What are enzymes? Enzymes are fundamental to all life. They are in every living thing. They are needed for every chemical reaction that occurs in the body. Without enzymes no biological activity would occur. They catalyze and regulate nearly all biochemical reactions that occur within the human body. There are literally hundreds of thousands of enzymes active in human metabolism. They move your muscles, stimulate your nerves, make your heart beat, keep you breathing, and allow you to think. Our bodies cannot exist without enzymes.

How do enzymes aid in digestion? Enzymes are an integral part of the digestive process. From the time food enters the mouth, enzymes are at work breaking the food down into smaller and smaller units until it can be absorbed through the intestinal wall. These enzymes come from two sources, those found in the food itself, and those produced in the body.

What is the difference between pancreatic enzymes, plant enzymes, and microbial enzymes? Supplemental, pancreatic, plant, and microbial enzymes are all designed to enhance digestion. However, plant and microbial enzymes use a "proactive" approach and begin working on foods sooner after ingestion. Pancreatic enzymes usually begin working approximately 30 minutes after food reaches the stomach. Because of their stability in the acidic environment of the upper stomach, plant and microbial enzymes can begin their digestive action immediately after the food reaches this region. With the increased exposure to digestive enzyme activity, food has a better chance of being broken down into small, more readily absorbed particles.

Why are food enzymes missing in cooked and processed foods? Modern food processing techniques and all types of cooking destroy nearly 100% of the enzymes naturally occurring in food. Enzymes are completely denatured when exposed to temperatures over 118 degrees for any length of time. The modern diet consisting of cooked and processed food is essentially devoid of active enzymes.

When raw food is ingested, enzymes present within the food are released, thereby assisting the body's digestive processes in breaking down the food into its simplest components for utilization within the body. However cooking and processing destroys those enzymes, forcing the body to supply the additional enzymes needed to adequately digest the food.

There are several categories of food enzymes:

Lipase, breaks down fats that are found in most dairy products, nuts, oils, and meat.

Lactase, breaks down lactose (milk sugars).

Protease, breaks down proteins that are found in meats, nuts, eggs, and cheese.

Amylase, breaks down carbohydrates, starches, and sugars, prevalent in potatoes, fruits, vegetables, and many snack foods.

Cellulase, breaks down cellulose, the fibrous structure that makes up most plant cell walls.

To provide enough enzymes to relieve the burden on the body, the choices are to eat more raw food or the take a supplemental enzyme-based product. Those with compromised digestive systems may need increased levels of enzymes in order to obtain optimum health.

What are some short and long term benefits? The benefits will vary depending upon the individual, diet, and general health. For the most part, people notice less fullness after meals, faster emptying of stomach contents, decreased gas, less stool being passed, and more regular bowel habits. Long-term benefits have yet to be clinically demonstrated, but is an area of active research.

Is supplementation really necessary? The enzymes naturally present in food play an important role in digestion by helping to predigest the ingested food in the upper stomach before hydrochloric acid has even been secreted. This pre-digestion is hindered when food is cooked or processed because the enzymes are destroyed by the processing procedures. Placing the full digestive burden on the body, the body's digestive process can become over-stressed and incomplete. As a result, vital nutrients may not be released from the food for assimilation by the body, and gastrointestinal problems may result.

What happens when food is not properly digested? Over a century ago, Virchow described "digestive leukocytosis" a condition in which the white blood cell count increases after a meal. Further research by Kouchakoff identified cooked and processed foods as the causative factor. Kouchakoff observed that raw food induced no change in WBC counts while cooked foods, particularly cooked meat, caused rapid increases in serum leukocyte levels. When incompletely digested food molecules are absorbed, the body identifies this particulate matter as foreign antigens and forms circulating immune complexes. The immune system then mobilizes macrophage leukocytes to digest the food.

Why take an enzyme supplement? Supplemental enzymes replace the enzymes once present in raw food. Most enzymes are lost in cooking and processing. Only raw or uncooked food contains enzymes. Nature put these enzymes in food to aid in digesting the food you eat so your body's enzymes would not have to handle all the work. By taking a supplemental enzyme you free up your body's enzymes. When enzymes are missing from your food, the full burden of digestion falls on your own digestive system. Food sits in your stomach for nearly an hour before your body's digestive enzymes are secreted. It is during this time that food enzymes do their best work breaking down complex food molecules. These supplemental enzymes accomplish much of their mission of breaking down the food molecules in the stomach. During the first 30 to 60 minutes after eating, enzymes are hard at work, predigesting food long before the stomach acids render some of them inactive. Enzymes not destroyed in the stomach are re-activated in the small intestine.

Today's typical diet of cooked, canned, and convenience foods make it very important to take supplemental enzymes to relieve some of your body's digestive stress. Since your body will put a higher priority on digestion than on maintaining health, it will steal enzymes from the immune system to finish digestion. Taking a supplemental enzyme can help take stress off not only your digestive organs, but also your immune system.