Look Into Digestive Enzymes For Your Intestinal Health

How many of us ever think of digestive enzymes and how they influence our health, positively or negatively? It is probably the very last thing on any of our minds. That is, until something happens that gets attention.

There are three types of digestive enzymes, including metabolic enzymes that run the body, those that come from the raw foods we consume, and digestive enzymes that digest the foods we eat. This article will deal with digestive enzymes and their importance. It is important to maintain digestive enzymes in our digestive tracts. Ironically, the some of the very foods we eat destroy these enzymes.

The production of enzymes begins in the mouth with salivary enzymes that are produced through chewing our food. This is where digestion begins. In order to aid good digestion food should be chewed thoroughly because gulping or swallowing food before it is completely chewed only delays and impedes the digestive process.

The food we chew is then mixed with more enzymes as it moves into the stomach where it is processed further with more enzymes.

The production of some of these important enzymes begins to decline as we age, during pregnancy, and with certain conditions or illnesses. If we begin feeling full several hours after eating, have gas, are constipated or have diarrhea, have a low tolerance for protein, or generally feel full and uncomfortable shortly after eating it is possible that our enzymes are out of whack.

If the food we consume is cooked there are no enzymes present since cooking destroys digestive enzymes. So there the food just sits in the stomach waiting for something to continue the digestive process. This will not happen unless more digestive enzymes become available. Note that while the cooked food is resting in the stomach for lack of digestive enzymes, parasites and harmful bacteria may attack in the stomach and cause illness premature aging and other negative processes. This is why it is doubly important to eat sufficient raw foods and/or add natural digestive enzymes.

The food then moves from the stomach into the small intestine where it is neutralized by secretions from the liver and pancreas. If it is not neutralized ulcers could form and cause a myriad of problems. The process continues with the pancreas, liver and gallbladder releasing even more necessary enzymes as the process continues.

At this point absorption and digestion begins and digestion is completed. Then the digested foods are removed by being absorbed into the bloodstream and lymphatic system. The remaining contents enter the large intestine where it is changed again and lastly forms feces and is purged through the bowel movements.

A great deal of nutritional experts are now recommending that our diets should be 50 to 100% raw foods. That would be in an ideal situation; however, there is probably no way that most of the population could or would reach those percentages. That is why it is probably best that we include natural digestive enzymes in our diets on a regular basis. It can help us avoid so many digestive issues and problems.

Just remember that good digestion will prolong your life.