ENZYMES: THE KEY TO LONGEVITY, Part 5/6

BLOOD: THE INTERNAL MILIEU

Going back to the blood now, and the idea of toxicity, remember that the blood was the carrier which deposited all the undigested food debris in various locations throughout the body. But this type of debris also has observable effects on the red blood cells themselves. Undigested fats and protein in the diet commonly cause a condition known as erythrocyte aggregation, which is simply clumping of the red cells. This causes circulation problems and may be the primary cause of chronic fatigue. It stands to reason – if the blood cells are all stuck together like globs of motor oil, they cannot flow very easily through the blood vessels. Circulation is the only way that the body’s cells can obtain oxygen, which they need every second. Clumping of red cells graphically decreases the amount of oxygen that is being carried to the tissues. We’re not just talking about fatigue any more; lack of oxygen spells tissue degeneration, premature aging, and early death.

Just think of the stress that clumped up red blood cells put on the heart. Red cells are supposed to be free and separate so they can circulate easily. What is the #1 cause of death in the US?

Almost 100 years ago Alexis Carrel demonstrated how the longevity of cells is largely determined by two things: their ability to take in oxygen and nutrients and expel wastes. That’s it. Longevity of cells obviously determines longevity of the body. Clumping of red cells from daily processed foods diet prevents both oxygen in and waste out. It’s not rocket science.

OXYGEN AND CHOLESTEROL

Those shooting pains down the legs or arms are sometimes simply the result of muscles being forced to operate without sufficient oxygen, screaming in protest. Again, lack of available oxygen can cause degeneration and dysfunction of any organ or system of the entire body: arteries, heart, lungs, skin, kidneys, digestion, you name it. The oxidized cholesterol crystals from all the hydrogenated foods that precipitate out of solution in the blood – these crystals classically lodge in joints and muscles, and cause gallstones, gout, fibromyalgia, and arthritis. These and many other problems started out with a diet that lacked enzymes – a devitalized, processed diet that remained unchanged for years. How many of us in our 40s still eat the same way we did when we were teenagers? It’s the road to ruin. We’re just flesh and blood after all.

CHRONIC FATIGUE

Ever get food poisoning? Or maybe you know someone. Every single day in America 200,000 people get food poisoning, 900 of them are hospitalized, and 14 die. (Schlosser) Usually we think of food poisoning as being violently ill, throwing up, and being incapacitated for a few days, because of having gotten some bad food at a restaurant. But there’s another type of food poisoning that is much more common, in fact, epidemic. This is the type of disorder the doctors and hospitals just can’t quite put their finger on. The tests are all negative. But the problem just goes on and on: no energy, intermittent sharp pains in the stomach area, bad skin, bad breath, chronic low-grade allergies, constant feeling of impending disaster – like things are just ‘not right.’ The catch-all diagnosis is Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.

This type of food poisoning results from years of eating a diet deficient in enzymes, vitamins, and minerals. All those GMO snacks and fast food and dairy simply can’t be broken down. The body is starving from lack of nutrients. Holistic doctors call this phenomenon malnutrition of the affluent. Funny to think how someone 70 or 80 lbs. overweight can be starving, but that’s exactly what’s going on. Their constant hunger is a never-fulfilled craving, always hoping that some real nutrients will actually come down the hatch. But instead, pattern eating takes over – the sweet, soft foods, hydrogenated fats and oils, seasoned to taste with a ton of white sugar and salt. Yum-yum. Comfort foods. And that is why obese people can’t lose weight – if they cut down their eating the body actually thinks that it is starving and tries to conserve as much of everything as possible because it’s in Survival Mode.

CHRONIC INDIGESTION – TAPING THE OIL LIGHT

Gas, bloating, heartburn, stomach ache, feeling full when beginning to eat, abdominal cramping, unsatisfied hunger – these are common symptoms of enzyme deficiency. But most doctors treat such problems as though they were signs of drug deficiency! Perfect examples are Tagamet and Prilosec – standard drugs given for indigestion and heartburn. Now the main reason there is pain is simple: blockage. All that pizza and fries and tacos and yoghurt is devitalized food: no enzymes. As a result, once in the stomach, it just sits there. The stomach produces more and more acids and digestive enzymes trying to break down this overcooked, chemical-laden sludge we mistakenly refer to as food. But it can’t do it. All that digestive juice sitting there unable to do its work is uncomfortable. It burns the stomach. On swallowing, the acid splashes back into the esophagus causing a painful condition known as reflux esophagitis, or heartburn, or for the really clueless – hiatal hernia.

So first the geniuses try Tagamet, with the idea that all the excess acid needs to be absorbed. When that doesn’t work, enter Prilosec. The shrewd rationale behind this brain-child is to stop all digestion by halting further production of digestive juices! Short-term, the discomfort is postponed, but what about the underlying cause – the sludge sitting there in the stomach? It now begins to rot (go rancid, putrefy, or ferment, depending on whether it is fat, protein or carbohydrate). Then we have intestinal blockage, which promotes diseases like peptic ulcer, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Crohn’s Disease, chronic colitis, Leaky Gut Syndrome, and colon cancer. This is how anti-digestive drugs like Prilosec can set the stage for a condition doctors call auto-intoxication. (See the chapter: Journey to the Center of Your Colon.)

FADS AND TRENDS

Dieticians and nutritionists go to all this trouble categorizing foods according to content, telling you that this food has so many mg. of calcium, that one has so much protein, or they talk about calories, or food combining, or Carbs, or eating for your blood type, or body type, or some Zone, or any number of trendy notions. But it actually matters much less what’s in the food as it does how much of the nutrients eventually ends up in your cells.

Don’t get caught up in the Milligram Game. Or the Calorie Game. Start with the basics. If the food was never broken down in the digestive tract, well then, it went right through you. Or worse, it’s still in there. It doesn’t matter what we eat; it only matters what we digest.

HOW FAT WAS SHE?

Had to go through a revolving door in two trips? High school picture an aerial photograph? Hog farmers learned long ago that hogs get fat twice as fast if they are fed cooked food. Cooking destroys what? Right. Enzymes.

Only two years ago, statistics on obesity indicated that about one in eight Americans was obese. The definition of obese is that a person weighs 30% more than his normal weight. The Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta now says: one in three Americans is obese! For anyone who doubts these figures, empirical verification may help: go to the mall and sit on a bench in the concourse for half an hour.

People get fat because they eat cooked and processed foods – enzymeless foods which cannot be broken down.

THE BIGGIE NATION

Even more than the quality of food, it’s the quantity that makes fat Americans.

Consider this: for normal nutrition, humans need about 25 grams of protein per day. Our average intake is 125 grams! (McDougall) As for white sugar, we consume an average of 160 pounds per person per year. How much do we need? Zero! White sugar has no food value. (Sugar: The Sweet Thief of Life)

As for fats, that’s a whole story in itself. The body requires essential fat for optimum health, but only natural fats – like in avocadoes, raw nuts, flaxseed, cocoanut, and fish. These foods contain the fat enzyme lipase – which breaks them down. But that’s not what we eat. The fats we load up on are artificial, manmade fats like in chips, fries, and margarine. These artificial fats are non-foods, indigestible, and are bioaccumulative. Manmade GMO hydrogenated hard fats make for clogged arteries, cellulite, and spare tireage; once in the body they become rancid trans fatty acids. Rancid trans fatty acids are a major producer of free radicals. And that means aging, cell breakdown, and DNA mutation – confirmed reservations for an eventual all expense paid vacation in sunny ICU.

Then look at the quantity of hard fats we take in. Maybe you’ve noticed in the past couple of years the push toward eating more and more. In fast food restaurants the customer is offered a regular portion of fries that is indigestible by itself. But for an extra 25 cents, you can get a hog-size portion, which guarantees overconsumption, and obesity. Same with soft drink sizes – white sugar overload turns to more fat. People are pushed into buying these ridiculous portions because they think they’re getting a better deal. We’ve forgotten the universal principle: trash at a better price is still trash.

One of the worst experiences reported by the survivors of the Bataan Death March at the end of WWII was when the American doctors would not believe the starving prisoners when they told the doctors what they had been eating in order to survive. Just to survive, we actually need very little food. For good health, obviously we need considerably more, but the point is – most of our health problems in this country result from an excess of food coupled with an a lack of nutrients.

Most sick animals refuse all food until the healing power of nature (vis medicatrix naturae) has the opportunity to excrete the poisons. Often the greater part of the poison is undigested, rotting food which has somehow become blocked in the digestive tract. To eat in such a situation is only compounding the problem. Nature knows better. So forget about the old saw Feed a cold; Starve a fever. Starve both until the patient is hungry. Listen to the innate wisdom of the body; it’s usually right.

PUT IT BACK!

So what’s the solution? Same as the problem: ENZYMES. Either eat a 80% natural foods diet full of natural enzymes, or else put back into the food the enzymes that were taken out by food processing. Put back into the body the enzymes that can detox the blood and the tissues, where all this half-digested residue has taken up residence. Want to detox the system? That’s your choice: whole foods or whole food enzymes.

Natural whole food enzyme supplements take away nothing from the body and require that no energy be expended by the body to get rid of them after they’ve done their job. Natural whole-food supplements contain within them exactly what a perfect food should contain: all the enzymes necessary for complete breakdown and absorption by the body, with nothing left over.

Just take your enzyme supplements two to three times a day*. What could be simpler?

- Part 6 discusses about how we can use Enzymes to Bring Back our Health!