"You know the fancy ones you can buy at the health food stores? Are they any good??
For the msot part NO. Enzymes are protein and being proteins are treated like any other protein consumed in vegetable or animal products they are digested into their amino acid constituents for absorbtion and utilization by our bodies for the production of our own necessary enzymes and a myraid of other biochemical compounds....even glucose!!
"IF we are healthy and not constantly draining our bodies of reserves, then yes. But if we constantly eat the standard american diet of cooked foods, then no."
Our bodies produce, under genetic control through translation and transcription processes, the proteins, enzymes, needed for digestion. There is no utilization or need for enzymes, proteins, found in food for the digestive process. Can you provide a specific example where this is not so?
"The body was meant to get enzymes and acids from within foods."
Not true!
" Enzymes were supposed to be used mainly for repair, not just digestion. if we use them for digestion all the time, we age."
There are many many enzymes found in the body each with its specific function. Digestive enzymes are produced for the purpose of breaking down the food we eat into absorbable constituents. Soem enzymes are for repair, some for detoxification, some for phosphorylation, some for energy production, some for glyconeogenisis, ect ect. Our genetic code has the formula for all these enzymes and produces them ona ongoing basis through the production and translation of mRNA. Not all enzymes are used for digestion only a select few are produced for this purpose. Each enzyme has its own specific use and function and they are not interchangable.
"There is no utilization or need for enzymes, proteins, found in food for the digestive process."
I'm afraid this contradicts the entire substance of nutrional Science which says that enzymes in food *do* matter. If food is deficient in enzymes the body must produces its own thus stressing the body, and taxing its limited energy supplies.
There is utilization. Just take an enzyme capsule and pour it onto food (Udo Erasmus suggests this as a matter of course). If it is any good it will start the digestion process for you which you can see with your own eyes. As for need - there is only need if you want to be healthy and vital, and not tax your pancreas any more than necessary. If you don't care about health/vitality then enzyme deficient food is fine.
" I'm afraid this contradicts the entire substance of nutrional Science which says that enzymes in food *do* matter. If food is deficient in enzymes the body must produces its own thus stressing the body, and taxing its limited energy supplies."
Our genetic codes contain all the information necessary for us to produce the enzymes we need for all biochemical functions. Proteins from foreign sources are not absorbed intact into the body they cannot supply anything except amino acids for our own cellular machinary to produce the proteins we need....all living things do this!! What limited enegy supply?
There is utilization. Just take an enzyme capsule and pour it onto food (Udo Erasmus suggests this as a matter of course). If it is any good it will start the digestion process for you which you can see with your own eyes. As for need - there is only need if you want to be healthy and vital, and not tax your pancreas any more than necessary. If you don't care about health/vitality then enzyme deficient food is fine
Now in that same experiment add enough HCl to food sprinkled with enzymes and see what happens! Simply because food (about neutral pH) has enzymes sprinkled on them and they start digesting does not equate to them participating our digestive process. TEh pH of the substrate is correct for its function so I would expect it to work. However, once this food hits the stomach it is rapidly made acidic ....very acidic. At this pH these sprinkled on enzymes cannot function...they cannot maintain their structure due to acid hydrolysis. They are substrates for us to digest and obtain amino acids for our own endogenous proteins. We secrete and then digest 50 grams of digestive enzymes ourselves each and everyday. In the end these proteins are reduced to their amino acids constituents and resorbed as such. They are not resorbed intact we must make new ones which our cells very easily do. Why do you think we have all that DNA, mRNA, tRNA, ribosomes and all that other stuff used for the production of our own proteins?
Please try not to laugh if I've got this completely wrong :-)
Are you saying that people can thrive on just about any kind of diet as long as it's organic/natural? If so, would this explain why some people can live on all meat/blubber and some on all veggies (apologies to Metabolic Typing diet)? Also, if our bodies make pretty much everything we need, then exactly what is it we get from our food, just energy?
I've been watching the diet/nutrition scene for years and feel like I'm just running in circles. So I've been looking for common denominators and so far it seems like the whole key to nutrition is to avoid processing. Am I even close?
"I've been watching the diet/nutrition scene for years and feel like I'm just running in circles. So I've been looking for common denominators and so far it seems like the whole key to nutrition is to avoid processing. Am I even close?"
Yes pretty much so. The biggest common denominator in all theories of diet/nutrition is that the less processing the better. Processing can not increase nutritional value, only lessen it.
Hi,
I just read through all the posts, and I have a couple of questions. As a fruit, like say a banana, ripens, what is happening? Isn't the matterial inside being broken down and forming more simple sugars? How is that process taking place? Is it not the enzymes in the banana itself that make this process possible? There is a real physical change going on there, and you can measure it, and on a more personal note you can taste it. A ripe banana is much sweeter than a green banana. And as it get's spots and continues this fermenting or digestive process to more simple sugars it gets sweeter still. To my very limited understanding, must of the digestive process could be seen as a fermentation of sorts. So at the very least I think this makes an argument for the idea that the contents of food are able to break down that food (over generalization I know). However, there is still the question of the acidic environment in the stomach, and if the enzymes in the food actually make it through that environment intact. On that my idea ends, and is thus not very powerful to the question at hand, but I'll give it more thought and come back. later, Mike
A Formula for Soft-Boiling Eggs
The Derivation
To obtain a simple formula the problem must be idealised somewhat, so the egg will be treated as a spherical homogeneous object of mass M and initial temperature Tegg. If the egg is placed straight into a pan of boiling water at Twater, it will be ready when the centre temperature of the yolk has risen to Tyolk. It turns out that Tyolk~45°;C is about right and the cooking time t can be deduced from the solution to the heat diffusion equation.
where the constant of proportionality a depends on the specific heat capacity and thermal conductivity of 'egg'. According to this formula, a medium egg (M~50 g) that takes four and a half minutes to cook when it has come from the fridge Tegg=4°C, would have taken a few seconds less than four minutes to cook if it had been stored at room temperature Tegg=21°C. If all the eggs are stored in the 'fridge, then a small (size 6, 47 g) egg, will require about 4 minute 15 seconds to cook, and a large egg (size 2, 67 g) will take almost five and a half minutes.
Grog lol!
Hi all,
thought I would share what Dr. Young had to say about eggs in his book:
"In 1992 researchers conducted a case-control study in Argentina to investigate the relationship between dietary components and risk of colon cancer. Studies were conducted on 110 newly diagnosed colon cancer patients in 10 major hospitals. It was found that consumption of eggs was associated with increased risk of colon cancer. Eggs from grain-fed chickens have been documented to contain mycotoxins. (My own observations have revealed that 15 minutes after eating an egg, a person will show bacteria, or an increase thereof, in the blood.) Also incriminated were dairy products, including milk, with the highest association being cheese. However, the risk for red meat did not consistently increase as consumption increased. Since the Argentine diet typically included a high intake of red meat, this was of particular interest. Lack of association to red meat may well be due to the fact that Argentine animas are usually pasture-grazed rather than grain-fed. This is not to say that red meat from grazing animals is good food, but only the lesser of evils.
In 1993 researchers reported the results of a case-control study of colon cancer in Australia. A positive association for egg consumption in females was the most striking finding. Intakes of red meat, liver and dairy foods were also positively associated with risk in femailes. In males, large intakes of red meat and poultry were associated with increased risk of colon cancer.
References:
Costantini, Weiland, Qvick, op. cit. (Ref. 32), p. 73
Steinmetz, K.A. And Potter, J.D. Food-group consumption and colon cancer in the Adelaide case-control study: meat, poultry, seafood, dairy foods and eggs. International Journal of Cancer, 1993; 53(5): 720-27.
Mike, I'm sorry, I don't mean to be disparaging to you personally, so I hope you won't take offense, but we've had this conversation before. I believe that Innerlight's products are basically very good products, although I take a dim view of multilevel marketing, and specially of those who claim they alone have all the answers.
As far as Dr. Young, I have heard some of his explanations of how his products work, ie, the new shampoo to regrow hair. I would say, being no scientist myself but being closely acquainted with several, that his 'science' is junk Science at best.
I am not as familiar with the dietary habits of Australians as I am that of Argetines. These folks consume infinitely more beef than anyone else in the world,(yes, as many eat beef up to three times a day in large quantities. (most Americans don't go quite this far) However, contrast this to their almost total lack of dietary fiber in the form of whole grains, legumes and raw vegetables. Although they might consume more veggies on the whole than most other Latin Americans, they are served highly cooked and still in very low proportion to what has been considered in multiple studies to be a minimally sufficient diet.
Therefore, an important question to ask ourselves is: Was the colon cancer found in Argentines due to the high consumption of red meat and eggs alone, or was it due to the imbalance created by the absence of dietary fiber?
Hi,
no offense at all taken. I simply wanted to through that info in there. I attached the references so that someone if interested could do the research to determine exactly those things you asked about the studies. I certainly did not mean to imply that I in any way know that those studies are any good. When it comes to Dr. Young, I have great reservation on several areas of his "research", however my personal experience with his approach to proper diet and nutrition has been highly successful. So I'm trying to keep an open mind until I can find suficient evedence for one side or the other for me to take a possition. In the mean time I will continue to make the point that all I'm doing is quoting from his book, end of story. Like I said in the title, take it for what it's worth. That may be nothing. Thank you for a very considerate and well thought out response. I hope to talk with you again soon, Mike
It's a good question, and one I am certainly not in a possition to answer. I was simply putting out his quote and references. I think it would be interesting to read the original studies, but I really don't have the time for that right now. Enough reading to do for work and school already. Later, Mike
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Re: What about Digestive Enzymes? 
