Nutritional
Imbalance: Low Digestive Enzymes
background info | recommendations
Digestive
enzymes are substances that allow your body to digest food, and
transform it into the various nutrients required to sustain life.
Healthy enzyme levels are critically important. All whole, fresh,
raw foods contain enzymes which help them break down and digest
easily in your system. However, processing, cooking and storing
foods destroys most of these enzymes so we are forced to depend
on enzymes produced in our body to digest that type of food.
The production of natural digestive enzymes is stimulated by several
things such as delicious food smells, the pleasing look of food,
or just the anticipation of food. When you salivate in anticipation
of food, your body is preparing for digestion by generating an enzyme
(ptyalin) in your saliva which is part of the first step of good
digestion. The ptyalin that mixes with food in your mouth serves
as a marker, and triggers additional digestive enzymes when the
food reaches your stomach. Eating in a slow, relaxed manner is very
important to good digestion. The flow of digestive juices can be
severely inhibited by worry, anger, fear, fatigue or other strong
emotions. Eating when you are tired or stressed, etc. not only results
in indigestion because the enzymes have not been present to do their
work, but prevents your body from extracting the nutrients it needs.
The
pancreas produces most of our digestive enzymes but its function
may become sluggish due to age, nutrient deficiencies and/or poor
diet.
Supplemental digestive enzymes
are available in capsule form, chewable pills and liquid form. Carbohydrates,
fats and proteins each require a specific enzyme to break them down.
Full-spectrum digestive enzymes are available or you can buy single
supplements to help digest one particular kind of food such as fats.
However, before taking supplementary digestive enzymes it is important
to first determine with certainty that you need them, since excessive
levels of digestive enzymes can also create problems. You will notice
a warm sensation in your stomach if you are taking enzymes that
you don't really need, or if you are taking too many.
Low
Digestive Enzyme Recommendations:
A high
score indicates that your pancreas may not be producing enough
enzymes to digest your food well. This is a very common problem,
especially as we get older. Coffee, alcohol, tobacco smoke, drugs,
refined sugar, food preservatives and artificial sweeteners are
hard on the pancreas. Excess sugar is especially destructive. Eliminate
or cut back on as many of these as possible. Fresh, raw foods and
foods that are very lightly cooked (lightly steamed or stir-fried)
are the only dietary sources of enzymes, since enzymes are destroyed
by heat. Try to eat more raw fruits and vegetables and don't overcook
your vegetables. Take a digestive enzyme supplement with all meals,
especially if you're eating mostly cooked foods. With some meals
you may need more than one capsule.
Take a good multivitamin/mineral tablet with a meal. If it does
not contain at least 50mg of vitamin B-6, add
a B complex tablet as well -- taken at a separate meal. If these
recommendations do not relieve your digestive discomfort, consult
with your health care practitioner.
Better combinations
of foods can make a tremendous difference in digestion -- it
might be a good idea to try better food combining first to see if
it relieves your symptoms.
A sluggish liver
or colon or an overactive
stomach or an underactive stomach
could also be factors in your digestive problems.
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