Nutrition

Enzymes Are Essential to Life

November 20, 2009
By Joni Bell

Enzymes are found in all living cells whether animal or vegetable. They are biologically active proteins necessary for all living organisms. Metabolic enzymes catalyze and regulate every biochemical reaction that occurs within the human body, making them essential to cellular function and overall health. As needed, both digestive and metabolic enzymes are produced naturally in our bodies.

Metabolic enzymes are an essential component for optimum cellular function and health. They speed up the chemical reactions within the cells for detoxification and energy production. They enable us to hear, see, move, feel and think. Every organ, every tissue and all the cells in our body depend upon the reaction of metabolic enzymes and their energy factor. Without these metabolic enzymes, cellular life would cease to exist.

Digestive enzymes are secreted along our digestive tract to break down food into nutrients and waste. Most digestive enzymes are produced by the pancreas. The liver, gallbladder, small intestine, stomach and colon are also important in producing these enzymes. Digestive enzymes allow the absorption of nutrients in the foods we consume to be absorbed into the blood stream and the discarding of waste. Some of these enzymes include lipase, protease, amylase, pryalin, pepsin and trypsin.

Food enzymes are introduced to the body through the raw foods we eat and also by supplemental enzyme products. In addition to digestive enzymes, many raw foods contain antioxidants which is important in healthy cell structure. Important to know that raw food manifests only enough enzymes to digest that particular food with the exception of pineapple and papaya which contain the enzymes bromelain and papain respectively.

The cooking and processing of food destroys all of its enzymes, and since most of the foods we consume are cooked or processed in some way along with the raw foods contain only enough enzymes to process that particular food, our bodies must produce the majority of the digestive enzymes required unless we incorporate the use of supplemental enzymes to help aid in the digestion process.

There are a variety of supplements available so it is important to understand the differences between the enzyme types when choosing an enzyme product that will best benefit your needs. There are a few types of enzymes which are offered in the marketplace.

Plant based enzymes are the most beneficial choice. They are usually grown in a laboratory setting and extracted from certain types of fungus. Enzymes harvested from aspergillus are named plant based, microbial and fungal. Plant based enzymes are the most active, which makes them quite popular. The main reason is that break down more fat, protein and carbohydrates in the broadest pH range than any other source.

Plant enzymes are made up of bromelain and papain. Bromelain is a proteolytic enzyme derived from the pineapple stem which breaks down protein. A concentrate of the proteolytic can be used as an anti-inflammatory agent. Like pepsin and papain, bromelain has an optimal temperature higher than normal body temperature. At the sight of an inflammation there is always greater heat than any other part of the body.

Papain is an enzyme derived from the latex of papaya and this enzyme requires temperatures above normal body temperature to become active. Like bromelain, it too supports the body’s recovery from overexertion or minor injury.

Another type is glandular or animal which provide support for the glands. Chymotrypsin, pancreatin, pepsin and trypsin are enzymes from the pancreas, stomach and small intestine derived from animal glands and organs and require an alkaline pH level of 8 to become active.

Enzymes are connected to every working organ in our body and approximately 80% of the enzyme supplements sold are plant-based with the other 20% made up of glandular/animal based and plant. As a rule, one active unit of plant based enzymes can equal between 10 and 100 active units of the plant and glandular enzymes. What this basically tells us is that plant based enzymes are 10-100 times more active than other choices.

Joni Bell has many years of extensive study in the area of natural cancer prevention and treatment. He has numerous success stories of people being diagnosed living cancer free with use of alternative methods. Ask Joni Bell!

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