Here's why you need enzymes  [October-11-2013]

You can't live without enzymes!

Enzymes are proteins that control the speed of chemical reactions in your body. Without them those reactions don't happen fast enough to keep you alive.

It has been said that enzymes are more important than the air you breathe, the water you drink, and the food you eat. That's because to perform all of these vital life-sustaining tasks your body needs enzymes. They're an absolute necessity for life.

They're the body's labor force, building, synthesizing, transporting and eliminating the multitudinous chemicals and ingredients that your body constantly has to process.

As we get older, of course, our bodies seem to let us down in many ways. One key aspect of the body's failure to perform is its ability to generate the abundance of enzymes that we need. The usual lifestyle culprits can also be blamed: our fast food, high-fat, high-sugar diet; stress; and pollution, for instance. But mostly, the ravages of time.

Some enzymes, like the ones in your gut, are required to break down large molecules into smaller ones. Others, like the enzymes that make DNA, use small molecules to build into larger more complex molecules. Enzymes also help cells 'talk' to each other, keeping cell growth, life and death under control.

From the digestive health standpoint, as we age and our ability to produce the right kinds of enzymes diminishes we discover that we are less able to enjoy the spicy foods we used to devour. We begin to suffer acid indigestion or heart burn more frequently, not to mention abdominal cramps and diarrhea. The joy goes out of eating. So for good digestion and good health we need to replenish those enzymes.

Dr. DicQie Fuller writing in "The Healing Power of Enzymes" summed it up like this: "Eighty percent of our body's energy is expended by the digestive process. If you are run down, under stress living in a very hot or cold climate, pregnant, or are a frequent air traveler, then enormous quantities of extra enzymes are required by your body. Because our entire system functions through enzymatic action, we must supplement our enzymes. Aging deprives us of our ability to produce necessary enzymes. The medical profession tells us that all disease is due to a lack of imbalance of enzymes. Our very lives are dependent upon them!"