems, today, is bad digestion” One of the most common health problems today is bad digestion and the inability of our bodies to produce enough enzymes and the lack of enzymes in the food that we eat, both cause many problems that we have to face every day.
Then they are converted into smaller absorbable nutrients that our bodies can use to build cells, tissue and organs. Digestive enzymes are responsible for breaking down the food into little tiny particles so that it can be more easily digested by the stomach and small intestine. Digestion starts in the mouth. We put some food into our mouths and by chewing it; we break this food up into smaller pieces and mix it with saliva. Our saliva stimulates the exocrine glands in the mouth to release digestive enzymes into the food. That starts a chemical breakdown of the food. When we chew our food, we break the food into tiny parts so our digestion can extract the nutrients. Chewing is one of the best ways to help our digestion in its process because when we chew our food well our saliva starts digesting our food first in our mouths before it even reaches our stomachs. In the stomach the food is mixed with hydrochloric acid that helps to digest starches. More enzymes are added at this point which helps to break down the food even further and turn it into a paste-like substance called chyme. After awhile, this chyme moves from the stomach to the small intestine where pancreatic enzymes are added to help with further digestion. Where do enzymes come from? Well our bodies, produce enzymes by themselves and also, get enzymes from the food we eat. The body can only produce 16 digestive enzymes the other 8 digestive enzymes must be acquired from the food we eat. Boiling and pasteurizing foods, destroy most of the enzymes that ever were in our food. Enzymes are also destroyed by temperatures over 118 degrees, cigarette smoke, caffeine, alcohol consumption and prescription drugs. Plant enzymes are the best because they help begin digestion in our mouths. They are not destroyed by the acids in our stomach unlike animal enzymes and they function in both an acid and an alkaline environment. Animal enzymes can only live in an acid environment. As we age, our bodies lose their ability to produce their own enzymes So, we have to include them in our diet. We can get more enzymes by eating raw organic food and also by taking enzyme supplements.
Some good food sources for enzymes are alfalfa, barley grass, chlorella, spirulina, kelp, peppermint and sea vegetables. Most fruits, especially bananas, are also a good source. It is a good idea to make sure that we get enough enzymes because a lack of digestive enzymes can cause a number of bodily problems. Some of these problems can be heartburn, indigestion, constipation, abdominal bloating, colitis, diarrhea, eczema, IBD, psoriasis, skin rashes and many others. Enzymes also help us to have a healthy balance of weight. If we do not have enough enzymes to properly digest all the food we eat, our bodies start to store the food as unwanted fats and other things. This is one of the causes of obesity. If we have low levels of enzymes, the food becomes undigested and starts to ferment, causing our colon to become toxic. The toxic material that accumulates in our intestines will be absorbed through the intestinal wall and will end up in the blood stream. Metabolic enzymes are responsible for the repair and remodeling of every cell in our bodies. They are the workers within our bodies that allow the minerals, vitamins and proteins to do their job. They are responsible for all the anabolic or catabolic activity in our bodies. Metabolic enzymes are produced by the liver, pancreas and gallbladder.
|
Enzymes are molecules that break down food particles. When we chew, we break up the food into tiny bits. The enzymes break the food particles into proteins, carbohydrates and fats.
