Enzymes are large protein molecules found in all living things – plant and animal. Your body is capable of producing two types of enzymes, metabolic and digestive. Digestive enzymes include things like protease, and lipase, and amylase for the digestion of proteins, carbohydrates and fats. In human physiological terms, metabolic enzymes are the spark of life. They are the catalyst for every single chemical reaction in your body - every process, every action, every muscle movement, every sense, every thought, every word and every deed. The more enzymes you have inside of you the more alive you become.

Food in its’ original, fresh, ripe, raw and unadulterated state contains naturally occurring enzymes which aid in its’ own digestion. When a peach falls to the ground the cell walls are broken and a bruise develops at the point of contact. The enzymes are liberated and the peach begins to digest itself. The same process occurs when we chew the peach. This greatly reduces the burden of digestion from your body since it does not have to go through the taxing process of manufacturing enzymes for the digestion of the peach.

This is a key point as the body expends a great deal of energy in the digestion of food. When you eat a cooked food meal, 80% of your body’s total available energy is expended in the processing of that meal. When you eat a raw food meal the energy expended in processing is reduced to only 20%. The less energy you expend on digestion the more energy you have available for life. Most people go through their entire lives totally unaware of their true potential because their bodies are perpetually under the heavy burden of processing the unnatural foods they are eating.

The more food is processed the more enzymes are destroyed and it becomes mostly “dead.” Because of their highly perishable nature, heat processing (cooking) destroys 100% of the enzymes in foods rendering it completely inert. This increases shelf life which is very desirable for the commercial food distribution industry but, it is highly undesirable for your body’s health and well-being. As a result of cooking and other forms of food processing, enzymes are largely missing from the Standard American Diet (SAD.) Other essential nutrients such as vitamins, minerals and proteins are also destroyed in the processing of food which creates other issues with your health which we will explore in greater detail in another article.

However, all is not lost as the body has the capability of producing digestive enzymes to make up for the lack of enzymes in cooked and otherwise processed foods. The problem is that you were born with a finite ability to manufacture enzymes. When you deplete your enzyme manufacturing capability, you die. The less of a burden you put on your body to produce digestive enzymes, the more metabolic enzymes will be available throughout your lifespan. This greatly improves your energy, vitality, health and longevity.

This is part of the magic and life force energy living foods like sprouts. According to Dr. Edward Howell who literally wrote the book on enzymes called “Enzyme Nutrition”, sprouts have up to 100 times the enzymes of even raw foods! Living foods are alive and you are alive. Since life begets life, the more living foods you take into your body at the expense of dead foods the more alive you become! It is not uncommon to see people who eat raw and living foods to look 15 years younger than their true chronological age and have soaring energy levels. Raw and living foods are truly anti-aging! Living foods create living bodies. Dead foods create sick, decaying and dead bodies.