Are raw foods a source of enzymes?

Are raw foods a source of enzymes?

Once in a while I get an email admonishing me for not emphasizing raw foods as a source of digestive enzymes. Often it is pointed out to me that if we all just ate more raw foods we would not need to take enzyme supplements. 

While I appreciate their input and passion about dietary concerns, I must take issue with their argument.

http://easss.com/health/enzymes

Raw foods do contain enzymes. These enzymes are destroyed by cooking or processing. If you have ever canned or preserved foods, you know that it is essential to blanch or heat the food prior to canning. Otherwise the food will spoil. This is the primary function of enzymes found in fruits, vegetables, and meats as well. 

If you have ever purchased green bananas, you know that in a few days the bananas will turn yellow and taste sweeter. If you wait too long, however, you end up with a pile of brown, sticky goo that goes into the trash. 

Plant fruits contain enzymes in order that their seeds can be dispersed or sprout, using the remains of the fruit as cover or fuel for sprouting. Digestion, on the other hand, must be accomplished in a matter of hours, not days or weeks. 

If we relied solely on the enzymes in raw foods to accomplish digestion, we would be in very poor shape. 

Enzyme supplements are much more concentrated and contain many other enzymes as well. An enzyme found in a specific food is specific for the spoilage of that food. An enzyme supplement contains additional enzymes to breakdown any other foods consumed, raw or cooked.

I love raw foods. Sushi is one of my favorites and I like steaks on the rare side. I try to eat more raw veggies, too. However, I am careful with uncooked foods as the risk of bacterial contamination is higher than with properly cooked foods. Also, certain raw veggies bother my digestion.

So, I always make sure I take the appropriate enzyme supplement for the particular foods in my meal - my own enzymes, of course!  

Devin Houston, Ph.D.

Plant vs. animal-derived enzymes: Which should you take?

Plant vs. animal-derived enzymes: Which should you take?

Enzymes with the same function, 
but different characteristics

I have mentioned before that plant-derived enzymes perform very similar functions as their pancreatic counterparts.

http://easss.com/health/enzymes/

Trypsin and chymotrypsin are proteases produced by the pancreas. Proteases from plant and fungal sources have trypsin-like functions; they all cleave proteins. 

But the effectiveness of the enzymes can differ based on their source. Pancreatic enzymes cannot function in acidic environments.

The gut goes to great lengths to reduce the acid content in the food mass once it enters the small intestine. Sodium bicarbonate is produced along with the pancreatic enzymes and is released into the gut at the same time. The bicarbonate raises the pH of the food mass and the pancreatic enzymes go to work.

Plant enzymes, however, have no pH limitations. They can perform the same job as the pancreatic enzymes, but can do so in acid or alkaline conditions.

Plant enzymes are happy to go to work as soon as they dissolve in the stomach fluid and can begin the business of food breakdown much quicker. In fact, by the time the plant enzyme-enhanced food mass enters the small intestine, much of the food will have already been degraded.

For the person with food intolerance - the time difference can be crucial.

Proteins and peptides (amino acid chains) are not absorbed from the stomach. Using an acid-stable enzyme blend can degrade gluten, casein, soy and other food proteins to an extent that those foods are tolerated once they enter the gut and absorption occurs.

Just an example of being similar, yet different, with positive results.

Devin Houston, Ph.D.

酵素是什麼 What are enzymes?

酵素是什麼 (what are enzymes)

Health Food Vitamins

酵素是人體生命的基礎．它們存在每種活著的生物當中﹐它們是身體中每種化學反應的必需品﹐沒有了酵素任何生物的活動都不可能發生．酵素是新陳代謝運作中不可缺少的蛋白質觸媒在人體內新陳代謝的過程中共有數千種酵素的作用在進行.酵素微小到及使在最有效力的顯微鏡下也很難看的到但是它們卻催化及調節人體中所有的生物化學作用．

酵素促使你的肌肉移動﹐刺激你的神經﹐保持你的心跳和呼吸並且幫助你思考．總 之,我們的身體沒有了酵素就無法生存．

酵素對消化系統的幫助

我們所食用的食物, 皆含蛋白質, 脂肪, 碳水化合物, 糖份, 及纖維。消化酵素分解蛋白質﹐脂肪以及碳水化合物等以轉換為較小的元素。而酵素的補充也還原了在烹調過程中, 食物遭破壞的天然酵素。一般的食物酵素補充品包含了澱粉酵素, 蛋白質酵素, 脂肪分解酵素, 纖維酵素, 麥芽澱粉糖化酵素, 蔗糖酵素, 葡萄糖澱粉酵素,鳳梨酵素和木瓜酵素.這些都是幫助消化的元素. 這些酵素幫助胃的消化, 吸收。防止未消化的食物進入結腸並幫助其他營養的吸收。再者, 我們相信胰腺也會保留自行製造的消化酵素, 幫助新陳代謝