You Probably Need Digestive Enzymes

We’ve all heard the phrase, “You are what you eat,” but even if you’re eating good food, it won’t do you any good if you can’t digest and assimilate it. That’s the job of your gastrointestinal (GI) tract, which breaks down the food you eat into nutrients that can be absorbed and utilized by the body.

The body uses special molecules called enzymes and hydrochloric acid to break food down. Raw foods, especially raw fruits, and vegetables contain enzymes that aid the digestive process. Cooked foods, on the other hand, do not. Wet heat destroys enzymes at 118 degrees and dry heat destroys enzymes at 150 degrees, so cooked and processed foods lack the enzymes to support a healthy digestive tract. 

Traditional cultures where large quantities of cooked food were eaten made up this deficiency by eating fermented foods, which are rich in enzymes and probiotics (friendly bacteria), but people living in modern society usually eat diets of primarily cooked foods without the benefits of fermented foods to aid digestion. 

Add to this the problem of overeating, which taxes the body’s digestive ability and the fact that many preservatives are enzyme inhibitors and it becomes clear why so many people suffer from various forms of indigestion. In fact, it might be more appropriate to call indigestion miss-digestion, because it happens when food is mishandled in the GI tract. Instead of being digested, the food ferments causing gas, bloating, sour stomach, acid reflux, and many other health problems.

The solution is quite simple. If your diet is mostly cooked food, you can supplement it with digestive enzymes (and possibly hydrochloric acid) to ensure foods are broken down correctly. That’s why we’ll be discussing the value of enzyme supplements in this month’s Herbal Hour. We’ll not only talk about how digestive enzymes can fix your tummy troubles, we’ll also talk about how they can be used therapeutically to reduce chronic inflammation, promote tissue healing, aid in weight loss and overcome many chronic and degenerative diseases. 

Join us and learn why just about everyone in modern society can benefit from digestive enzyme supplements.