I have a question about enzyme reserves. What is the best way to build up (if possible) or maintain the enzymes in the body? Eating foods with natural enzymes seems to be the most obvious way, perhaps there are other means.

According to some sources sprouts have anywhere from 10 to 100 times the amount of enzymes than most fruits and vegetables, this depends upon the particular enzyme. Speaking of which, are there particular foods which are known to especially help most people towards their path of good health? As pertaining to enzyme content in combination with other factors of course? What is the best way to optimize this, and prevent enzymes from clashing, and canceling each other out, if thats possible. And what about optimal absorption?

I know this is a topic which can become very detailed, its probably covered in a variety of places, links would be appreciated. thank you!

Oh, I do eat and love alfalfa sprouts, on occation mung bean sprouts, and started sprouting my own lentils. These are on the list of recommended sources for enzymes from one source. Wheat, rye are also on the list, but I am not so crazy about them, but I could be persuaded to eat some if I clearly know its going to do something positive for me.

Mislu,

As far as I know, eating foods does not restore enzymes; rather, eating certain foods can help the body to manufacture and maintain enzymes. That is, if you eat an enzyme rich food, those enzymes are not automatically assimilated, but eating certain enzyme rich foods catalyzes the manufacturing of enzymatic amino sequences necessary to the body's function. There is some evidence that proteolytic enzymes, derived from animal organs and fruits(like pancreatin and bromelain, resp.) can be used directly by the body on a cellular level, but the research is sketchy. I eat sprouts because they are a good source of raw protein, B vitamins, etc., and these help promote healthy metabolic processes.

I don't buy the whole raw theory of enzymes in raw foods being beneficial. Especially about the part where the enzymes in the food help digest the food when it is in your body. And more distasteful to me is using enzyme supplements to digest your foods. When enzyme supplements are necessary, this means that a person is trying to eat foods that don't digest well for them, and perhaps they would be better off making better food choices in terms of digestion rather than taking a supplement.

Raw foods are more healthful because they contain fewer toxins than cooked foods, and when properly chosen and combined, they are easier to digest than cooked foods.

Bryan Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> And more distasteful to
> me is using enzyme supplements to digest your
> foods.

Bryan,

Rather than take insult at what is for me, and many others, a medical necessity, I'm going to suggest that you, the moderator of this group, find a more supportive, and less judgmental way of stating your opinion. Distasteful is an interesting word to use, since it means something is unacceptable, offensive or worse. If you indeed truly find my way of survival to be "distasteful" I would like to know how it harms you that you would cast such a judgment.


> When enzyme supplements are necessary, this
> means that a person is trying to eat foods that
> don't digest well for them, and perhaps they would
> be better off making better food choices in terms
> of digestion rather than taking a supplement.

Perhaps, but it could also mean that a persons pancreas does not properly produce, or deliver enough enzymes to digest any food.

Edited for clarity.
Merry Christmas



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/25/2009 12:15AM by swimmer.

Yes, perhaps that was a bit strong. For people with real need, I certainly don't have a problem. But what I find distasteful is the pushing of digestive supplements and aids to a population who don't need them, but are instead trying to eat foods that are not compatible with the human digestive system.

Quote

trying to eat foods that are not compatible with the human digestive system.

Its so amazing to get really raw because everything else from an eating perspective either dosn't measure up in comparison to raw or is unnecessary like the supplements. The two times I have "slipped" and gone back to the crappy foods what has turned me back to raw has been the perfection of the raw foods for my body and the incompleteness of the unraw foods.

Tamukha,
Where is the best evidence that proteolytic enzymes can be used directly by the body via consumption? I think that sounds interesting.

I think you made a very subtle distinction about how enzymes are useful if consumed. I am sorry if I was not technically correct, or did not understand how these are useful. I think the question is if high enzyme consumption is helpful. Sprouts themselves have a lot to offer, even if its not because of the enzymes, thats true also.

Bryan,
Why do you think that enzymes don't help with digestion at all? It may be a flawed theory. However, it is a difficult question to separate from the issue of toxins. Most live vegan foods have some enzymes, they also have a high water content, variable amounts of fiber. There are multiple effects from cooking.

If you cook these foods it will change most aspects, damage the fiber, create toxins, damage nutrients, alter water content, destroy enzymes. Really the only way to answer the question is to find a live food which doesn't contain any enzymes at all, and consume that food for some period of time. I think you would be hard pressed to find a living food devoid of enzymes.

Mislu,

I found this article, which has footnoted links to clinical research authors, at an herbalism website:

[healthlibrary.epnet.com]

I you do a Google search for "proteolytic enzyme research," you should get primarily a list of scholarly articles on the subject.

When my mother had a surgery, I read in several alternative health publications; online and actual, and which did have brief clinical citations, that supplementing just before the surgery and for a couple of weeks afterward with large amounts of pancreatin would speed healing. The hypothesis was that when taken on an empty stomach, the pancreatin would be used proteolytically by the body to quell inflammation and help construct fibrin, rather than digestively. It did seem to help, according to further tests she had done.

I like the idea of using papain/bromelain powder on meals...I even put them in my smoothie mix and in my herb formulas. You are only as healthy as your assimilation...and digestion efficiency drops off as we age. The less work, wear and tear on the digestive system the better.
You can get inexpensive papain and bromelain from herbalcom.com and put them in a salt shaker to sprinkle on meals.

I used to follow George and Rhonda Malkmus' Hacres which has a staff researcher, Michael Donaldson, who has written a lot on enzymes, which are also sold on their website. Donaldson writes--

"So, how does this information apply to people? First, Dr. Howell was right in saying that enzyme
nutrition is important. Foods that help digest themselves (raw foods, soaked grains, or lactobaccilifermented
foods) will be more easily assimilated and ease the amount of work the body has to do to
extract the nutrients from them. Second, fungal enzymes used as dietary supplements for people have
a wide pH range and are beneficial in improving digestion. These enzymes begin working in the
acidic environment of the stomach without being deactivated, and continue on working even in the
small intestine. Third, supplemental enzyme formulas can be tailored for different needs. For people
eating a plant-based diet, having a formula that improves the digesting of plant cell wall material helps
them get as much out of their food as possible. Some formulas do not have the cellulase enzymes in
them, but the formula used by Hallelujah Acres does have them because we want to break down some
of the fiber and get nutrition from the plants we eat. (The reason cellulase is removed is that it would
digest the very small amount of dietary fiber that most Americans eat, leaving them with no bulk to
move the digested food through the intestinal tract.) So, even people eating a mostly raw plant food
diet can benefit from some enzymes as they assist digesting raw food, too. There is indeed evidence
showing that digestive enzymes are beneficial and make a difference.

"Now, protease enzymes can be used between meals to allow systemic absorption of a small amount of
these enzymes. This can result in anti-inflammatory activity, scar tissue removal, improved rates of
healing of acute injuries, digestion of blood clots, and other functions as welll. But that is a topic for
another time."

[www.hacres.net]

Donaldson actually did write on protease enzymes 'another time' in a peer reviewed article including a section on oral enzymes. [www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov]

Donaldson's article speaks of studies where mice were administered enzymes rectally which makes me wonder how strong the evidence is if it means recalling rectal mice research in a section devoted to oral enzymes, and by a vegan organization at that, though he follows that with a few relevant human studies. I guess more research is needed.

I think raw food enzymes are important in pre-digestion and believe for the most part in the value of enzymes.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/29/2009 12:06PM by loeve.

Mislu, enzymes are just a class of proteins in living things that speed up chemical reactions due to their shape, as opposed to the structural sort (in bones, skeletal muscle and other tissues). Most of them will not survive the highly acidic environment of the stomach, which has the specific function of breaking down proteins (which are just long chains of aminos) into their amino acid components. The ones that do are acidic themselves. Of those, the most studied ones are bromelain and papain. So eat some pineapple and papaya and don't worry about the rest. Most of what is written about it in the raw food community is nonsense, unless it's from a bona fide scientist like Donaldson.

The Complete Book of Enzyme Therapy, pages 39-40, goes into the three ways that enzymes (supplements in this case) are absorbed in the small intestine: pinocytosis, transcellular absorbtion and by the lymphatic system.
[books.google.com]

Stasia,

Interesting book, I tried to access pages 39-40 but only was able to get up to p. 35 before my limited preview priviledge ran out...

So enzymes are absorbed by the villi [users.rcn.com] of the small intestine by either pinocytosis or transcellular absorbtion and then transferred into the lymphatic system or released back into the intestine when needed for digestion. Does that sound possible?

thanks



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/30/2009 02:08PM by loeve.

Sorry, I should have mentioned that you need to click the link and then the first search result to go right to page 40. You won't be able to do that now because you've used up your preview. But this link has even better info:

The absorbtion of enzymes that we are talking about are for uses other than digestion. There are 3,000 different types of enzymes in the body used for every function that it does from blood clotting to converting one type of material to another, the cells themselves create enzymes. Only 22 of these 3,000 enzymes are used for digestion and if the enzymes are already with the food then they are digesting the food without needing to be absorbed.

[www.mvholisticretreat.com]
The Lining of the Intestines and its Function:

It is known that the lining of the intestine is an active organ tissue that breaks down nutrients, selects what it will or will not allow to be absorbed into the blood stream; and controls the speed with which the action takes place. Enzyme Absorption research continues to show enzyme absorption methods in new and dynamic ways, and we know that the intestinal lining absorbs enzymes intact. Today we know that enzyme absorption is possible...and, in fact, this process occurs daily. Enzyme absorption occurs through two main methods:

1) Pinocytosis (from root word "pinocyte" originating from Greek "pineo" meaning 'to drink' and "kyto" meaning 'cell,' that is to say in English, "to drink cells," technically-speaking the uptake of fluid-filled vesicles into cells (endocytosis). The action of pinocytosis is a distinct process, being energy-independent, and involving the formation of receptor ligand clusters. This is described technically by saying: Any molecules, including enzymes, that binds to substances (i.e. water), which in turn allows the usage of water-soluble molecules such as TumorX Enzyme to bind to a receptor (i.e. amylase connected to water). When this process takes place the TumorX enzymes are able to migrate through the wall of the intestinal gut and directly into the bloodsream. A simpler comparison is the elevator. A person steps into an elevator on the first floor and the door closes behind them. Upward the elevator travels, the door opens and the person steps out onto the second floor. Similarly, the intestinal lining encloses and engulfs enzymes that travel to and from the second floor (bloodstream) where the door opens, releasing the passenger (amylase enzyme). Once the enzymes are in the bloodstream the enzymes can travel to the lymphatic sysyem. This is achieved by the enzymes hitching a ride via the lympochytes, that is to say, the white blood cells which help fight the disease and infection. This process helps the enzymes travel through the vascular system easily and effectively.

2) Peristalsis (from root word "Stalsis" originating from Greek meaning 'contraction') is the transcellular absorption or migration process in which large enzymes and nutrients are pushed in a wormlike movement by the digestive tract through the small intestine. This provides both longitudinal and circular motion using the contraction and release of the cells in a juxtapositional relationship; the enzymes travel along the epithelium component of the cell. In essense, the cells' surrounding tissue consists of a wave-like motion caused by the contraction. The enzymes pass through the tube-like passage, made exclusively for the passing enzymes, for variable distances throughout the body until the enzymes find carcinomas, damaged cells (pre-cancerous cells), or debris in the body. If the enzymes are not utilized, the enzymes are then forced into the bloodsream to travel around the vascular system until a location or opportunity arises where the catalyst action of the enzymes can be positively-utilized.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 12/30/2009 04:44PM by stasia.

Argula,
Well, one author doesn't agree at all that enzymes are simply destroyed in the digestion process. Here is the explaination.
[www.goodpet.com]

It seems pretty reasonable that raw foodist digestion may be different from people eating cooked foods, especially if someone is eating alot of meat. Lower acidity is present in the stomach of people who habitually eat raw vegan foods, so the chances of ezymes surviving digestion are greater still than what is stated in the opinion above. I literally have not bought the enzyme supplement arguement however. I looked at some bottles this morning, and thought to myself, 'I just don't know enought about it to spend that much'.


Just to inject some levity into the topic, I think I found the theoretical 'enzymeless living food'. I bought this imported melon from belize for only $2.49, it seemed like a bargin. However, its turning out to be the never ending melon, because I can't wait for it to be gone. Its dry, tasteless. I thought it was purely mythological, but I think its the test case of the 'living food' without enzymes!

I think enzymes survive the digestion process the same as raw food nutrients do and can be absorbed in the intestines the same as raw food nutrients are absorbed.

Thanks, stasia, that makes sense how specific enzymes can be packaged and delivered in enzyme therapy.

It's been difficult for me to find authoritative descriptions on the web on just how certain enzymes might be absorbed. Maybe there are receptors in the intestinal lining that recognize certain enzymes and actively transport them through to the lymph and blood systems similar to the case of vitamin B12, a large molecule which is absorbed while attached to the protein Intrinsic Factor--

"Once the IF/B12 complex is recognized by specialized ileal receptors, it is transported into the portal circulation." [en.wikipedia.org]

Mislu, I didn't write all. I wrote most. All enzymes have a particular range of activity for temperature and pH. Too low or too high and they don't work well, go even higher or lower still and they start to break apart. If the side chains have carboxyl amino groups they are more likely to survive in low pH environments. There is one that your stomach uses to degrade other proteins called pepsin.

But very few enzymes have activity or the ability to survive in such an environment. They are the exceptions and not the rule (which tends to be neutral in the body), because the other parts of the body where almost all other activity occurs tend to be more neutral or basic, such as the typical cell interior. The cells that do well in acid environments tend to be proteolytic, that is they help to break down other proteins into amino acid components.