Vitamins and minerals are needed for them to be active, also known as co-factors. That's why i say to my friends, ALWAYS eat your vegetables! and eat them RAW! The problem is, as we age ( from 40 years and up), the quality of our enzymes decrease as our bodies will not produce many as before, therefore more likeliness to get ill as it begins to get difficult to digest food.
HOWEVER a good healthy diet, eating food full of enzymes will help as well as supplements if necessary.
Did you know that without enzymes, life would not even exist? When i say 'Life' I literally mean every living thing on this earth. This is from humans to plants. Consequently every living thing contains cells. Cells are the building blocks of every living thing and within these cells, chemical reactions are taking place all the time.
Enzymes are recycled as they are used over and over again in the body. Therefore it is important to replenish the body with enzymes as enzymes can only perform a certain amount of work.
We live in a world where people are experiencing a lot of digestive problems and don't know it. These problems are such as:
-Cramp
-Constipation
-Malnutrition
-Tiredness after a meal
-Feeling lethargic
Here's a real life example that some of you may recognise:
Have you ever had that feeling after a meal where you feel really sleepy and tired? well that's most likely because your pancreas is working in over drive and therefore shutting down. Yes, your pancreas releases enzymes to break down the food you eat. However, it should only be used in emergency hence why with every meal, I tell my friends and family that everyone should have a big raw salad with every meal. The truth is, whole foods such as vegetables/fruit/Nuts and seeds are FULL of live enzymes, vitamins & minerals, therefore your body will break down what you eat. Without at least having a salad with every meal, this leads to indigestion and to break it down even more for you, this will mean that what ever your eating will go to waste and not be absorbed in your body....so expect a visit to the loo!
Soo....here's the low down:
What are they made from?
Enzymes are made from amino acids. They are structured units of proteins as well as the co-factors i mentioned before (vitamins and minerals).
Best way to describe amino acids is as a long chain. In this chain, there are links. The whole link in this chain is the protein molecule. In each cell, there are 20 amino acids that can be used in different combinations in order to make specific enzymes.
There are 3 main categories of enzymes
1. Systematic/metabolic : healthy cells and body....
This consists of cellular health. This includes maintenance of blood, tissues and organs.
helps heart health, especially removing bad LDL(Low Density Lipoproteins), known as bad cholesterol. This enzyme is also good for the following:- Muscle contraction
- Senses: vision and hearing, so they are active and sharp
- Hormone balance. You don't want to produce the wrong kind, do you?
- Support of mood and memory
- Cleans the cells in the body
The dynamics of this enzyme allows it to be always working within all cells of the body. It also makes the food we eat, (carbohydrates, proteins and fats) into cellular fuel so it can be used as energy. If you are eating healthy, or have a healthy lifestyle, your body can make systematic enzymes all by it self. However if it doesn't, then a supplement may benefit. It is important to differentiate systematic enzymes from digestive enzymes. Digestive enzymes is for digesting food. Systematic enzymes is for the a healthy immune system. systematic enzyme supplements are good to use especially as they are made less as we age.
2. Digestive Enzymes : You are what you
Digestive enzymes are essential. We need it to function properly so we can get the nutrients from our food. we can only do this if we have a healthy digestive system. digestive enzymes are commonly known to be secreted from the pancreas then into the small intestine. The pancreas is a vital organ and glad behind the stomach.
The types of enzymes that are released from the pancreas are:
Protease -digesting of protein
Amylase- processes carbohydrates
Lipase - digests lipids/fats
These are the main enzymes we should worry about.
The digestion process starts as soon as you put food in your mouth.The easiest way to stimulate your enzymes is simply by chewing. Once you start chewing, a signal goes from your brain to your stomach to tell your stomach to increase the production of your enzymes.
Chewing gum experiment
An example of actually how we tend to waste our enzymes is by chewing gum. When we chew gum, your brain thinks you are chewing food, therefore your pancreas is releasing enzymes but not actually breaking down anything. This is why we tend to feel hungry when we chew gum! ...so if you really want to have fresh breath, consider a mint or...brush your teeth :D
Milk
A good example is pasteurised milk. Pasteurised milk is when Raw milk is heated at a high temperature, usually around 72 degrees Celsius in order to kill all living bacteria. Around 75% of the world population are lactose intolerant.This is when certain people cannot digest milk. This is mainly Asian or Africans who do not have the lactase enzyme to break the milk sugar, lactose down. On top of that the enzyme that breaks down lactose is not in present in pasteurised milk. When milk is pasteurised, it destroys this enzyme so makes it unavailable to digest to people don't have a the lactase enzyme. Best way to check if you cannot digest pasteurised milk is by drinking it on an empty stomach. If you feel cramping, pain in the stomach, you may well be lactose intolerant.3. FOOD enzymes - RAW FOOD Nutrition
I am an advocate of raw food. I believe it is the healthiest option anyone can use. Food enzymes are straight from raw fruits and vegetables. Raw meaning, uncooked, not heated, not processed. Literally just as it is. Raw food is very good because they help digest the foods we eat using the various nutrients we get from them:
- Sugars
- Starches
- Proteins
- Fats
- Fibres
The problem is that the western diet stops us from obtaining nutrition from even raw foods UNLESS its organic. The thing is, when conventional grown crops are farmed, they are sprayed with all sorts of pesticides, fertilisers, fungicides. When this happens, it gets sprayed on and into the soil and therefore affects the produce. This method is ruining the soil & therefore dramatically reduces the amount of minerals, vitamins and enzymes when we eat this conventional produce.
Multiple studies have shown that organic produce is far more richer in nutrition.
When we don't eat enzyme rich foods, then we don't replenish our enzyme supplies, so its important that we do especially as our bodies don't actually hold extra enzymes for backup.
Make sure you chew
This may sound a given, but as humans, we have to make sure we chew our food in order to digest the food we eat. This is crucial to how the digestion process works. The enzymes in food will do nothing if we don't break down the cell walls and fibre by chewing.When ever you cook food, you destroy the living enzymes and most of the nutrition. So therefore eating raw food is always best. This is because enzymes and nutrients all remain intact! Now I'm not saying to eat chicken raw obviously as we have to cook chicken to eat it. However, if your majority of your diet is raw, then you will live a healthy life. So I'm talking: Raw vegetables/salads, nuts, seeds and fruits in-between meals would be ideal.
Stay away from the microwave
When you microwave food, you suck the life out of it. That means your food is dead! The radiation changes the DNA and therefore changes the food into a toxin. If you want to warm up your food, use the stove. We live in a world where making things convenient is compromising our health.
Vitamins and minerals - the co-factors
Vitamins and minerals will not work in the body without enzymes. People tend to buy all these supplements that they see in a magazine or an advert thinking it is working but don't really feel anything. Sometimes they don't even know what they are using it for and at the end, they take the supplement and it just gets wasted via excretion (flushed away). So another reason to eat enzyme rich foods.
Anti-ageing
We all get older. However what research has proved is that enzyme rich foods actually make us younger. The thing we have to consider is our chronological age, the number of years we've been on this earth doesn't reflect our biological age. Sometimes physical appearance can show your biological age but as we all know, appearance can be deceiving. consequently it shows that enzymes help you feel and look younger than your actual age.The problem is that people associate age with getting ill. But really problems people get when they are older or later in life is just down to the fact to choices that influence the age process. Getting ill/sick, memory loss, dementia, cancer, heart disease, organ failure etc IS NOT INEVITABLE. Its all down to the choices we make in life, what we consume and how much we exercise.
After I came back from holiday in the U.S I went back on my healthy habits after indulging the classic western American diet. This was 3-4 months of eating clean and healthy. My diet consisted of about 70-75% Raw food as well as strength training exercises. Below is my test results for my metabolic age as well as my weight, body fat etc:
If you have a look, it says that my metabolic health age is 12. My current age is 23. This basically means that by the time I'm 46 my health age will be 22 . If you would like to get yours checked, I was told you can find them in most commercial gyms. The machine is called, "multi-frequency segmental body composition analyser" by a company called "Tanita". I hope this helps.
To conclude:
Enzymes are very important for our health. We need them to digest our food. If we don't have them, it creates a whole host of problems for ourselves.Try and eat Raw food as possible. Raw foods contain not just enzymes but the vitamins AND minerals needed to activate your enzymes!When buying juice drinks, make sure they are fresh and not from concentrate. Drinks from concentrate are pasteurised and therefore are dead foods. Coconut water is a perfect option to rehydrate with. Full of enzymes and electrolytes! all natural and there a lot of natural coconut drinks out there, so go and see which one you like! :) Don't microwave your food. If you want to heat it, use the stove. Supplements will help, make sure they do not contain any preservatives, pesticides or any other chemicals though. Enzymes will
- Strengthen your immune system, making your body be stronger in fighting against illness. i.e. colds,flu's, viruses. The immune system is the organs and process of the body that provide resistance to future infections and toxins. Our white blood cells role is to protect the body from infection and they are RICH in enzymes. Therefore will kill an foreign substance. So enzymes are vital to help get rid of bacteria.
- Give you energy
- Great for hair, nails and skin to become more healthy.
- Allow you to completely absorb nutrients from food, which therefore supports well-being and weight loss.
- Great to restore your digestive system to perform better.
- Slow down the ageing process! yes! it will make you younger!
- Every body function
- Breathing, circulation
- Homoeostasis - bodes ability to achieve balance amongst its functions
- Provide energy that has been broken down to fuel physiological/biochemical processes
- Digest food
- Carry away toxic waste
- Purify blood
- Deliver hormones
- Balance cholesterol and triglycerides
- Nourish the brain
- Build protein into muscle
- Fortify the endocrine system. (help control body metabolism)
References:
Cutler,E.W & Kaslow,E.J (2005). enzymes for health and healing. London: RODALE. P1-300.
Brain, M. (2012). How cells work:enzymes. Available: http://science.howstuffworks.com/life/cellular-microscopic/cell2.htm. Last accessed 22nd February 2014.
mercola. (2010). Why Did the Russians Ban an Appliance Found in 90% of American Homes?. Available: http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/05/18/microwave-hazards.aspx. Last accessed 22nd February 2014.
anon. (2000). What is Lactose Intolerance?. Available: http://www.pcrm.org/health/diets/vegdiets/what-is-lactose-intolerance. Last accessed 22nd February 2014.
anon. (2005). what does that mean. Available: http://www.havemilk.com/article.asp?id=6798. Last accessed 22nd February 2014.
