enzymes

July 5, 2003

Just a further note about enzymes – Enzyme effectiveness is best described in terms

of activity, not weight. Enzymatic activity is measured in Units according to standardized

assays, but there is no regulation stating

how activity levels must be reported on labels. Therefore, a listing of enzymes in a weight measurement, such as milligrams, does not mean that the enzyme present is active. It just means that a certain quantity is included

in the product, but not that the enzyme is effective. No enzyme manufactures that has a real enzyme product uses milligrams.

Carol

January 12, 2004

hello!

i had the unfortunate occurance of gallstones in '93, and had my gallbladder taken out before i could thoroughly research the condition. now i take enzymes to aid in digestion, and have found them to be quite helpful. (wish i had my gallbladder back, though!)

roxanne

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July 7, 2004

rosepetals <rosepetalsandcats wrote:

mscured From: rosepetals Tue, 6 Jul 2004 11:18:33 -0700 (PDT)RE: [mscured] milkEnzymes: The Difference Between Raw and Cooked Foodsby: Emily Kane ND ENZYMES: The tiny and enormous difference between raw and cooked foodsVirtually all chronic degenerative diseases are caused or aggravated by digestive problems. After the most extensive study on nutrition ever undertaken by the government, the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Nutrition and Human Needs concluded in its 1978 report entitled "Diet and Killer Diseases," that the average American diet is responsible for the development of chronic degenerative diseases such as heart disease, atherosclerosis, cancer, diabetes, stroke, etc. Many of the most common health complaints revolve around a 20-foot, mucus-lined tube

that directly interfaces us with our environment. This is no mystery: This is the gastro-intestinal tract, affectionately abbreviated "GI." The job of the GI is to alchemically transmute the food we eat into our flesh, blood, actions, thoughts and feelings... with a little help from our friends the salivary glands, the pancreas, the liver, and most importantly RAW FOOD -- all of which provide (now we're getting to the point) ENZYMES.Enzymes are delicate dynamos. Delicate because they are destroyed by temperatures over 118 degrees (some by as little as 105 degrees), which means that they may not survive even light steaming. Dynamos because they are powerful biochemical catalysts; they speed burning or building reactions in the body according to need. They are specialized proteins, often with long complicated names ending in -ase.The three primary digestive enzymes are protease, lipase and amylase which digest, respectively, protein, fat (lipids), and carbohydrates

(which includes sugars). Amylase comes from the salivary glands: carbohydrates start digesting right in our mouth. Have you ever chewed a piece of bread or potato for an extra moment before swallowing, and tasted how sweet it is? (It is a good idea to chew our foods thoroughly; literally making juice in our mouths before swallowing.) Lipase is synthesized principally in the liver and protease comes from the pancreas. Although the enzyme-producing organs continue to function over the entire course of a healthy life, they eventually wear down, especially with the "standard American diet" (which, in the naturopathic community, we call SAD.) Dr. Francis M. Pottenger's nutritional studies have shown that a regular diet of cooked or canned foods causes the development of chronic degenerative diseases and premature mortality. Professor Jackson of the Dept. of Anatomy, University of Minnesota, has shown that rats fed for 135 days on an 80 percent cooked food diet resulted in an

increase pancreatic weight of 20 to 30 percent. What this means is that the pancreas is forced to work harder with a cooked food diet. "Although the body can manufacture enzymes, the more you use your enzyme potential, the faster it is going to run out..." wrote Dr. Edward Howell, who pioneered research in the benefits of food enzymes. A youth of 18 may produce amylase levels 30 times greater than those of an 85 year old person.Enzymes are what make seeds sprout. Sprouts are, in fact, one of the richest sources of enzymes. Other excellent sources are papaya, pineapple and the aspergillus plant. Science cannot duplicate enzymes, because they are the stuff of life itself. Only raw food has functional "live" enzymes. Therefore the liver, pancreas, stomach and intestines must come to the rescue and furnish the requisite digestive enzymes to the individual nourished solely on a cooked food diet. This extra activity can be detrimental to health and longevity because it

continually taxes the reserve energy of our organs. Furthermore, cooked food passes through the digestive tract more slowly than raw food, tends to ferment, and throws poisons back into the body. Colon cancer is second only to lung cancer as a killer in America and is related, in various ways, to eating enzyme-deficient cooked food. Prolonged intestinal toxemia may manifest the following symptoms: Fatigue, nervousness, gasto-intestinal discomfort, recurrent infections, skin eruptions, hormonal disturbances, headaches, arthritis, sciatica, low back pain, allergies, asthma, eye, ear, nose and throat disorders, cardiac irregularities, pathological changes in the breasts, and so forth. All of these conditions have been shown to respond to therapy directed to correcting the bowel toxemia. Of course, it is important to have fiber in the diet to scrub the colon walls clean, but even more important are the enzymeswhich will allow proper digestion and assimilation of vital nutrients.

Cooked food often passes into the bloodstream as unsplit molecules that are deposited, as waste, in various parts of the body. If it is a fat molecule we know it as cholesterol plaque; if calcium, arthritis; if sugar, diabetes. White blood cell count rises dramatically after ingesting a meal of canned or cooked foods ("digestive leukocytosis"). Elevated WBCs are correlated to bacterial infection, inflammation and depressed immunity. Raw foods do not produce this reaction. All raw foods contain exactly the right enzymes required to split every last molecule into the basic building blocks of metabolism: Amino acids (from protein), glucose (from complex carbohydrates) and essential fatty acids (from unsaturated vegetable fats).You are what you ate: Eat living foods (at least once daily!).Dr. Emily Kane practices in Juneau, Alaska and can be reached at: (907)586-3655 There is NO protein controversyby Jeff N

Webmaster note: This is a very informative article about protein, originally posted to the bulletin board section of this site. There is just lots of misinformation around. However, remember any diet can be a bad diet even a raw food or vegan diet if it is not planned properly. Many raw fooders do not get in enough protein and this is bacuse they do not get in enough calories or they eat only or too much fruit and not enough veggies. To survive on a raw food diet, you have to eat lots of food. Most raw fooders do not follow a healthy diet and that is why they are so thin and emaciated and weak. Here are some clips and points from earlier posts of mine. Here are some clips from some discussions I have had on the protein issue. I think you will find all the info you need in this.The odds of you putting on any significant amount of muscle has its limits on a truly healthy diet unless you want to do some unhealthy things.

The major limiting factor will be your genetics, and if you don't have the genes for that kind of build, all the work in the gym will not put muscle on you. Also, most of the guys you see in the gyms who have big muscles who are not genetically endowed use drugs, and growth stimulants one way or another. They may be forcing anabolic growth through the use if steroids or other supplemental measures, that while may allow for rapid muscle growth and size, can be very very harmful. And while many of them will tell you that they do not take steroids or growth hormones, most all do and may not even know it. Why? Cause they eat lots of red meat and dairy and other animal products, which are loaded with growth stimulants and hormones, which are still in the meat. Europe wont import American beef because of the level of hormones in it. The actual amount of true real muscle then someone can put on naturally, is about 1# per

month. And that takes allot of work. Some of the increased size people see is do to fluid changes and not muscle growth. One of the reasons that many athletes and bodybuilders need more protein is simple. Then don't eat enough carbs or enough calories. So, during their training, they run out or low on carbs, so in order to conserve the carbs (the bodies primary energy source) the body will start burning more protein for energy. Studies have shown this and the increased protein intake is mostly used for energy and not muscle growth and repair. However, if the same athletes would just increase his carb intake, through eating more healthy carbs, he would increase the amount of stored carbs (glycogen) and be better prepared to work out and conserve or reduce the amount of needed protein. And as all carbs contain protein also, he would still be getting plenty of protein Having said all that, let look at the actual

numbers. The amount of protein someone's needs based on US RDAS is .8-gms/kg bodyweight. And if someone is overweight, this is based on ideal body weight and not actual weight as excess weight is fat and doesn't need to be fed protein. Also realize that the .8 gms /kg is an overestimate with a safety factor figured in. The actual amount needed to maintain nitrogen balance, is only .3-.4 gms/kg body weight. Many studies have done and much is written about how much bodybuilders need. The estimates run from .8 gms/kg saying that they don't need anymore then the regular person because this already is almost double true protein needs, to 1.0 gms/kg to the highest I have seen proposed is 1.5 grms /kg which is about twice the amount of protein then normal. So, lets run the numbers on me, I am 5'6" and weight a very healthy 125. My BMI is 20, which is the healthiest level. 126 lbs is about 55 kgs. 55 x .8 (low

estimate) is 44 grams. 55 x 1.5 (high estimate) is 82. The other day I posted my diet and it had in it 70 grams of protein. This was eating only fruits and veggies, with a small amount of nuts and some rice. IF I made a slight adjustment to the diet, like more nuts, I would have easily surpasses the 82 grams of protein. In fact, I just made the changes and increased the nuts (3 oz at lunch and dinner instead of 1.5) and ran the numbers, at 2500 calories my diet now has 83 grams of protein in it. So, even if the protein estimate is correct and not over inflated, one could easily do it. But remember, the numbers are inflated so we really don't need that much anyway. There is more disease and death in the world due to excess protein then there is due to lack of protein (which hardly exists anywhere except some areas where they not only don't get enough protein, they don 't get enough calories, which is the main issue).

These problems include increased rates of many cancer, osteoporosis, kidney stones, gout, hypertension, & stroke, and heart disease. Most vegetables are excellent sources of protein, especially the green leafy ones, and the problem is most people don't eat enough greens. 1200 calories of raw broccoli supply a whopping 131 grams of protein. 1200 calories of romaine lettuce supply about 136 grams. Now granted, that's alot of greens, but it makes a very important point. Oranges supply about 24 grams per 1200 calories. SO you can see that vegetables are very high in protein. SO if you want more protein in your diet, eat a little less fruit and eat lots more greens. You will still need fruit in order to supply the energy for your workouts, but eat lots of greens. ALSO>>> "Differences in digestibility may be due to many factors that can adversely effect protein digestion including - The way

the amino acids are linked in a protein -fiber -polyphenolic compounds -heat -oxidation -Addition of acids (vinegar) Unprocessed wheat and rice are better digested then ready to eat wheat or rice cereals. Vegetarian diets that are high in fiber can decrease protein digestibility. Digestibility of Different Diets and Different Foods (Sarwar G, Digestibility of protein and bioavailability of amino acids in foods. Wld Rev Nutr Diet. 1987; 54:26-70 Diet Digestibility (%) North American typical mixed 94% NA Lacto Veg 88 NA Lacto ovo veg 93 Brazil (rice, beans, meat, eggs, veg) 78 Guatemala (beans corn rice wheat cheese, eggs, veg) 77 India (rice, dal, milk, veg) 75 Food Oats, Ready to eat 72 Dried Beans 75 Rice, ready to eat 75 Wheat, Ready To eat 77 Soybeans 78 Soy Flour 86 Whole Wheat 87 Rice polished 89 WW Bread 92 Meat, Poultry, Fish 95 eggs

milk 95 Therefore, assuming 95% of the protein a mixed omnivore diet is digestible compared with 85% of the protein in a vegetarian diet, vegetarians, especially vegans may need to consume about 10-15% more protein then omnivores. This would equal out to .9 gms per kg body weight as opposed to the RDA of .8 gms per kg body weight. Also remember, these numbers have built in buffers of about 25-50% as they are set for populations and not individuals If you remember in my post, I showed that a vegan diet could meet the needs even if they were set as high as 1.5 gms per kg bodyweight. This is still way over what they are saying a vegan needs to consume to compensate. So I accounted for all this and even more of a leeway, and showed that it was still adequate, Also, I said that the methods for evaluating protein quality had been recently revised. The protein efficiency ratio (PER) was the official standard for

evaluating protein and was used in determining the RDA and for food label information. The PER was based on experiments done on rats who grow at a much faster rate then humans and therefore have a much higher protein need. They also have different requirements for amino acids, some as much as 50% higher. In recognition of this inadequacy of the PER, the FAO/WHO and the FDA have adopted a new scale called the Protein digestibility CORRECTED amino acid score (PDCAAS). While not perfect, it is much better and more accurate in relation to the true needs of humans and the scoring of food. This scale was not around in the 1970s or the 1980s PDCAAS for selected plant and animal foods (Sarwar, G Evaluation of the PDCAAS method for assessing protein quality of foods. Journal of association of official analytical chemistry, 1990; 73: 347-356) Food PDCAAS casein 1.0 Egg White 1.0 Beef 1.0 Soy protein

..99 Pea flour .69 kidney bean .68 pinto bean .57 rolled oats .57 whole wheat .40 lentils .51 Also, The ability of plant proteins to meet protein needs when the only source or protein in a diet has been clearly shown also. At Michigan state university, students aged 19 to 27 were fed diets for 50 days that 70 grams of protein a day, 90% of which came from wheat and the rest from fruit and vegetables. All subjects remained in nitrogen balance (the true test of protein adequacy of a diet). One note, the first 2 weeks, the students were in negative nitrogen balance as they adapted to the diet, and then went in to positive nitrogen balance. Many studies that show plant food diets don't maintain nitrogen balance aren't followed long enough to allow for this adoption to take place. Several other studies have also shown that wheat protein can meet protein needs. And Other studies have shown that when

rice makes up as much as 75% of the protein in a diet, nitrogen balance is maintained. Also studies have shown that then when single plant foods were used as the source of protein (corn, potatoes) subjects were able to maintain nitrogen balance. Now, these are extreme examples and I don't recommend them. As I said in my post on the RDAs, sometimes there can be sub clinical deficiencies that take years to manifest. SO while they may have survived and maintained positive nitrogen balance, we don't know if the amino acids profile and the protein level would have been enough for them to THRIVE on. From a percent protein from calories, all these numbers, taking into consideration all the above issues, a diet that is 10% protein would meet all these needs. However, realize for this to work, you MUST take in enough calories . Also studies have shown that taking in excess calories actually improves protein

digestibility. Taking in an excess of 700 to 1000 calories reduces the amount of protein needed to maintain nitrogen balance by 30 and 50% respectively. Well, that's fine for normal people but what about athletes? As I said earlier, it is conceivable that athletes may need more protein to maintain nitrogen balance. The RDA does not have a separate recommendation for protein for hard work or training cause they believe that with the built in margin of safety already included, this would be covered. However, there is recent research that says that athletes may need up to 1.5 gms per kg (which I did quote in my first post). The theory is that they need more protein due to the breakdown of amino acids that need to be replaced. However (as I also mentioned) the actual need for lean tissue deposition is very small. If someone was to put on 1 lb a month of muscle (which is not easy and hard to do, month after

month) one pound of muscle is 454 grams, 75% of which is water weight (muscle tissue is 75% water). So that means the other 25% or 113 grams per month, is protein, or less then 4 grams per day, assuming 100% efficiency and utilization. Assuming 85% efficiency, from plant protein, that would be about 4.7 grams. 28 grams are 1 ounce, so this is like less then 1/8 of an ounce a day of extra protein needed. This is a very very small amount. Realize also that this is highly controversial. Many scientists believe no extra protein is needed by athletes. Yet, I in my earlier post, used the highest estimates given, and still showed that a vegan diet can meet all the protein and amino acid requirements, taking into account all factors of digestibility and efficiency. Also realize, that athletes who don't eat enough carbohydrates (probably cause they are eating too much protein) have insufficient glycogen stores (stored

carbohydrates). Athletes with low glycogen stores, metabolize 2x the amount of protein as athletes who are carb loaded. Why? Not die to muscle buildup, but due to the fact that the "extra" protein will be used for gluconeogenesis, which is the making of glucose (for energy) from protein. So they excess protein is needed for energy and not muscle, due to a lack of carb intake. Also remember, excess protein -Increases calcium excretion (can increase risk for osteoporosis) - Increase risk for kidney stones - Increase risk for kidney disease Why Juice?Fresh juice provides us with minerals, vitamins, essential fatty acids, carbohydrates, proteins and much more. All of these factors are vital to maintaining good health. You will find that when you make fresh juice a daily part of your diet, you will have increased energy, a glowing complexion, strengthened immune system, stronger bones and a reduced risk of

disease. It is recommended that you drink at least 16 ounces of freshly squeezed juice each day. Although eating fruits and vegetables in their natural state does provide us with a substantial amount of vitamins and minerals, we only obtain the maximum benefits from them when they are juiced. Much of their goodness is locked in the fiber which is expelled from the body. When we juice the fruits and vegetables, their goodness is released from the fiber and we are able to drink their highly concentrated nutrients which are then able to enter our bloodstream very quickly. Fiber is essential to health, so be sure to continue eating raw fruits, vegetables, legumes and whole grains in conjunction with fresh juices to gain the maximum amount of nutritional value from what you eat. Very few people eat enough raw fruits and vegetables. Juicing provides a quick and easy way to increase your consumption of these foods, and is recommended in addition to a high fiber diet. There

are many bottled juices available on the market today. One of the problems with these is that many of their valuable nutrients are lost during the bottling process. If you make your own juice and drink it fresh, you will have control over the quality of the fruits and vegetables you are consuming, and in many cases you will save money. Your local Farmer's Market is a great place to buy fresh, inexpensive and often organic produce. The USDA, National Cancer Institute, Surgeon General, and the secretary of Health and Human Services all agree that Americans need to increase their consumption of fresh produce to include 2 to 4 servings of vegetables every day. One of the easiest ways to add them to your diet is to juice. No matter what your age, it is never too late to start drinking your fruits and vegetables. Juices can flush toxins from your body, are good for your weight, heart, circulation and overall well being. Juices contain no saturated fats or added sodium and

can be helpful in lowering your cholesterol. (Always follow your pediatrician's advice when introducing babies to juice.) Remember: Apple seeds contain some cyanide, so be sure to remove the seeds before juicing. Do not juice carrot or rhubarb greens because of their toxicity. The skins of oranges and grapefruits also contain toxic substances, so it is not wise to juice them (however, the white, pithy part just below the skin contains very valuable bioflavonoids and vitamin C, so make sure you don't peel that away). The leaves of celery are often bitter, so you may wish to remove them. The skins of fruits such as kiwi and papaya should also be removed prior to juicing, however the skins from lemons and limes may be left on. Be sure to wash them thoroughly to remove any waxes and pesticides. All pits, such as plum pits and peach pits should be removed. Seeds from lemons, limes, grapes and melons etc. may be put into your juicer.

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