> Holistic Healing > Functional Foods/Nutraceuticals > M-R > probiotics

Of all the major elements of nutrition, enzymes are the least understood, the least written about and provide the most underestimated contribution to life and health. There are few sources in medical science or nutritional health that offer an in-depth understanding to even begin to thoroughly answer the seemingly simple question of, "what is an enzyme?" But once we review what is known about enzymes, you may want to ask: are enzymes the very secret to life itself?

Every breath you take, every move you make, every thought you think and every action you take requires enzymes. They are the workforce of the body. No vitamin, mineral, protein or hormone can do work without enzymes.

Enzymes are what make all the other pieces work. Enzymes are not tangible, physical substances. They are the life-force that activate vitamins, minerals, protein and other physical components in our body. Enzymes are the key to understanding the difference between life and death, and between sickness and health.

Enigmatic Enzymes

Enzymes have been studied since the early 1900s, but even today this is a field of research still in its infancy. In 1930, only about 80 enzymes were known to exist. Today, there are thousands known, and many reactions have been identified for which the enzymes responsible are not yet known. Every year, more new enzymes are discovered. But even with all its technology, modern science is no closer than it was 60 years ago to knowing what makes an enzyme work. We can only discover it and give it a name.

Enzymes are still thought of by many to be catalysts. But catalysts work by chemical action only. Enzymes function not only on a chemical level but on a biological level also. The chemical part of the enzyme can be synthesized by chemists, but the biological part cannot be.

The best explanation of enzymes I have found are the words of Humbart Santillo in his book Food Enzymes: The Missing Link To Radiant Health. "It has always been felt that enzymes are protein molecules. This is incorrect. Let me clarify this by giving you an example: a light bulb can only light up when you put an electric current through it. It is animated by electricity. The current is the life-force of the bulb. Without electricity we could have no light, just a light bulb, a physical object without light. So, we can say that the light bulb actually has a dual nature: a physical structure, and a non-physical electrical force that expresses and manifests through the bulb. The same situation exists when trying to describe what an enzyme is within our body structure. A protein molecule is a carrier of the enzyme activity, much like the light bulb is the carrier for an electrical current."

The reason you don’t hear much about enzymes from those in the medical establishment is there is nothing solid for them to put their hands on. It is very hard to explain and impossible to duplicate enzyme processes. Scientists who fail to recognize the action of enzymes in our bodies also fail to realize the action of enzymes in food and how they fit into the nutritional picture.

There are three different kinds of enzymes: metabolic enzymes, to keep our bodies functioning properly; digestive enzymes, to digest food; and food enzymes found in raw (live) food. Food enzymes are only found in raw food, which is food that has not been cooked or heated. According to the research of Dr Edward Howell, who was a pioneer in the research of enzymes, when enzymes are heated to a temperature of 48^o C (118^o F) they are destroyed in a half-hour. You can imagine what cooking temperatures, which start at the boiling point of water–100^o C (212^o F)–do to an enzyme! At the temperature of 54^o C (130^o F) enzymes are destroyed within seconds.

Enzyme Potential Explained

Source: alive #228, October 2001