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Enzymes & Protein
by Tara Bianca Tiller
Enzymes are proteins composed of amino-acids, and proteins
are present in all living things. All enzymes are proteins,
but not all proteins are enzymes.
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Above figure: Diagram of a catalytic
reaction, showing the energy needed at each stage
of the reaction. The substrates (A and B) normally
need a large amount of energy to reach the transition
state, which then reacts to form the end product
(AB). The enzyme forms a microenvironment in which
A and B can reach the transition state more easily,
reducing the amount of energy required. Since
the lower energy state is easier to reach and
therefore occurs more frequently, as a result
the reaction is more likely to take place, thus
improving the reaction speed. (Courtesy: Wikipedia)
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When you eat, enzymes break down the food into tiny
particles which can be converted into energy in
the body. The breakdown of food is necessary to convert
food into energy. Undigested food is unable to pass
on the energy stored within it.
Digestive enzymes carry out the breakdown of the food
particles so that they can be easily converted into
the essential energy needed by all parts of our body.
Enzymes are the only substances capable of digesting
food. Without enzymes you would die from starvation.
A very important benefit of eating fresh whole foods
is that they contain enzymes. These are substances that
help the body digest food and are found only in living
food. High temperatures kill enzymes so most
processed food require a lot more effort by the liver
to digest them.
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So, the key element here is that enzymes must come from a
living source. If our food is dead from cooking, then the
protein is denatured and largely unusable.
For a more indepth look at enzymes and nutrition, check out
The
Essentials of Enzyme Nutrition Therapy.
What living sources have protein?
Avocados provide all of the essential amino acids, with
18 amino acids in all, plus 7 fatty acids, including Omega
3 and 6. Avocados contain more protein than cow's milk. A
small avocado will provide more usable protein then a steak
because cooked protein in meat is denatured and mostly unavailable
to our liver, the organ that makes all of our body's protein.
Ripe, raw avocados furnish all the elements we need to build
the highest quality protein in our bodies. Avocado is an enzymatically-alive
fruit, it ranks as the most easily digested rich source of
fats and proteins in whole food form. The ripening action
"predigests" complex proteins into simple, easily
digested amino acids. (From Living Nutrition Magazine Vol.
11 http://www.livingnutrition.com)
Other than avocados, where can a person get their protein?
Out of the 22 amino aids found in the body, 8 must be derived
from food. All 8 are abundantly available in raw plant food,
especially greens. As suggested by David Wolfe, "green
leafed veggies are the true body builders" (p186,
The Sunfood Diet Success System). Examples of animals
who build enormous musculature on green leafy vegetation include:
gorilla, giraffe, hippo, elephant, horse. People think they
need flesh protein to build flesh protein. If that were true
then cows would need to eat flesh to get protein. Usable protein
is the key. Cooking denatures protein molecular structure
and creating free radicals, which destroy enzymes, amino acids
& other cellular elements. 
"There are many different kinds of protein, which
can basically be split into two groups:
- The first group covers the structural proteins, which
are the main constituents of our bodies.
- The second large group of proteins covers the biologically
active proteins.
All known enzymes are proteins and can occur in the body
in very small amounts. Enzymes catalyze all processes in the
body, enabling organisms to build up chemical substances such
as other proteins, carbohydrates or fats that are necessary
for life.
Most of these catalyze biochemical reactions in cells. In
short, all enzymes are proteins, but not all proteins are
enzymes. If a protein can catalyze a biochemical reaction,
it is an enzyme." (From http://www.novozymes.com)
Enzymes and Raw Food – Can You Cheat Time and Stay Young
for Longer?
by Claire Raikes
I’m going to be a bit radical here, but know that I’m only
encouraging you to question and think and ideally do your
own research, both theory and practice. I’m pretty confident
that you’ll thank me for it. WHAT IF THE SO-CALLED ‘AGING
PROCESS’ WAS A CHOICE?
Clearly, we can’t stop time from moving on. When we have
a birthday,  we
are another year older. That’s a fact that, for the moment
at least, we cannot change. But what if the weakening organs,
bones and tissues and all the 'usual' signs of old age were
not actually a part of the aging process we've come to accept
as 'normal'? Have you ever considered that these conditions
are simply symptoms of us mistreating our bodies over the
course of our lives to date? Wouldn’t our senior years be
a whole lot more fun if we were pain and disease free and
could jump around with the energy and vitality of a teenager?
WHAT ARE YOU THINKING?
That this is a crazy, impossible idea borne out of fantasy?
Or are you willing to open your mind and accept that actually,
if you treat your body right and nourish it properly, it may
in fact be possible? And this is where Enzymes come in...
In his book Intuitive Eating, Dr Humbart Santillo MD writes:
"A human being is not maintained by food intake alone,
but rather by what is digested. Every food must be broken
down by enzymes to simpler building blocks. Enzymes may be
divided into 2 groups, exogenous (found in raw food) and endogenous
(produced within our bodies). The more one gets of the exogenous
enzymes, the less will have to be borrowed from other metabolic
processes and supplied by the pancreas. The enzymes contained
in raw food actually aid in the digestion of that same food
when it is chewed. One can live many years on a cooked food
diet, but eventually this will cause cellular enzyme exhaustion
which lays the foundation for a weak immune system and ultimately
disease."
Put simply, we are born with a finite supply of endogenous
enzymes. It should be enough to last us a lifetime based on
current life expectancy, but if we don’t supply some exogenous
enzymes through our diet, we will use up our original supplies
and that’s when we become susceptible to the accepted ‘signs
of old age’ including premature death! And the fact is that
when we cook our food, we kill all enzymes instead of allowing
them to boost our immune system, our brain function and our
energy levels.
Another doctor, Edward Howell, has written a book called
Enzyme Nutrition. In it, he says:
"Humans eating an enzyme-less diet use up a tremendous
amount of their enzyme potential in lavish secretions of the
pancreas and other digestive organs. The result is a shortened
lifespan (65 years or less as compared with 100 or more),
illness, and lower resistance to stress of all types, psychological
and environmental. By eating foods with their enzymes in tact
and by supplementing cooked foods with enzyme capsules we
can stop abnormal and pathological aging processes."
THESE SCIENTISTS ARE NOT CRACK-POTS WORKING ALONE
 The
raw food movement is gathering pace and the practice is becoming
more mainstream now. In her book You Are What You Eat, Gillian
McKeith places raw or living foods at the top of her list
of Good Foods and has a section entitled The Case Against
Cooking. Now don't get me wrong; I'm not suggesting that you
switch overnight to a 100% raw food diet. Though plenty do
and never look back, it's not always wise. Instead I would
give the same advice as Gillian in urging you to eat something
raw with every meal.
Just before I sat down to write this, I ate a yummy Quinoa
Avocado Salad which other than the cooked quinoa was loaded
with raw, enzyme-, EFA- and nutrient- rich foods. I ate it
on its own, but you could serve it alongside a piece of grilled
chicken or fish instead of dead, heavy, sugar-rush potatoes
which do little more than bloat you up. Find the recipe on
my Blog at http://claireraikes.blogs.com/claires_blog/.
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Claire Raikes is a Wellbeing Coach, Speaker and Writer
who 'cured' herself of a chronic, disabling and potentially
life-threatening bowel condition without the use of
steroids, surgery or any other traditional medical intervention.
She now shares her passion for natural and vibrant health
through coaching, speaking and writing about the importance
and power of a truly healthy diet.
She publishes a free weekly eZine, In Essence and is
compiling an eBook of Healthy Fast Food with 25% of
the proceeds going to The Cancer Project, a charity
set up by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine
(PCRM) and nutritionists to educate the public on the
benefits of a healthy diet for cancer prevention and
survival. If you have a recipe you would like to submit,
visit http://www.LiveInEssence.com
for further details. To book Claire to speak at your
event, email her at Claire@LiveInEssence.com.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/
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Raw and Living Food Articles and Links to Articles:
On Site Articles:
Raw Health
Fruits, Roots, Stems, Greens, Flowers, and Nuts
Growing Food
Lifestyle
Off Site Articles:
Raw Health
Fasting and Cleanses
Growing Food
Misc.
Free Books Online:
- Soil and
Health Library - This is a specialist library about holistic agriculture,
holistic health and self-sufficient homestead living. Most of the titles in
this library are out of print. Many are quite hard to find. Here are a few
by Shelton:
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