ENZYMES - "THE FIRE IN THE
BOILER"
- Extract from - Food Enzymes by Humbart
Santillo
Three years ago, Viktoras Kulvinskas,
author of Survival into the 21st century, sent me a book written by Dr.
Edward
Howell called, Food Enzymes for Health and Longevity. This
book explained to me why some therapies work
and why
some don't - because of enzymes.
Enzymes are needed for every chemical
reaction in the body.
Our organs, tissues, and cells are all run by
metabolic enzymes.
Minerals, vitamins, and hormones need enzymes to be
present in order to do their work properly.
Enzymes are the labour force of the body.
Dr Howell states
that, "Enzymes are a true yardstick of vitality, enzymes offer an important
means of calculating the
vital energy of an organism, that which we call
energy, vital force, nerve energy, and strength, may be synonymous
with enzyme
activity."
Our logic tells us
that the buildup and the breakdown of tissues is performed by enzymes.
In
other words, our metabolism is maintained by enzyme activity. When our enzyme
level s lowered, our metabolism is
lowered,
and so is our energy
level.Do not misunderstand this statement.
We are not saying that the source of life is
enzymes, but that there
is a correlation between enzyme levels and the youth of the tissues of an
organism and its
energy
levels.
The increased amount of enzymes is why
younger persons can tolerate a diet of white bread, starches
and
predominately cooked food. However, as our enzyme
reserves are depleted over the years, these same foods
can cause illnesses such as constipation,
blood diseases, bleeding ulcers, bloating and arthritis.
In older individuals, the enzyme content of the body has
been depleted and these kinds of foods are not properly
digested. They
ferment in the digestive tract, producing toxins that are absorbed into the
blood and deposited in the
joints
and other soft-tissue areas
A "chronic disease"
is a disease that has lingered in the body for many weeks, months, or sometimes
years.
It
has been a constant drag on the body, depleting it of its enzymes, vitamins,
minerals, and trace minerals.
During chronic disease processes, there is
usually a low body reserve of enzymes.
There is a definate correlation between
the amount of enzymes an individual possesses and the amount of
energy they have. Increasing age causes a
slow decrease in enzyme reserve.
When the enzyme level becomes
so low that the metabolism suffers, death will finally
result.
Any time the
metabolism is falsely stimulated by coffee, a high protein diet, or other
stimulants, the metabolism
increases, enzymes are used up, a false energy
output is experienced, and the individual feels a sense of well
being. However, the
end result will be lower energy, a more rapid burnout of enzymes,
and premature old age.
It is important to
remember that aging corresponds to diminishing enzyme levels.
An experiment on
rats, found that enzyme activities in the tissues became weaker as the rats became
older.
The importance of enzymes cannot be
over emphasised. If the lack of enzymes can cause disease, then
adding
enzymes to the diet, either by supplementation or by eating proper food, will
help prevent disease.
Adding enzymes to one's diet is the logical thing to
do when we consider that enzymes are used up daily.
Enzymes are
essential in the digestion of food and the release of nutrients into the body.
Enzymes are
present in
the blood, muscles, tissues, and organs and are involved in every metabolic
function.
Nothing can happen
without enzymes. Without enzymes, nutrients cannot be used properly in the body
and
proteins
cannot be digested. this can result in bloating, fatigue, stiffness and
hardening of the arteries.
Undigested fats thicken the blood, causing
insufficient utilization of oxygen and cholesterol. The consequences
of the
lack of enzymes is innumerable, but the point to recognise is that enzymes can
be
a missing link in good
nutrition.
A person who
exercises regularly is concerned about getting and staying in shape.
Strength and endurance are the goals of such individuals.
How then can
anyone acheive endurance if his blood cells are not getting proper nutrients?
Nutrients may be
present in the foods you eat, but the workforce of the body is enzymes.
This
is why most vitamins are called "coenzymes." This means that they must combine
with enzymes before the body
can
use them.
Over-nutrition and
under-absorption result in a low energy system. People often believe that they
don't recover from
exercise readily enough because they either overdid it or
didn't do enough, the problem may actually be that the
engines are congested with
unusable fuel.
The more enzymes you
take in through eating a good quantity of raw foods and supplementing your diet
with enzymes,
the more energy you will have. It has been said that half the
amount of body energy is spent digesting food.
If exogenous enzymes (enzymes
taken trough raw food or through supplementation) are added to the diet daily,
more nutrients will be available and less food will be needed, resulting in
less digestive stress and waste elimination.
This is called "energy
conservation." The athlete will be able to
work out more often and with greater intensity, and will
require less recovery
time.
During all acute and
chronic illnesses, enzymes are used up more rapidly than is normal.
If one
is sick
or trying to
recover either from an acute or a chronic disease, taking enzyme supplements
would be beneficial.
People with
hypoglycemia, endocrine gland deficiencies, obesity, anorexia nervosa and
stress-related problems, could all
benefit from enzyme supplementation.
The conclusion from this article by Humbart
Santillo, is of cause, "get into juicing"!
And buy one of the best books you will ever get hold of. (To be
added to this site soon)