Enzymes digestion, allergies and your health.

Webster's Unabridged Dictionary defines digestion as, "to change food in the mouth, stomach, and intestines by the action of gastric and intestinal juices, enzymes, and bacteria so that it can be absorbed by the body." Digestion is that wondrous, yet delicate, process that allows us to assimilate, not only food, but life itself.

If we are hurried and stressed in our lives, then more than likely our digestion is suffering, as well. As primitive people, our "fight or flight" response kicked in, in an emergency, and our blood was diverted from digestion and other processes to feed the muscles we needed to survive. Today, in our stress filled lives, the "fight or flight" response is "on" much of the time. As a result, our autonomic nervous system slows our digestion, reduces secretions of gastric juices and enzymes, and our food does not digest as it should. Added to this picture are bodily toxins in the form of pollutants, processed foods, drugs, and antibiotics, whiCh reduce the numbers of friendly bacteria (flora) in the gut. Any enzymes slated for the digestive process are further reduced to handle bodily detoxification and tissue repair. The end result is inadequate secretion of enzymes and lower numbers of friendly intestinal flora, which are needed to help the digestive process.

Instead of complete digestion, the food in the digestive tract stagnates and putrefies, and is absorbed into the bloodstream partially digested only to activate the immune system, causing food sensitivities and allergies. The faulty digestion also encourages an imbalance of intestinal flora, causing a dysbiosis, where organisms such as Candida can overgrow and cause a myriad of health problems.

The Role of Enzymes in the Body

Enzymes are protein molecules that assist in every metabolic process of the body. Besides digesting food, enzymes also digest blood clots and attack invading microorganisms. They make possible the beating of the heart, and our very breathing and thinking. There are three types of enzymes: metabolic or systemic, digestive, and food.

Metabolic enzymes work in maw places of the body and have many functions. Taking systemic enzymes (such as protease) between meals can help with wound healing and the reduction and healing of inflammation. Digestive enzymes digest food in the gastrointestinal tract. When we take extra digestive enzymes, we take the burden off the body so the body can better detoxify, repair, and heal itself. When supplementing with digestive enzymes, it is important to take vegetarian enzymes from non-animal sources as they work over a broad pH range and work throughout the digestive tract. Animal source enzymes are destroyed by stomach acid and are often enteric coated to bypass the stomach where digestion is also taking place.

Food enzymes are present in raw fruits and vegetables, and the ripening of our produce are these enzymes in action. The raw food enzymes also ease the burden of the digestive enzymes in the body.

Improving Digestion

Cooking destroys enzymes, so one way to improve digestion and health in general is to eat more raw foods. Raw fruits and vegetables supply some of the enzymes necessary for digestion and, in turn, help our own digestive processes. Eating our meals slowly and savoring each bite by chewing it thirD times before swallowing can allow the enzymes in the mouth to fully mix with the food to healthfully begin the digestive process. Another strategy to improve digestion is to take bitter herbs such as gentian, angelica, and century before a meal to stimulate the appetite and promote digestive secretions.

Conditions such as acid reflux can be a result of food intolerances/allergies, or it can be from the lack of proper digestion from too few enzymes. If we are stressed, we make fewer enzymes, and as we age, we make fewer enzymes and less stomach acid. The stomach has to work harder to mix and digest food, when there is a lack of proper digestive factors present, and this extra stomach action can cause stomach acid to be forced up into the esophagus. If there is a tendency to have acid reflux, it is wise to refrain from eating several hours before bedtime, and to walk for ten minutes or more after meals to assist the body in assimilating food.

Food Sensitivities and Allergies

If our health has been compromised by toxins (such as heavy metals, chemicals and pesticides), stress, chronic infections, antibiotic use, surgery, or other health challenges, then the digestive system can be negatively affected. When food particles cross through the intestines into the bloodstream without being completely digested, the immune system is alerted to these "foreign" invaders and mounts an attack. The food is thereafter considered an enemy and becomes an allergen. A food sensitivity can have similar symptoms of food allergies (sinus congestion, fatigue, mouth sores, skin rashes, headaches, bloating), but it is usually diminished with the proper enzyme supplementation, food combining, or diet modification.

Food reactions can be troubling, and sometimes debilitating, for the individual. Fatigue is a common symptom of food reactions, along with sleeplessness, asthma, attention deficit disorder, hyperactivity, depression, and mood swings. If the offending food is known, then avoidance is possible. For "hidden" food reactions, a food elimination strategy can help to identify those foods that are problematic. Removing one food at a time (like wheat or dairy) for ten days and then keeping a diary on symptoms is beneficial in identifying a reactive food. Watching for a return of symptoms after the ten-day elimination of that food is then definitive.

The New Technology: BioSET

For those with food reactions, it is sometimes helpful to have these trouble foods permanently "'cleared" by the new technology called BioSET (Bioenergetic Sensitivity and Enzyme Therapy). Ellen Cutler, M.D., D.C. is the creator of BioSET and has her clinic and headquarters in California. Building on an old acupuncture technique, Dr. Cutler has taken an acupuncture treatment and brought it into the Twenty-first

Century. BioSET is a non-invasive technology and uses a computerized EAV biofeedback machine that tests and clears up to forty similar items, including "combination" allergens. Combination allergens are clusters of substances to which an individual is allergic. For example, we may have to clear pollens and sugars, or viruses and sugars as well as the affected bodily organs. Each BioSET treatment takes approximately one hour to test and clear. The first session usually takes longer as initial health inquiry and exploratory testing are done. BioSET is also an effective treatment for chronic illnesses such as arthritis, irritable bowel, autoimmune diseases, chronic fatigue, and asthma.

Along with this new energetic testing technology, there is an "inversion" aspect that assists in fully clearing an allergy or reactive substance. In physics, this phenomenon is called "destructive interference." The premise assumes that everything has a frequency to it. The bodies we live in, the foods we eat, the chairs we sit on all have their own distinct vibrational frequency. When the frequency wave of a substance is emitted, if a wave of the same frequency, but turned upside down, comes back to meet it, then the two waves will cancel one another out. This cancellation of the allergen frequency is an effective tool in permanently clearing allergens from the body. Along with the testing and acupuncture theories for clearing, this inversion technology makes BioSET a formidable weapon against chronic illnesses and allergies.

Living in the world at this time of unprecedented toxicity and stress has taken its toll on our sensitive digestive systems. Anti-acid drugs are in the top ten best sellers of pharmaceuticals. If we adopt a practice of stress reduction, taking digestive enzymes, and making mealtime a relaxing, pleasurable experience, then our digestive systems will thank us for it. For those that have reactions to food, enzymes and BioSET are a winning strategy for creating relief, better health, and enjoyment at mealtimes.

What Enzymes are needed for digestion?

A good quality product will contain a mix of vegetarian enzymes in the following dosages:

AMALASE 6000-20,000 DU (activating units)

LIPASE 150-600 EU

CELLULASE 200-900 CU

LACTASE 200-1000 ALU 

INVERTASE 125-750 SU

PROTEASE 18,000-50,000 HUT

ALPHA GALACTOSIDASE 10-150 GaIU

A good enzymatic formula will also have malt diatase, pectinase, xylanase, phytase, or beta-glucanase to help process nutrients from food.

Sources:

Cutler, Ellen, M.D., D.C. 1998. Winning the War Against Immune Disorders and Allergies. Albany, NY: Delmar Publishers.

Cutler, Ellen, M.D., D.C. 2001, 2003. The Food Allergy Cure. NY: Three Rivers Press.

Cutler, Ellen, M.D., D.C. with Jeremy Kaslow, M.D. 2005. Micro Miracles: Discover the Healing Power of Enzyrnes. Rodale, Inc.

Mabey, Richard. 1988. The New Age Herbalist. NY: Macmillan Publishing Co. Website: www.enzymesinc.com

Linda Beals, M.T. has been studying with Dr. Cutler since 2003, and has opened her own practice in Weaverville, NC. After suffering from multiple chemical sensitivities from years in a medical laboratory, Linda regained her health with BioSET. 828-645-2042 or 828-273-3723 and e-mail [e-mail].