How To Prevent Enzyme Deficiency – The Cause Of All Humanity’s Diseases

By Raluca Schachter

Contributing Writer for Wake Up World

“The length of life is inversely proportional to the rate of exhaustion of the enzyme potential of an organism. The increased use of food enzymes promotes a decreased rate of exhaustion of the enzyme potential.” ( The Enzyme Nutrition Axiom formulated by dr Edward Howell)

Vitamins, minerals and all kinds of super-nutrients are in the spotlight on the nutritional arena. Enzymes are not that much talked about though. But they are essential and most of the people these days, including small children are very deficient! Actually, we are the only species on Earth that tries to live without food enzymes! And we’re doing a poor job at it…What happened and why are enzymes so necessary for health?

Why Are Enzymes Essential And Where Did They Go?

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Enzymes are  substances which make life possible and which are found in natural,  “live” foods  and also in your  body.  Enzymes are the  “work force” of the body.  Without them, chemical reactions cannot take place, and hormones,  minerals, and vitamins cannot carry out their functions. There are believed to be hundreds of  thousands of enzymes in the body; different enzymes perform different functions. Without them,  life cannot exist.

Some activities of enzymes are:

  • Digest food to a size capable of being absorbed into the blood
  • Rebuild food into tissue of muscle, bone, organs, glands, etc.
  • Work to store food in the liver and muscles for fuel later on
  • Coagulate blood
  • Attach iron to red blood cells
  • Eliminate carbon dioxide from the lungs
  • Promote oxidation
  • Attack waste material in the blood and prepare it for elimination
  • Change protein into sugar or fat
  • Change carbohydrate into fat
  • Change fat into carbohydrate

You can have all the raw materials necessary for good health – vitamins, minerals, intrinsic  factors, proteins, carbohydrates, fats, amino acids, etc. – but  enzymes are necessary in order for  your body to utilize all the raw materials in its life-supporting activities of metabolism.

The critical role of enzymes in the maintenance of health and well-being was dramatically  demonstrated in an experiment now known as “The Pottenger Cat Studies,” which was performed  by Francis Pottenger, M.D., in 1946. Pottenger wanted to know if  raw meat and raw milk, when modified by high heat, had an impact on growth and development. During the ten years of the study, nine hundred cats were studied. The results of this study were stunning:  consuming raw meat and raw milk versus heated and cooked meat and milk – can negatively affect cats’ health over four generations!! After just one generation of cats, which was fed cooked food, these developed degenerative diseases.

At birth, we acquire a limited supply of enzymes.  Throughout our lifetime, as enzymes perform  their function, they are destroyed and eliminated from the body.The habit of cooking the food (especially at high temperatures and even above 118 F), eating it processed with chemicals, the use of drugs, alcohol, and junk food all draw out tremendous quantities of enzymes from our limited supply.  Frequent colds and fevers and exposure to extremes of temperature also deplete the supply.  

There are three classes of enzymes:

  • metabolic enzymes, which run our bodies
  • digestive enzymes, which digest the food; most are manufactured by the pancreas
  • food enzymes obtained from raw foods, which start food digestion

Our bodies are run by metabolic enzymes; every organ and tissue has its own particular metabolic enzymes to do specialized work. Since good health depends on all of these metabolic enzymes doing an excellent job, we must be sure that nothing interferes with the body making enough of them. A shortage could mean trouble, many time serious.  Nature’s plan calls for food enzymes to carry the whole load. If food enzymes do some of the work, the enzyme potential can have much more to give to the hundreds of metabolic enzymes that run the body.

Think about it as you think of your banking account: if it’s not continuously replenished, it could become dangerously “deficient”…

So, when ingested, the enzymes in raw food or supplementary enzymes, result in a significant degree of digestion, lowering the drain on the organism.  The heat in cooking destroys enzymes and forces the organism to produce more enzymes, thus enlarging the pancreas. This way,  the body is unable to produce an adequate quantity of metabolic enzymes to repair the body and fight disease.  

Health Conditions Associated With Enzyme Deficiency

According to  Dr  Edward Howell, a noted pioneer in the field of enzyme research, enzyme deficiency leads to a  shortened lifespan, illness and lowered resistance to illness. In short, the less your supply of enzymes is, the shorter your life!  That’s a pretty good argument and a very truthful one as well! The reality is just this: a body in a weakened, enzyme-deficient state is a prime target for  cancer, obesity, arthritis, allergies, heart disease  and other degenerative problems.  The glands and the major organs, including the brain, suffer most from the unnatural digestive drain on the metabolic enzyme potential. The  pancreas swells  to meet the great demand for its juices while other glands also abnormally adapt, and  the brain actually shrinks  on the all cooked and over-refined diet.

How To Ensure A Proper Amount Of Enzymes In Your Diet?

ENZYME RICH RAW FOODS

It is vital for health and  longevity that the enzymes be replenished in the body from foods with sufficient quantities of these. Most whole foods contains some enzymes, but the highest quantities are contained in these foods:  olives from the tree, raw honey, sprouts, grapes, fresh dates and figs, bananas, avocados, papaya, pineapple, kiwi, mangos, germinated, inhibitor-free raw grains and nuts.  

Raw dairy (especially cultured) and fermented foods  are also a great way to add more enzymes to your diet.  Raw apple cider vinegar  contains enzymes as well, so choosing this with high quality olive oil and herbs for dressings can be one of your healthiest choice.

Eating  raw fats  with their full complement of lipase, a fat digesting food enzyme found abundantly in all raw foods containing large amounts of animal or vegetable fat, is also a great way to replenish supplies, as is eating  raw meat and fish. Of course, due to the modern lifestyles, and the weakened human condition, including poor digestion, it may be difficult and potentially harmful to adopt a totally raw diet for long periods.

ENZYME RICH FOOD PREPARING

All enzymes are deactivated at a wet-heat temperature of 118 F and a dry-heat temperature of 150 F. We actually have an in-built mechanism for determining weather or not the food we are eating still contains the enzyme content: above 117 F foods and liquids will burn!

The healthiest and easiest way of cooking is actually using a slow cooker (crock pot), the modern version of cooking on hot charcoals in a ground hole, used by our ancestors! This way the food will not be burnt and totally nutrient depleted; plus it’s so much tastier and moist!  Use only low temperatures for stove top cooking and always try to add some of the healthy, not so heat stable raw fats at the end (like unrefined extra virgin olive oil)  to preserve nutrients.

“PRE-DIGESTING”

The Eskimos consume  raw fish that has been allowed to “autolate” or “pre-digest” – that is becoming putrefied or semirancid.  To this pre-digested food they actually ascribe their stamina.

Culturing of dairy, used widely by preindustrialized people, enhances the enzyme content of milk, cream, butter and cheese.  Fermented vegetables  like sauerkraut, pickled carrots, beets, cucumbers, etc also contain a good source of enzymes.  Cultured soy  like natto and miso are another good sources of enzymes.  Cooked meats that have been well aged or marinated  present less strain on the digestive system because of this “pre-digestion”.

Sprouting, soaking  in warm acidic water  and genuine sourdough leavening “pre-digests” grains,  nuts and legumes  allowing the nutrients  to be more easily assimilated and metabolized. This is an age-old approach practiced in most  traditional cultures. Soaking and sprouting begins germination, which increases the  enzymatic activity  in  foods and inactivates substances called  enzyme inhibitors. Unless deactivated, they will put a great strain on the digestive system.

Soaking also neutralizes  phytic acid, a component of plant fiber found in the bran  and hulls of grains, legumes, nuts, and seeds that reduces mineral absorption.

Sprouting is actually a very easy and fun thing to do! Try first with easy to sprout legumes like lentils and mung beans and grains like quinoa and amaranth. You can find out a lot of details online on websites like  Sprout People.

How About Supplementation?

In order to be active, enzymes will only function within a certain pH range. For example, animal based  enzymes like pancreatin are only active in a pH range of about 7.5 – 9.0. But certain plant based  formulas are active between 3.0 – 9.0. This means they are extremely effective digestive  aids, even for those individuals who have very altered pH in their digestive tracts. Under laboratory conditions, certain of these supplemental enzymes are capable of digesting over a million times their weight in cooked food.

As a general rule, it makes sense and it’s very beneficial for anyone’s health to aim for a steady quantity of raw foods in the diet,  which work for your metabolism, not against it, while supplementing with enzymes when only cooked foods are served on a meal or not enough enzyme quantity is provided through raw foods. Also, make a list of all enzyme-rich foods listed in this article and find ways to add some of them with each meal.
Article Resources:

Howell, Edward. Food Enzymes

Fallon, Sally. Nourishing Traditions

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About the author:

Raluca Schachter is a dedicated Clinical Nutritionist / Natural Health Practitioner a.k.a “The Health Detective”. Raluca was able to naturally reverse chronic health conditions she was struggling with most of her life, and now uses her knowledge to help as many people as possible do the same. Her health programs and diet plans offer a very unique and comprehensive approach to health, where individual nutritional and biochemical requirements are firstly met using specific nutrients and foods that each metabolism thrives on. Raluca offers her services to international clientele and her practice is fully online based. You can connect with Raluca at www.metabolicenergy.net and https://www.facebook.com/raluca.schachter.metabolicenergy

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