Enzymes “The Key” – Digestion (Part 2)

By Apricot Power
Health & Wellness

After several blogs pertaining to digestion, you should be getting the message. What you eat and digest is the key to your health. Enzymes are required to digest virtually all food. Nature made a beautiful system. Every cell contains enzymes, that when released aid in the digestive process. Though all raw foods contain the digestive enzymes necessary to digest themselves, how that food is handled may affect the quality and quantity of the enzymes. Organic foods contain more enzymes than non-organic foods. Chemicals, pesticides, and irradiation all lower the natural enzyme levels.  Enzymes (themselves a protein), are destroyed in temperatures over 105 degrees. Cooking and processing (packaging foods into cans, boxes, and bags) kills the natural enzymes in the foods and renders them “enzymatically dead.” Animals and humans were designed to eat a raw diet, obtaining a majority of their digestive enzymes from the raw food they ate. Both species were also designed with a pancreas, a backup organ to help digest foods that were not completely digested by the natural enzymes in the foods. Unfortunately, for modern man and animals, the pancreas was not intended to be the only organ of digestion and therefore it can fatigue and use up its stores of digestive enzymes, leaving the person or animal unable to properly digest their food. Too many Americans eat a majority of processed (enzymatically dead)  foods. Most pet foods fed in America are processed diets. Highly processed diets place a tremendous workload on the pancreas. It is no surprise statistics show an alarmingly high number of young people suffering from pancreatic and adrenal fatigue, mal-digestion, diabetes, and obesity.  Similar disorders are alarming high in animals too. The fourth annual Association for Pet Obesity Prevention (APOP) National Pet Obesity Awareness Day Study found approximately 53% of cats and 55% of dogs were overweight or obese. Animals that have a “picky appetite” are likely suffering from chronic nausea secondary to maldigestion. Signs of improper digestion include gas, bloat, diarrhea, constipation, a poor immune system, allergies, obesity, and a myriad of health disorders. Really?!?! Different enzymes work in different segments of the digestive system.  Pancreatic enzymes only work in the small intestine where the PH is more alkaline or basic.  Plant-based enzymes are unique in that they work in all PH’s, from acidic (like the stomach) to the alkaline small intestine. Most people acknowledge that the Standard American Diet (SAD) is the root cause of most of our countries health issues. Though there are many things we should improve regarding our eating habits and lifestyles, there is one that dominates the priority list.  If I am given the task of recommending one thing only for someone to include in a health care regime, it would be taking organic plant-based digestive enzymes (complete with enzymes for sugars, carbohydrates, fats, and proteins) with every meal. This is part 2 of a 3-part series written by Dr. Marlene Siegel, a Holistic Veterinarian, Certified Natural Health Professional, keynote speaker, award-winning author, researcher, and teacher.

You can get Dr. Siegel’s FREE book “Five Steps to Heal Dogs Holistically” at Dr. Siegel’s website www.holistichealingvet.com