by
Maria Teresa De Donato, PhD, RND, CNC, CMH, CHom
To know more about my holistic health practice and my coaching activity, please feel free to visit also the following sites:
Despite
the old saying going “We are what we eat” the true of the matter
is that we are what we are able to digest and absorb. In fact,
unless the food we eat can be both digested and absorbed, their
nutrients cannot accomplish their purpose, that is to nourish our
body.
In
this regard, the enzymes, which are chemical compounds, play a major
role by digesting and breaking down into smaller parts the food we
eat. As consequence of their activity, proteins are reduced to amino
acids; complex carbohydrates to simple sugars; and fat to fatty acids
and glycerol. In so doing, enzymes act as catalysts of biochemical
reactions in all living creatures. Being catalysts means that they
are substances able to accelerate the chemical reaction so that the
metabolism can work properly and faster in order to sustain life.
When
we speak about enzymes it's important to understand a couple of
things: first, that though enzymes are catalysts not all catalysts
fall into the category of enzymes, and secondly, that despite many
may describe enzymes as special proteins containing energy, their
energy is limited and the enzymes work as long as they have that
energy. Once they run out of energy their activity as catalysts ends
and they become normal proteins.
Though
enzymes are not alive and, consequently, do not die, they can,
however, become either “inactive” or denatured”. Their
inactivity may be caused by “lack of water, an incompatible
temperature or incompatible pH” (acid/alkaline level) and when they
reach that state their function as catalysts ends preventing them
from facilitating the digestive process. By becoming “denatured”,
their activity stops. Simply stated, in order to function and to do
so at their best, enzymes require two components at their optimal
range: pH and temperature.
Nutrients
are what the body needs to produce enzymes for a deficiency in
nutrients results in deficiency in enzymes, this meaning that not
only the body will be deprived by the required amount of nutrients it
needs to stay healthy, but also that it won't be able to properly use
the nutrients it is provided with, this increasing your enzymes
deficiency to an even greater extent. A good example could be zinc.
Zinc
helps to produce both stomach acid and proteases, which are enzymes
acting as catalysts for proteins. Being zinc deficient means that
the person won't be able to break down proteins properly, this
negatively impacting several organ systems, including the skin,
gastrointestinal tract, central nervous system, and immune, skeletal,
and reproductive systems.
Furthermore,
since zinc deficiency is usually characterized by the intestinal wall
not being completely intact, the result will be that the food
particles which cannot be digested may penetrate the body ending up
where they shouldn't. As consequence, the body will identify them as
invaders, attack them, and, more often than not, cause food
allergies. Once a food has been identified as an allergen, every
time it is eaten the reaction in the gut will produce inflammation,
the latter leading to an unbalance of the beneficial bacteria and
other microorganisms in the gut.
Food
allergies linked to digestive enzymes deficiency are usually
responsible for your digestive disorders, this including indigestion,
bloating, flatulence, digestive pain, colitis, irritable bowel
syndrome, Crohn's disease or yeast infection.
The
main categories of digestive enzymes are:
a)
AMYLASE, which digest carbohydrates;
b)
PROTEASE, which digest proteins; and
c)
LIPASE, which digest fat.
Ideally,
to get the best enzymes from Nature, we should eat its products,
mainly fruits and vegetables, as soon as we harvest them or as soon
as possible after having harvested them. The reason for this is that
from the moment we remove the produces from their source which keeps
them alive – be it a tree or a plant – they start losing their
properties. If, to the contrary, we eat them right away without
waiting hours, days, weeks or even months from the time we have
harvested them, we will get the most of their nutrients and enzymes.
This will facilitate and optimize both our digestion and the
absorption process. Eating raw food, is consequently, the best way
to boast our enzyme intake for cooking destroys enzymes.
Foods
such as apples, grapes and mangoes contain the antioxidant enzymes
peroxidase and catalase which
both help fighting free radicals. Legumes, to the contrary, must
be cooked or sprouted in
order to be digested and absorbed. Only by cooking or sprouting
them, in fact, their antienzyme factor can be eliminated. No need to
say that legumes are very beneficial and extremely healthy and should
be regularly used on our table since they are not only reach in
fibers, which help the digestion process and keep our colon clean,
but constitute also an excellent alternative to meat by being a
precious source of (vegetable) proteins.
In
conclusion, most of the diseases we know are the consequence of
malnutrition and/or of enzymes deficiency: among them are some types
of cancer and other debilitating diseases. In order to stay healthy
we do need, therefore, to understand the fundamental role the enzymes
play in our health and make sure through a proper and balanced diet
that our body takes them in the right amount and quality it needs so
that we can enjoy optimum health for as long as possible.
References:
Holford
P. (2004). The New Optimum Nutrition Bible. Enzymes – The keys
to life (pp. 154, 155). New
York, NY: Random House/Crossing Press
Bohager T. (2006). Enzymes: What The Experts Know.
Chapter One: What are Enzymes? (pp. 7-14)
Prescott, AZ: One World Press
To know more about my holistic health practice and my coaching activity, please feel free to visit also the following sites:
