Monday, January 19, 2009

Enzymes: The missing key to health

Enzymes: The missing key to health, by Dr. Jenefer Huntoon, Naturopathic Physician, Seattle, WA, www.DrHuntoon.com



When I first went into practice, I observed many patients coming to my office with shopping bags full of vitamins and minerals they had been taking to improve their health. Some of these patients had already been to many other nutritionally oriented doctors in an attempt to get well. I was perplexed as to why they were not able to get results from their remedies. Later I learned that the essential components these patients lacked were enzymes. Without enzymes, they were not able to receive much benefit from their vitamins and minerals.

Those of us who have studied about health and nutrition are well aware of the importance of vitamins, minerals, fat, carbohydrate and protein. However,the necessity for enzymes is not yet well known. Enzymes are the dynamic factors that break down fat, carbohydrate and protein into their basic building blocks so that the body can digest and use them. Without enzymes, even the most balanced natural foods diet is worthless because the food cannot be digested and used by the body. Man is not just what he eats. He is what he can digest and assimilate. Enzymes are living entities that activate nutrients.

Biochemical reactions will not occur without enzymes to work on nutrients such as vitamins, minerals, fat, carbohydrate and protein. Nutrients cannot be used by the body without enzymes.

The three basic types of enzymes include metabolic enzymes, digestive enzymes and plant enzymes. Metabolic enzymes are made by the body and are responsible for all biochemical processes of the body. They are available on demand as needed by the body. Digestive enzymes are also produced by the body. They are the active substances in digestive juices that initiate chemical breakdown of food. Plant enzymes occur naturally in raw unprocessed food. They help digest food and serve a number of other purposes which shall be explained later. Here, we are most concerned with plant enzymes and how we can use them to improve our health.

Raw foods contain varying quantities of the following four basic types of plant enzymes: protease for protein digestion; amylase for carbohydrate digestion; lipase for fat digestion; and cellulase for fiber digestion. Every raw food contains exactly the right quantities and kinds of enzymes necessary to digest that particular food. For example, fruits high in carbohydrate, such as apples, contain high amounts of amylase, the starch digesting enzyme. Fruits high in fat, such as avocadoes, contain high amounts of lipase, the fat digesting enzyme.

Enzymes are present in all raw foods. However, cooked or highly processed foods have been devitalized and do not contain enzymes. Temperatures greater than ll8 degrees F kill the enzymes. Even steaming vegetables kills enzymes. Irradiation and microwave cooking kill enzymes. Freezing does not affect enzymes. If we ate an ideal diet with 75% raw food, we wouldn't need to supplement with enzymes.

As a defense mechanism to eating foods deficient in enzymes, white blood cells increase. Enzymes are stored in the white blood cells as well as in the lymphatic tissue and spleen. Enzymes are released from the white blood cells into the blood to digest toxins resulting from eating processed foods.

In 1930, Paul Kautchakoff, M.D., found that eating raw food doesn't cause an increase in white blood cells. Cooked food causes a mild increase in white blood cells. Food cooked with a pressure cooker causes an extreme reaction. Processed meat with nitrates causes a severe elevation in white blood cells comparable to the reaction caused by poisoning.

When white blood cells are continually elevated due to a diet high in processed food, the immune system is weakened. This is because enzymes, normally held in reserve to help fight infection, are constantly being pulled out of storage from white blood cells and other storage sites to digest the processed food. When enzymes are used up in digestion of food, the enzyme storage site are depleted and fewer enzymes are available to fight bacteria, viruses and candida yeast. Thus the immune system is weakened and unable to defend itself against disease.

An example of how the body uses enzymes to fight infection occurs when a person gets a fever. Contrary to popular belief, a fever serves the valuable purpose of raising the body temperature to increase enzyme activity. Heat increases enzyme activity up to ll8 degrees at which point the enzymes die. A fever thereby helps mobilize enzymes from storage into the blood stream where the enzymes can then digest the bacteria. In our office, we have therapeutic enzyme formulas which are taken between meals to help build enzyme reserves and fight infections.

Enzyme deficiencies start gradually and are not apparent until the deficiency is well established. Conditions relating to enzyme deficiency are immune system disorders and chronic degenerative diseases such as arthritis, hardening of the arteries, high cholesterol, diabetes and high blood pressure. Older people are generally more deficient in enzymes than younger people because the enzyme stores are gradually used up over time. Stored plant enzymes are like having a deposit in the bank account. An adequate supply of enzymes helps to reduce the aging process and promote optimal health.

When people eat enzyme deficient diets, the pancreas must make up the difference by producing digestive enzymes. This works for a while, but the pancreas was never intended to make all the enzymes needed to digest food. Eventually, the pancreas loses the ability to make enzymes and degenerative disease sets in. Our bodies are designed to accept about 75% raw foods. Since very few people eat such a diet, it's no wonder we see so many cases of chronic degenerative disease. In 1939, Francis N. Pottenger, Jr., M.D. did a study with cats to see how well they would survive on a diet of cooked foods. By the third generation the cats fed on totally cooked cat chow were so severely malnourished they were unable to reproduce. Because the cats were deficient in enzymes, they were unable to digest food and had become malnourished.

Animals who eat raw food diets have a smaller pancreas than those who eat cooked food diets. Man has a proportionately large pancreas because the pancreas has increased in size to make enough enzymes to digest cooked food. Doctors usually do not diagnose an enlarged pancreas because the pancreas is deep inside the body and cannot be examined. Therefore, pancreatic enlargement is not generally recognized medically as a serious problem. The solution to the problem of pancreatic enlargement is to provide plant enzymes so that the pancreas doesn't have to work so hard.

To prevent enzyme depletion, we recommend a plant enzyme supplement. The enzymes are totally extracted from the plants so even people with food allergies can take them. There are no known cases of people having allergic reactions to the enzymes themselves. Many cases of food allergies are helped by plant enzymes because allergic reactions will not occur when the food is fully digested. The enzyme capsules are taken just before meals to aid digestion of food.

The body is constantly attempting to maintain a balance. To achieve this balance, the body has three priorities. The first priority is to maintain the pH or acid alkaline balance of the blood at about 7.4. Later, I will explain how our office uses specific enzyme formulas to help balance pH of the blood. The second priority of the body is to digest food and get the nutrients into the cells. The third priority is to maintain quality of life by keeping cholesterol levels down and preventing hardening of the arteries. With an adequate supply of enzymes, the body has no trouble digesting excess cholesterol and keeping the blood vessels cleaned out.

There are three stages of digestion and plant enzymes work in all of these stages. The first stage is called pre-digestion and occurs in the first portion or cardiac portion of stomach. In this pre-digestive stage, plant enzymes mix with food. In the first 30 minutes, as much as 30% of protein, 60% of starch and l0% of fat are digested by plant enzymes alone. In our office, we perform a demonstration showing this first stage of digestion to all of our new patients using two identical batches of oatmeal. After the oatmeal has cooled, one opened capsule of plant enzymes is stirred into one batch of oatmeal, but not into the other. In twenty minutes, the oatmeal with enzymes is much softer and more liquid than the oatmeal without enzymes. This is because water is released in the process of digestion. This first stage of digestion occurs before hydrochloric acid or pancreatic enzymes come in contact with the food. You
can see that plant enzymes greatly reduce the need for hydrochloric acid and pancreatic enzymes by predigesting the food. The second stage of digestion involves hydrochloric acid in the stomach for the digestion of protein and minerals. The body cannot make hydrochloric acid unless the blood is acid enough to donate acidity to the stomach. The third stage of digestion involves secretion of pancreatic enzymes into the small intestine to digest fat, carbohydrate and protein. Pancreatic enzymes require an alkaline environment in order to be activated. If the blood is too acid, it cannot donate alkalinity to the small intestine so the pancreatic enzymes can work.

Because balanced pH of the blood is so important to optimal digestion, in our office we use special plant enzyme formulas to help regulate pH of the blood. Certain enzyme formulas increase acidity of the blood by helping the body to digest more protein. Other formulas alkalize the blood by digesting more carbohydrate and fat. All people will benefit from a maintenance plant enzyme formula that helps digest food without altering pH. However, in cases of severe digestive disorders, we see the best results when we use special formulas to regulate pH of the blood.

The advantage of plant enzymes over other types of supplemental enzymes is that plant enzymes work in all pH ranges of the body. The small intestine is alkaline with a pH of about 8 to 8.5. The stomach is acid with a resting pH of about 5 to 6. Plant enzymes work in a broad pH range of about 3.5 to 9. Therefore, acidity doesn't harm these enzymes, nor does hydrochloric acid in the stomach digest the plant enzymes. Supplemental pancreatic enzymes from an animal source will work only in an alkaline pH of about 7.8 to 8.4. This is fine for people who tend to be too alkaline, but pancreatic enzymes won't work at all in people who tend to be too acid. Papaya enzymes are not as effective as plant enzymes because papaya works at an optimal temperature of l05 degrees F, which is warmer than normal body temperature of 98.6 degrees. Bromelain or pineapple enzymes are even less effective because they work at an optimal temperature of l30 degrees.

In conclusion, much chronic degenerative disease is a result of a diet high in cooked and processed foods. The key to maintaining optimal health is to eat fruit, vegetables, nuts and seeds in the raw unprocessed state whenever possible. Since it is difficult in our society to eat 75% raw foods, it helps to supplement with a plant enzyme formula. Plant enzymes predigest food, reduce the need for the body to produce hydrochloric acid and pancreatic enzymes prevent chronic degenerative disease and slow the aging process. In our office, we have been able to greatly reduce the number of vitamin and mineral tablets people need to use by supplementing with plant enzymes which assure proper assimilation of the nutritional tablets as well as proper assimilation of food. In digestion and energy metabolism, enzymes truly are the missing link.


REFERENCES

(a) "The effect of heat processed foods and metabolized vitamin D milk on the dentofacial structures of experimental animals," Dr. Francis Pottenger Jr., M.D., VOL. 32, no. 8, p. 467–485, August, 1946.

(b) "The influence of food on the blood formula of man," Dr. Paul Kouchakoff,
First International Congress of Microbiology, Paris, 1930.

(c) "Enzyme Nutrition, The Food Enzyme Concept," Dr. Edward Howell, Avery
Publishing 1985.

(d) Food Enzymes: The Missing Link to Radiant Health, Humbert Santillo, MH,
N.D.


Dr. Jenefer Scripps Huntoon is a licensed naturopathic physician who has been actively
practicing in Seattle, Washington, since 1975. She has studied plant enzyme therapy under Dr. Howard Loomis, the world expert in plant enzyme therapy, since 1987. She graduated from The National College of Naturopathic Medicine, and specializes in the treatment of digestive problems, gastro-intestinal disorders, fibromyalgia, immune disorders and musculo–skeletal imbalance.








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