So what are enzymes?

Probably not a subject included in the conversation of most people. Yet enzymes are in all living things and there is no life without them. Without enzymes, no seeds could sprout, soil could not produce and foods could not ripen. Enzymes in the soil help supply available nutrients to the roots of seedlings, and then recycle nutrients back into the soil. The warmth of the sun causes enzymes to function.

Without sufficient available enzymes human life and health are reduced, and that reduction is responsible for many diseases. Without enzymes your body could not digest and absorb food.

Enzymes work in cooperation with vitamins and minerals. For instance, specific enzymes partner with magnesium to perform over 300 important functions in your body. They are necessary to one another in order to produce important enzyme reactions required for your body’s ‘engine’ to operate properly. Low levels of enzymes are invariably found in all patients suffering from diabetes, heart problems and most every other degenerative disease.

There are at least 75,000 enzymes at work in your body. Specific enzymes in the saliva start the digestive process as you chew (this is why it’s important that you chew well), and others in the stomach continue the process. In fact, as much as 90 percent of digestion and absorption takes place in the small intestine! One small organ, your pancreas, plays a large role in the vital function of healthy digestion.

Clear back in 1911, John Beard’s treatise, The Enzyme Treatment of Cancer and its Scientific Basis, declared that cancer, which was quite rare in those days, was the result of decreased pancreatic enzymes, which impaired the body’s natural immune response to toxic cancer cells. In the 1990s, modern research proved that Beard’s conclusion was right on target.

Enzymes are a group of organic proteins known as amino acids. They are small chemical digesters, or ‘activists’ that break apart vitamins, minerals, proteins, carbohydrates and fats and absorb them into every cell in the living body. And, enzymes are much more than just vital catalysts for healthy digestion—they are necessary for ALL physiological processes.

Enzymes drive energy production and absorption of oxygen. They fight infections and heal wounds. They build raw materials, circulate nutrients and eliminate unwanted chemicals. Enzymes are activists in dissolving blood clots and carrying away toxic wastes. They regulate hormones, break down fats, deliver nutrients into cells and slow the aging process.

Once man, Dr. Edward Howell, was primarily responsible for laying the foundation of enzyme knowledge. He was as much an explorer in pursuit of those invisible lifegiving activists as those who sought unknown rivers, mountains and new continents.

Dr. Edward Howell was born in 1898 in Chicago, Illinois, and was the pioneer scientist who was the first to recognize the tremendous role of enzymes in humans and all life, and the first researcher to connect the importance of enzymes in food to the nutrition and health of human beings. He spent a long lifetime of research and writing in this field and, in fact, is often referred to as the “Father of Enzymes.”

Dr. Howell began his career at the Lindlahr Sanitarium in Elmhurst, Illinois and in 1932 established the National Enzyme Company. He treated patients three days a week with enzyme therapy including proper food and digestive enzymes, and spent the rest of his time researching and writing. In 1946 he published his findings in a 700 page book titled The Status of Food Enzymes in Digestion and Metabolism, complete with 695 references. His next book, Enzyme Nutrition, included a condensed version of the original and continued scientific findings through 1973. At the advanced age of 88 he served as Research Director for the Food Enzyme Research Foundation in Florida and continued his research and writing until his death a few years later.

And what were Dr. Howell’s conclusions after all those devoted years of research?

He found that as a body aged, enzyme production slowed, which meant that it became ever more necessary to obtain enzymes from food. The necessary enzymes are derived primarily from raw and fermented food. Dr. Howell concluded that eating all cooked food resulted in a shortened lifespan, increased vulnerability to illness and lowered resistance to various types of stress. He found that a diet severely limited in raw food drew down the reserves of the pancreas and caused it to enlarge… while other glands and organs, including the brain, diminished in size!

Dr. Howell was thoroughly convinced that only a daily diet of enzyme rich foods provided the energy vital to good health and a long life.

In a perfect world Dr. Howell’s lifetime of research would have ushered in an age of unparalled attention to the importance of food and nutrition that promote good health and prevent disease. But unfortunately, precisely the opposite has occurred.

Instead of focus on the vital importance of enzymes and nutritious food for good health, post World War II years ushered in the ‘miracle’ age of accelerating convenience food, packaged food, processed food, junk food, fast food and now genetically modified food, along with surgical and pharmaceutical fixes for all the degenerative effects caused by nutritionally deteriorating food.

As food and pharmaceutical companies rake in ever more profits, and government health agencies bow to their pressures, food quality continues to deteriorate in lockstep with the overall health of the general public. Digestive problems alone account for $50 billion annually in U.S. healthcare and lost work costs, let alone Alzheimer’s, cancer, autism, heart disease, diabetes, etc., etc.

Could it be that enzymes are more important to our health than we ever dreamed?

Millions of people believe so and know that support is available in the form of digestive enzymes that help counteract the harmful effects of the modern diet featuring predominantly cooked and processed food. As your body ages and slows the production of enzymes, digestive enzyme supplements become even more necessary.

And no matter what age we are it is vitally important to increase the daily intake of raw food with every meal. Although all raw foods deliver enzymes to the body, some of the most powerful enzyme-rich foods include raw extra virgin olive and coconut oil, raw honey and bee pollen, avocados, sprouted seeds, grapes (particularly with seeds) and tropical fruits such as papaya, pineapple, kiwi and mango.

Do yourself and your loved ones a favor and learn more about enzymes and (probiotics  which will be covered in the next article), and their contribution to your health and life, Do your research and talk to trusted health and/or supplement providers.

Sources for this article include: westonaprice.org, enzyme-facts.com, naturalnews.com, drmercola.com, Wikipedia.

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