The Ultimate Enzymes

cherry-o asked:


I understand you can take them even if you do not have any digestive problems, it’s purpose is to give your body more enzymes because over time, your body produces less of them (due to all the digesting of cooked and processed foods) and the less you have the more your the health is affected. 1) Is it safe to take these enzymes? 2) Will the body start depending on them if you stop taking them? 3) What is your experience taking them? Thank you in advance.

Steve Hefferon asked:


Proteolytic enzymes, also referred to as “proteases,” are enzymes that break down proteins into their smallest elements. If this breakdown of proteins happens in your gut, we call the enzymes “digestive,” because they help us digest our food. Systemic proteolytic enzymes, however, have a completely different purpose, so please don’t confuse the two.

When taken on an empty stomach, proteolytic enzymes will pass through the stomach or intestine lining and enter the circulatory system. This is why they are called “systemic”—once they enter the circulatory system, they circulate throughout the body.

Why are systemic proteolytic enzymes important?

The most important thing that systemic proteolytic enzymes do is to break down excess fibrin in your circulatory system and in other connective tissue, such as your muscles. These enzymes bring nutrients and oxygen-rich blood that remove the metabolic waste produced by inflammation and excess fibrin.

For example, If you have an injury or are recovering from a painful condition of any kind and your blood flow is restricted, you will have a longer recovery process. In addition, the exchange of nutrients and oxygen in your body will be limited, and there will be an will have a longer recovery but an increase in pain and inflammation.

I searched long and hard to find this incredible image (left) of red blood cells caught in a web of excess fibrin. The fibrin is causing a physical restriction of blood flow. If you look closely, you can see that the cells are actually stuck. Ultimately, those red blood cells cannot get into the capillaries to oxygenate and nourish your muscles and remove the metabolic waste that is causing your pain.

One more important thing to understand: Whenever you’re recovering from a muscle irritation, injury, or surgery, the body uses fibrin to help heal itself. This is normal and healthy. The only problem is that with poor blood flow and a lack of enzyme activity, that fibrin will start to accumulate. If the area in question is slow to heal, an excess of fibrin will appear as clumps of scar tissue in the muscle or at the surgical site. Once this happens, you acute condition becomes chronic.

Now that you know that excess fibrin throughout your circulatory system will severely limit the amount of blood flow to areas that need it the most, you may be wondering how the body tries to compensate for this restriction. The answer is simple: by forcing the heart to work harder and increasing your blood pressure.

How do you know if you have too much fibrin?

As I have noted, the body will do what it needs to do to keep us alive—sometimes at great cost to your overall health. Some possible indicators of excess fibrin in your system include: chronic fatigue, slow healing, inflammation and pain, and elevated blood pressure. There is also a medical test to measure something called “blood monomers.”

The dangers of too much fibrin…

The medical community has long known that excess fibrin presents a cardiac and stroke risk. Finally, they have acknowledged a link between excess fibrin and chronic systemic inflammation, the true root cause of virtually every disease and painful condition know to man.

Which conditions do proteolytic enzymes help and how?

The list below is only a sample of the types of conditions that can be addressed with systemic proteolytic enzymes. If you are still wondering how one little substance can support all of these conditions, remember that they all have one thing in common—excess fibrin, which causes a reduction in blood flow.

Arthritis - Herniated Disc

Atherosclerosis - Hyper-coagulation

Back Pain - Sciatica

Chronic Fatigue - Spinal Stenosis

Chronic Pain - Strains and Sprains

Fibrocystic Breast - Post-operative Scar Tissue

Fibromyalgia - Traumatic Inflammation

High Blood Pressure - Uterine Fibroids

Which would you rather take—a pain killer or a healing enzyme?

Truth is, very few pain killers help heal the body, and in most cases the side effects are rather unpleasant. On the other hand, systemic proteolytic enzymes support the body’s ability to heal itself, and they reduce the signs and symptoms of a chronic condition.

Can proteolytic enzymes be used with other pain meds?

I knew you were going to ask. Yes, enzymes can used if you are taking low-dose non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), as long as they are taken 60 minutes apart.

How about clinical research?

Where is the proof? There are untold numbers of clinical studies that have been done on proteolytic enzymes, and we have 76 of the most relevant studies listed on our site. Let’s not forget that these enzymes have been in use in Europe for more than 50 years. And in Japan, some proteolytic enzymes are classified as prescription drugs.

Where do proteolytic enzymes come form?

Some are animal-bases, some are plant-based—such as Bromelain and Papain—and some are fungus-based, such as Serrazimes®.

Which types are best and why?

I recommend plant- and fungus-based enzymes because they tolerate the gastric environment better, so more of the enzymes make their way into the circulatory system.

How long does it take to start to work?

Enzymes go to work immediately. The big difference between enzymes and vitamins is the way they are measured. Enzymes are not measured by weight; they are measured in Units of Fibrolytic Activity, which means how much fibrin they break down in a set amount of time.

The questions you really want answered are: “How long will it take to get pain relief and reduce my inflammation?” and “How fast will my healing happen?” Truth is, there is no simple answer because the healing process and outcome will be different for everyone.

There are a number of factors that bear on how fast the enzymes will work for you, including dosage, quality of sleep, diet, and physical activity. Even the very treatments you are undergoing to try to get better could be holding you back.

Are proteolytic enzymes safe for continued use?

Yes, proteolytic enzymes should be considered safe for continued use. There are three suggested usage protocols: one is a rotation of 12 weeks on and 4 weeks off; two is to take them continuously; and three is to take them on as-needed basis.

Who should not take proteolytic enzymes?

- Individuals taking prescription blood thinners (Coumadin, Heparin, Plavix)

- Anyone who will be having surgery in less than two weeks

- Individuals with known ulcers of the stomach

- Individuals with Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease.(GERD)

- Pregnant or lactating women

- Individuals currently taking antibiotics

- Individuals with an allergic reaction to pineapples or papayas

Are there any side effects?

Proteolytic enzymes have an excellent safety record, with no significant side effects reported. With any supplement, however, there is always the risk of developing an allergy to one or more ingredients. If this happens, you should discontinue use.

Choosing to try systemic proteolytic enzymes.

Remember, the enzymes are supporting the healing process, so recovery from any condition is going to take time. You don’t just take the enzymes and expect to get better immediately. By using these enzymes as part of a well-planned recovery process, you’re making a commitment to doing what it takes to make improvements in your life.

Everything I’ve told you so far I learned from people who are far more knowledgeable than I am about the role enzymes play in helping us achieve optimal health.

So, when I say that I had a hand in creating Lifezyme—albeit a small hand—I nevertheless did my part, which was to find the world’s best enzyme formulators. Once I had done that, I told them to make me the best product in the world—and that’s exactly what they did.

Without question, the Lifezyme Plus formula has the highest fibrolytic activity of any product in the world per dose. Our formulators blended 11 ingredients that would have a cascading effect, which means that they help support the work of the enzymes and deliver even more beneficial results.

I’m not a big fan of taking a lot of supplements. I drink my multivitamin and pop my enzymes—that’s it. I know that trying to figure out which supplements to take can be overwhelming and that taking supplements can get expensive. Still, I look at supplements as a long-term investment toward achieving optimal health.

So, if working toward optimal health is your goal and you think that your life and your body would benefit form having less fibrin and better blood flow, then you should seriously consider enzymes.

If you do decide to try enzymes, do me one favor: Never—ever—buy an enzyme that lists the dose in milligrams (mg) or has “Proprietary Enzyme Blend” on the label.

Enzymes are not measured in mg and should not be sold in mg. “Proprietary Enzyme Blend” is a shady way of not telling you the consumer how much enzyme is in the product, so don’t support a company that cannot be honest with you. Demand full disclosure on the label.

Paul Blake asked:


This is the second article in a five part series devoted to digestion where we have been following a nutritionally poor meal, typical of America, from the mouth to the esophagus to the stomach. We have seen that the food enters the mouth where enzymes are added via sublingual glands. The meal then moves through the esophagus where it is warmed, and then to the stomach where pre-digestion takes place. We will follow this nutritionally poor meal into the stomach.

 

Food is chewed in the mouth and saliva is mixed with this food. Saliva is made up of an alkaline electrolyte solution that moistens the food, mucus that serves as a lubricant, amylase, an enzyme that initiates the digestion of starch, lipase, an enzyme that begins the digestion of fat, and protease, which digests protein. Most carbohydrates are broken down by the process of chewing the food and mixing it with enzymes. Hopefully that food had viable enzymes to mix with the enzymes supplied by the mouth.

 

Pre-digestion in the Stomach

 

Here is where the food that Americans typically eat leads us directly to disease. By eating mostly refined cooked foods with meat we let our body down. It is like a very good friend of yours is lying in front of you dying of thirst and you hand him a glass of salt water. It is water but it will gradually kill him.

 

Below I am going to trace the food’s path as it moves into the stomach, and see what happens to it and how it is treated by the stomach and the rest of the digestive system. This is information that few Americans know about. When I received this information my mind was shocked and I immediately changed my style of eating completely and for life. So please read and I pray that this powerful truth changes your life as it did mine. After swallowing the food, it moves down the esophagus, which is 18 to 24 inches long. The esophagus moves through the warm core of the body and is responsible for warming the food to close to body temperature, which is ideally 98.6. This is very important as enzymes digest food best at between 94 and 104 degrees. So, if the ideal situation exists in the esophagus (ice water is not added to the food) the food is warmed to somewhere between 96 and 98 degrees before it enters the stomach.

 

This food enters the stomach through the cardiac sphincter, which is where the esophagus and the stomach meet. An empty stomach is like a flattened balloon until food enters it. As the food enters the upper part of the stomach, it stretches and enlarges to accommodate the food. In fact, the stomach will enlarge beyond the size of the meal until it is fully inflated. While the stomach is inflating to its full size which takes somewhere between 40 to 60 minutes, pre-digestion takes place. Pre-digestion, is the food sitting in the stomach being digested by the enzymes that came with it. The ideal ph here is about seven, very alkaline. This pre-digestion is considered by many nutritionists to be the most important stage of digestion. This is where the enzymes from our food and mouth digest and prepare the food for absorption.

 

What are Enzymes?

 

Before we go any further I would like you to understand why enzymes are so important. The answer to this question is crucial to you understandingyour health. Understand this and you understand why the type of food you eat and the way it is handled is so important. Your energy, strength, immune system and all the systems of your body right down to each individual cell depend completely on enzymes. Without enzymes nothing happens in your body, or if it does it could take years to take place; essentially you are dead.

 

The enzymes we use are both produced by cells in our body and also brought in with food made by other living cells. These enzymes are proteins produced in living cells that affect chemical reactions. An example of this is a banana sitting in a bowl. After a few days, you notice the skin turning brown. That is the enzymes in the banana acting as a catalyst and causing a chemical reaction which releases energy.

 

Without these reactions caused by the enzymes the food you eat will not be turned into energy or supplies for the body. Here are just some of the other functions of enzymes in the body. All our vitamins, trace elements and minerals are dissolved down to molecular level by enzymes. Only at that level can they and our food be absorbed by our body. They also control digestion, cell growth, and wound healing plus the phagocytes of the immune system use enzymes to cope with pathogens.

 

Once the stomach completes the pre-digestive process, the food then undergoes chemical and mechanical digestion. Here in the lower part of the stomach, peristaltic contractions (mechanical digestion) churn the bolus, which mixes with strong digestive juices. These juices include powerful hydrochloric acid, which helps break down the bolus into a liquid called chyme. In addition, enzymes called pepsin and cathepsin are added to the juice in the stomach to break down most of the protein in the food. This process can take several hours depending on the meal eaten. The ideal ph here is about three, very acidic.

 

The hydrochloric acid has three purposes. The first is to break down mineral bonds from our diet. Now when they pass through our intestines they are small enough to pass through the wall to be used by the body. Second, to clean the food of pathogens by creating an acidic environment that destroys the pathogens. Third, change pepsinogen into pepsin, which breaks down the long protein strings that are the essential and non-essential amino acids in the food. These are broken down by pepsin into polypeptides, peptides and tri-peptides so they can be utilized by our body.

 

Once the food is broken down, it has the consistency of cake batter. This is called chyme and is released into the duodenum by the pyloric sphincter. If this chyme is properly prepared at the stomach your health is good and you never get sick. If the chyme is not properly prepared disease will soon follow and the person will find all their genetic weaknesses. This is why digestive enzymes and pre-digestion are such important keys to good health.

skatexo asked:


Lately my throat has felt like its burning and acid-y. It also feels like I have to burp after I eat. Are these symptoms of acid reflux?