Nutritional Supplement: The Benefits of Digestive Enzymes

Image Gallery

Body fuel efficiency: Enzymes and the role they play

Food fuels the body, but it must be properly digested for nutrients to be absorbed into the circulatory system and distributed to tissues. Within the digestive system, from the mouth to the large intestine, enzymes play an essential role in this fuel-preparation process.

“Every vital process of life is orchestrated by enzymes,” says Dr. Marcus Laux, a naturopath, lecturer, author, and host of the television programs The Natural Health Show in the United States and Hollywood Health in the United Kingdom. “Enzymes initiate, accelerate, modify, and terminate reactions in our bodies. Yet enzymes are one of the most critically under-addressed areas for good health.”

Researchers have identified hundreds of enzymes, each playing a precise role in muscle creation, blood coagulation, urination, detoxification, bone development, energy storage, and breathing. Digestive enzymes include amylase, the salivary enzyme in the mouth that begins the conversion of starch into simple sugars; pepsin and other enzymes in the stomach that break down proteins; pancreatic enzymes that are secreted into the small intestine; and enzymes in the intestinal wall that break down proteins, carbohydrates, and fats into smaller molecules. By the time food enters the large intestine, the body has absorbed what it can use and, ideally, all undigested material is then excreted. But without adequate amounts of digestive enzymes, undigested food can sit in the colon, passing toxins into the blood and on to the liver.

Raw foods can help

Uncooked foods also provide the body with enzymes. Heat destroys enzymes, so cooked foods supply no enzymatic activity. Foods that have been irradiated, processed, or treated with chemicals offer few or no enzymes. When the diet lacks uncooked foods, the body’s internal organs try to make up the enzyme deficit, attempting to create more enzymes than they are physiologically equipped to do.

People who don’t eat raw foods and whose organs work overtime to fill enzyme quotas may eventually experience discomforts such as skin rashes, bloating, gas, fatigue after eating, joint pain, and fuzzy thinking. Should these symptoms persist for years, they can develop into allergies, constipation, and more serious conditions such as cancer, irritable bowel syndrome, arthritis, and autoimmune disorders.