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Enzymes - The Key to Life

When we are born, God builds into each one of us a supply of enzymes which are involved in some way in every body function. Each enzyme performs a specific duty, such as digesting food, repairing the immune system, building protein in the bones, regenerating skin and assisting the body to detoxify. The enzymes produced by the body are needed for daily repair and rebuilding and are depleted during the digestion process when cooked foods are consumed. There is a direct correlation between the enzymatic content in our bodies and the quality of our health. In fact, without enzymes life cannot exist and we die!

The importance of enzymes cannot be overstated! There are three types of enzymes and they are:

• Metabolic enzymes, which make the body organs function and are found in every cell and tissue in the human body. Their jobs are to boost the immune system, prevent disease, slow the aging process, repair damage to the body, build healthy tissue, and many other functions. A shortage of these enzymes can cause serious health problems.

• Digestive enzymes are produced by the body and are responsible for breaking down the food we eat so that it may be assimilated. Live foods enable the body to work more efficiently without having to rob organs of the enzymes required to break down food.

• Food source enzymes may be found in all freshly extracted juices and raw food, raw marinated foods, as well as soaked nuts and seeds. Some examples of foods high in enzymatic activity are raw figs, dates, pineapple, grapes, avocado, banana, raw sauerkraut and raw nut and seed loaves.

The four types of enzymes found in food are:

1. Lipase - which breaks down the fat

2. Protease - which assists to break down protein

3. Cellulose - which works on breaking down cellulose

4. Amylase - which breaks down starch

Enzymes start to die at 107 degrees Fahrenheit! By 122 degrees Fahrenheit the enzymes or life force are destroyed. This statement can easily be proven by a simple experiment: Take two raw carrots; cut the top off one and place it in water. Take the second carrot and cook it; then after it has been cooked, cut its top off and place it in a saucer of water. The raw carrot top will grow while the cooked carrot will not. The raw carrot is alive, with enzymes, and the cooked carrot is dead, with no enzymes.

Another example of what heat does to enzymes is the heating or pasteurization of cow's milk. A calf nursing at a mother cow will grow up into a healthy animal. But if the calf is removed from the mother and cow's milk is pasteurized (heated to 160 degrees) and then that pasteurized milk is fed to the calf as its exclusive diet, the calf will be dead in 30 to 60 days. Heat destroys the life in any form of food!

Our bodies are living organisms, comprised of living cells, and living cells require living food to be properly nourished. All cooked food is dead food and thus not proper nourishment for humans or animals.

Furthermore, cooked and highly processed foods that contain high protein, fat and refined carbohydrates generate acidity and poison within the body. Food that has been cooked and is devoid of enzymes takes much longer to pass through the digestive system, creating monumental problems for the body. With a lifetime of processed, overcooked and improperly combined meals, gourmet foods and sugary desserts, it is no wonder we are a sick nation.

Although most people are able to maintain life on a cooked food diet, their bodies break down over the course of time. Humans with all of their intellect are the only species on earth that attempts to live on a mostly cooked diet without the benefit of raw food and living enzymes. People on a mostly cooked diet become lethargic since the body does not receive the nutrients it needs to regenerate the enzyme supply. Unfortunately, we have become addicted to fast food, toxic chemicals and life in the fast lane - all of which breed disease. Disease is allowed to invade a weakened and depleted immune system because the body is using all of its reserves just to stay alive!

When a person is young, the body can handle a lot of abuse. However, as a person grows older, the enzyme reserve starts to become depleted, fewer enzymes are produced and the buildup of toxins begins. A cooked-food diet rich in fat leads to high cholesterol and unwanted pounds, while inorganic calcium intake leads to arthritis, and too much fat and sugar contributes to diabetes. When starch remains undigested, it puts stress on the liver, kidneys and even the skin. Excess protein that the body cannot remove rots in the digestive system, creating acid and waste for the body to dispose of. This process of decay may contribute to allergy problems and degeneration of the heart, kidney, blood vessels, and even the joints can become affected. The end result of a high-fat, high-protein diet high in refined carbohydrates is a body destined to disease.

White blood cells are part of the body's defense system. Their job is to devour foreign matter and to destroy any disease-causing organisms which enters the body. During the 1930's a study was conducted which showed that when cooked food was consumed, the white blood cell count increased immediately. This indicates that when cooked food is eaten, the white blood cells have to stop their work protecting the body and must help with the digestion of the nonfood poisons that have entered the system. When the same foods were eaten in their raw state, there was no change in the blood chemistry.

Undigested proteins, bacteria and yeast that enter the bloodstream through the intestinal wall have toxic effects on the body. Once they have entered the bloodstream, they spread quickly and can cause many symptoms. An example would be Candida Albicans, which lives almost everywhere in the body. If a body's immune system is in a compromised condition, Candida can take over the whole body. If the body has an adequate supply of enzymes, the yeasts, which are protein bodies, can be easily digested by the body.