Conscious Eating Part 26

I have found that people with digestive disturbances, endocrine gland imbalances, blood sugar imbalances, diabetes, obesity, cholesterol excesses, stress-related problems, and arthritic inflammations all seem to benefit from enzyme supplementation. Dr. W.W. Oelgoetz has shown that partially digested fats, protein, and carbohydrate molecules get into the blood system when the blood enzymes become too low. He observed that when he gives clients oral supplements of amylase, lipase, and proteases, the allergies which seem to be a.s.sociated with these incompletely digested molecules subside. Thus, enzyme supplementation can be a support to the immune system.

Enzymes help the detoxification process because they free up more metabolic enzyme energy for this work.

Health-promoting use of proteolytic enzymes.

Summary of the Importance of Enzymes.

AT THIS POINT A SUMMARY ON THE IMPORTANCE OF ENZYMES would be helpful. Enzymes contain the power of the life force itself. Eating a live-food diet helps to maintain the quality and quant.i.ty of our enzyme pool and therefore maintain our health and longevity. Enzymes are not simply catalysts that make digestion and all metabolic processes work; they are living proteins that direct the life force into our basic biochemical and metabolic processes. They even help repair our DNA and RNA. Enzymes help transform and store energy, make active hormones, partic.i.p.ate in their own production cycle, dissolve fibrin and thus prevent clotting, and have anti-inflammatory effects, anti-edematous effects, and even a.n.a.lgesic effects. The research suggests they also balance and enhance the immune system; help to heal cancer, multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid diseases, and arthritis; minimize the effect of athletic injuries; decrease injury recovery time; and aid with digestion.

Many enzymes work within the cellular structures, such as in the cell nucleus with the DNA/RNA or mitochondria (the energy factories in the body). Some enzymes move freely within the body fluids, such as during digestion or in the serum of our blood. Many of the free enzymes, especially proteases, are bound to transport proteins in the serum. These binding proteins, alpha globulins, transport the enzymes and other molecules to various parts of the body to regulate all body processes.

I divide enzymes into seven major biochemical cla.s.ses. One cla.s.s is oxi-doreductases, needed for biological oxidation and such processes as the making of ATP and protection from free radicals. Some members of this cla.s.s include dehydrogenases, oxidases, and oxygenases. A second cla.s.s is called transferases, which transfer chemical groups from one molecule to another. A third cla.s.s is called hydrolysases. They cleave chemical bonds and add water in the process. They catalyze the breaking of ester bonds in fatty acids, split amino acid bonds in proteins, and cleave glycoside bonds. These include proteases, glycosides, and esterases. A fourth cla.s.s is isomerases. These help to rearrange chemical groups within the same molecule. A fifth cla.s.s is lyases, which cleave double bonds between two atoms. The sixth group is called ligases; they catalyze the formation of a bond between two molecules. These include DNA lipase, synthetases, and carboxylases. The seventh cla.s.s of enzymes is digestive enzymes. These include proteases, which digest proteins, amylases, which help digest carbohydrates, and lipases, which digest fats. They are made up of enzyme types from some of the other cla.s.ses.

With age, under stress, or after illness, the amount of enzymes decreases in our bodies. Enzymes are critical for our health. As they diminish, our ability to perform the tasks which keep the body healthy also diminishes. Aging happens when enzymes decrease in concentration in the body. Some enzyme researchers and live-food teachers like Ann Wigmore believe that enzyme preservation is the secret to longevity.

One way to preserve the body's store of enzymes is to eat living or raw foods because foods in their natural state are loaded with digestive and other enzymes. Another way to enhance the enzyme pool is by adding natural digestive enzymes to support digestion and create even less of an enzyme drain on the system. One may also take proteolytic enzymes which break proteins down into free amino acids. These include protease enzymes, bromelain, and papain between meals on a regular basis, or certain mixtures of enzymes therapeutically. Over time, I have become more impressed with the effectiveness of adding enzymes to the system as a natural anti-aging, preventive measure and/or for therapeutic reasons. This includes digestive enzymes in general and proteolytic enzymes specifically

Origin of Enzyme Therapy.

THE ORIGIN OF ENZYME THERAPY can be traced back to the indigenous peoples of Central and South America, who used the leaves and fruit of papaya and pineapples therapeutically for thousands of years. Enzymes were used in Africa and India. The Bible mentions the use of figs, which are high in enzymes, for healing. A specific example was the prophet Isaiah's use of figs and blessings to help heal King Hezekiah. The curative effect of many plants and fruits used in the Middle Ages was due to the proteases in them.

In 1900, the Scottish physician John Beard began to treat cancer patients with enzymes of plants and enzymes from the pancreases of freshly killed animals. Following him was Max Wolf, an Australian-born physician who is considered the father of systemic enzyme therapy. He, along with Helen Benitez, a cell biologist, was able to explore and develop proteolytic enzyme preparations for therapeutic uses, especially for the treatment of cancer.

Wolf also believed that premature aging, with all its secondary symptoms, is based on a deficiency of these enzymes. Wolf theorized that the key element of most aging processes is a disturbance in physiological and regulatory mechanisms of the body. He understood that enzymes are critical for the proper functioning of the body's regulatory mechanisms, including the immune system. In 1960, enzyme combinations were introduced in Germany to help with the body's regulatory and immune system. Building up the enzyme reserve for health and anti-aging effects is not a new concept. The benefits of the live-food lifestyle are supported by this scientific research. I am not just talking about enzymes as a metaphor.

The main enzymes involved in these regulatory functions are called proteases. These enzymes cleave proteins and are technically called proteolytic hydrolyses. Wolf's work was initally done with selected animal and plant proteases. Today, enzyme combinations based solely on high concentrations of plant proteolytic enzymes are available. Each protease has its own general specialty because each works on different protein complexes. For example, bromelain from pineapple is better than papain from papaya and trypsin and chymotrypsin from animals for reducing swelling and edema. Bromelain is not as good as papain for breaking up antigen-antibody complexes, or for cell receptor modulation. Protease function in the body is controlled by sequences of connecting enzymes. For example, at least five enzymes are needed for blood to clot, and five other enzymes are needed to dissolve the clotted blood.

Enzymes are directed by carrier molecules that transport the enzymes to where they are needed in the body and regulate their activity. The two most common of these enzyme carriers are alpha-1 anti-trypsin and alpha-2-macroglobulin (A-2M). These proteins' globulins are called anti-proteases because they temporarily bind these enzymes and keep them inactive. These protease and anti-protease complexes have their own particular functions.

Enzymes taken orally have been shown to absorb directly through the GI tract. Research over the past three decades around the world has definitively proven that specific enzymes administered orally are absorbed through the gastrointestinal system and have systemic effects throughout the human body. This understanding is widely accepted in Europe, j.a.pan, and China, but unfortunately, most American physicians are not aware of this. Researchers have found that there are even special regions in the small intestine such as Peyer's patches where some of the largest enzymes are absorbed more rapidly than smaller enzyme molecules. Approximately 6% of papain and 38% of bromelain taken orally is found to be active in the blood and lymph. If they are to be effective, large amounts of protease enzymes need to be taken. At least 12% of the proteolytic enzymes are absorbed. They are best taken one hour before or two hours after meals with eight ounces of water. In 1992 in Germany more than 1.4 million prescriptions of enzyme combinations were made with no side effects reported, with the exception of rare allergic reactions. Some changes in bowel movement smell and consistency, nausea, or gas may occur until the proper enzyme intake level is found.

There are conditions and times when it is best not to take enzyme therapy: Before going into surgery, which might involve blood loss because of the anti-clotting power of enzymes.

People with congenital disturbances in blood coagulation, such as hemophilia or coagulatory disturbances secondary to liver or kidney disease.

People taking anti-coagulants or thrombocyte aggregation inhibitors such as acetylsalicylic acid.

During pregnancy.

People with allergies to proteins.

Enzymes seem to be effective in the prevention and treatment of cancer, auto-immune diseases, vascular diseases, inflammations, injuries, infections, stress, and rheumatic diseases. Research to show their effect against cancer existed as early as 1907. Research showing their effectiveness for inflammations, joint pain, and edemas started in the sixties.

Enzymes Are Effective Immune System Modulators.

THE CENTRAL UNDERSTANDING about why enzymes can help with so many imbalances is that they are immune modulators or biological response modifiers. They help control the regulatory mechanisms of the immune system. They can stimulate the immune system if needed, regenerate the immune system, or even act to inhibit an overactive immune system such as what we see with auto-immune disease. In other words, enzymes act to normalize the immune system in a variety of ways. For example, they help to regulate the anti-protease globulin system, which includes A-2M, involved in the regulation of the cytokine function of the immune system.

Proteolytic enzymes are able to stimulate the mononuclear phagocyte system (MPS) by bonding to A-2M globulins. When proteases are added to the system, the cells of the MPS are stimulated. The MPS cells protect the mucous membranes of the small intestine, v.a.g.i.n.a, the eyes, and skin, and as macrophages they can travel on their own through the tissues, engulfing and destroying foreign material.

According to research reported in Enzymes: The Fountain of Life by Lopez, Williams, and Miehlke, proteolytic enzymes increase the activity of macrophages by up to 700% and natural killer (NK) cells by 1300% in cell culture within a few minutes. This activation effect has also been found in human experimentation. Proteolytic enzymes have been found to stimulate the peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC), which include the precursors to macrophages, part of the scavenger process of the immune system. These enzymes also stimulate the PBMC cells to secrete cytokines, which help to enhance the immune system.

Proteolytic enzymes are important for the degradation of immune complexes as well. These immune complexes are often a.s.sociated with inflammation and swelling in rheumatism. The vegetarian enzymes-lipases, papain, amylase, and proteases-and the animal enzymes-pancreatin and trypsin-all help protect the body from an overactive immune system. They also prevent worn-out cells from being treated as foreign cells, as in auto-immune disease settings.

On the surface of cells is a variety of receptor sites that affect intercellular communication. Various immunological reactions can be modulated by changing the receptors. An excess production of these cell receptors or an underproduction of surface receptors can unbalance immune system communication. Enzymes, depending on the need, can increase or decrease the amount of these cell surface receptors and thus balance the immune system. The cell surface molecules are important in cancer metastasis, because cancer cells make use of specific adhesion molecules or receptors to migrate into the surrounding tissues. Proteolytic enzymes inhibit the function of these adhesion molecules so the rate of metastases is inhibited. Research has shown that proteolytic enzymes inhibit the CD44 cell surface receptors that are found to be responsible for enhancing the metastasis of cancer of the breast and large intestine. Proteolytic enzymes have also been shown to inhibit the adhesion molecule vitronectin that supports the metastasis of malignant melanomas.

Research has shown that when certain cells in the immune system are treated with enzymes, they make more cell messenger substances or cytokines, which play an important role in the regulation of immunological reactions. About twenty different cytokines have been identified so far. They include tumor necrosis factor (TNF), interleukins, monokines, and interferons. These cytokines are very important for the proper functioning of the immune system.

Because proteolytic enzymes are so critical in the regulation and normalization of the immune system, they are important not only for the prevention and treatment of cancer, but also auto-immune diseases, rheumatological problems, multiple sclerosis, skin diseases, and allergies. Enzymes are critical for the maintenance of all systems effective in defending the organism.

Therapeutic Uses of Proteolytic Enzymes.

ENZYME THERAPY HAS MANY OTHER HEALING EFFECTS in addition to its effect on the immune system. It improves blood circulation in a variety of ways. It makes the red blood cells more flexible and diminishes their tendency to clump. Fibrinogen increases with age, chronic disease, diabetes, and cancer. An increased fibrin in the blood decreases flow by making the blood more viscous, thereby increasing the potential of clotting. Enzymes decrease the fibrinogen in the blood and therefore improve blood flow. Enzymes also act like aspirin to decrease thrombocyte clumping and therefore the danger of blood clots, strokes, and heart attacks. They are much safer than aspirin, however.

Enzymes have anti-inflammatory effects and so decrease pain. With tissue injury there is a release of inflammation mediators which dilate the capillaries at the injury site. Plasma proteins travel into the tissues and carry water with them, causing swelling or edema. Fibrin formation is also activated, which further slows circulation. Proteolytic enzymes break down the fibrin, plasma proteins in the tissues, and the cellular debris, thereby decreasing swelling and pain and making it easier for the lymphatic system to carry away the debris. The other enzyme mechanism for decreasing pain is through degrading the inflammatory mediators, since active mediators such as the kinins and prostaglandins stimulate a pain response. In this way enzymes are a.n.a.lgesic.

Enzymes have no side effects, stimulate the immune system, and promote tissue regeneration, rather than slow the process like conventional anti-inflammatory medicines. One study of the use of enzymes in sport injuries done with ice hockey players in the German national hockey league by Dr. Sepp Worschauser, a team physician, showed that the prophylactic administration of enzymes helped to heal one-third to one-half more quickly and led to shorter absences from training. The typical symptoms of swelling and pains following usual sport bruises and sprains were minimized as compared to the normal post-injury responses without enzyme treatment. Athletes who used enzymes prophylactically definitely had less muscle soreness. The enzymes were effective if taken one hour before the athletic event.

Proteolytic enzymes minimize a variety of other inflammatory processes. A number of these inflammations even respond better to enzymes than to cortisone and other anti-inflammatory drugs. Proteolytic enzymes have to be rated as excellent for inflammatory swelling and hematomas. They are good for healing inflammation of the respiratory tract, such as with constant bronchitis and acute constant sinusitis. They reduce the swelling of mucous membranes and dissolve micro thrombi and fibrin deposits in the membranes. Proteolytic enzymes help with inflammation of the ovaries and fallopian tubes from external infection or anti-immune causes and thus are good for pelvic inflammatory disease and endometriosis. They are excellent for the treatment of acute and chronic prostat.i.tis as well as infection of the urinary tract. They are even effective in chronic pancreat.i.tis.

Enzymes should not be taken 24 hours before an operation where there could be blood loss, but taken 36-48 hours later they help to speed recovery and decrease swelling and hematomas post-operatively Perhaps most important is their ability to keep post-operative blood clots from forming or to dissolve them if they have formed.

In dental surgery, enzyme therapy has been quite successful. Proteolytic enzyme treatment should begin 48 hours before and continue until the seventh day post-operatively. One study showed that people were able to eat comfortably within two to three days after a wisdom tooth was pulled as compared to the usual ten or twelve days. In all the studies, there was no excess bleeding during the tooth extraction when the enzyme therapy was begun 48 hours before the operation. They also help protect against infection.

Enzymes are very important in the prevention of blood clots and almost all vascular disease. In a society where over one-half the population dies from atherosclerosis and approximately 50% of the population over age fifty has varicose veins, enzymes used prophylactically make good sense. With age, the plasmin-producing cells in the walls of the arteries that prevent clotting decrease in number. Because of this there is a general tendency for the clotting mechanism to produce more fibrin, a substance that makes the blood more sticky and thus more likely to clot. Clotting is increased by arte-riosclerotic changes in the artery wall, increased blood viscosity, decreased blood flow, and increased tendency to make fibrin. Damage to the artery wall is one of the primary causes of arterial clots. Venous thrombosis is more likely to happen from increased viscosity and decreased blood flow and/or hypercoagulability In arteries, enzyme therapy reduces the tendency to form clots and improves all limitations to circulation. Proteolytic enzymes make the red blood cells more elastic, help keep red blood cells and platelets from sticking together, degrade micro thrombi that may stick to the artery wall, and have an anti-inflammatory effect on blood vessel walls. Enzymes are far safer and have a greater range of effects than aspirin.

Enzymes have been used to prevent existing vascular disease from progressing. They also help to neutralize the auto-immune aspects of arteriosclerosis by dissolving the auto-antibodies and immune complexes that form against blood lipids that lodge in the artery wall and cause inflammation and atherosclerotic plaque. Enzyme intake on a regular basis prevents an immune reaction inflammation that can damage the blood vessel wall, compared to aspirin that only works to prevent platelet aggregation.

In addition, enzyme therapy seems to increase the healthy high-density lipids and decrease cholesterol and triglyceride levels. For constant venous circulation problems like thrombophlebitis and varicose veins, enzyme treatment improves blood flow, reduces swelling, degrades micro clots, and inhibits inflammation, muscle pain, and cramping pain in as short a time as four weeks. Deep vein thromboses in their acute stage are more safely treated in a medical clinic with bed rest. Sometimes the enzymes urokinase and streptokinase can be injected to dissolve the clot in the acute phase. Oral enzyme therapy by itself is most effective after the acute stage pa.s.ses. Enzyme therapy also was found to inhibit post-thrombotic syndrome (PTS) pain, swelling, and scarring. In one study of 445 patients done by Dr. Otto Kar Ritansky of Vienna, Austria, in which he used enzymes and ozone therapy, excellent results were achieved for decreasing pain, healing tissue, improving walking distance, and preventing amputation.

Proteolytic enzymes were also found to be helpful in clearing the lymphatic system. One dental study found that post-operative lymph node swelling was significantly reduced in cancer cases. The prophylactic long-term use of enzyme therapy post-operatively was helpful in minimizing constant lymphatic edema following breast cancer surgery.

Proteolytic enzymes seem to be significantly helpful in the treatment of viral infections. Cytomegalovirus, Epstein-Barr, hepat.i.tis, herpes simplex, and acute herpes zoster infections are all diminished with proteolytic enzymes. One of the main reasons proteolytic enzyme therapy is effective is that it stimulates the development of T lymphocytes and macrophages. These two parts of the immune system have specific anti-viral effects. Enzymes also activate NK cells, which destroy the virally infected cells. The proteolytic enzymes help to regulate virally disturbed interrelations.h.i.+ps in the immune system. The overall result is that they can even slow down the time between viral invasion and the outbreak of disease.

Research in 1964 by Dr. Dorrer, a senior physician in Prien am Chiemsee, Germany, found that the use of enzymes reduced herpes zoster pain within three days, and the herpes zoster vesicles became encrusted sooner than normal. Post-herpetic neuralgia did not develop in any patients using enzymes. The clinical results with enzyme therapy are equal to those with Acyclovir in the treatment of herpes zoster.

In rheumatoid disease, proteolytic enzymes can decrease inflammation, and mobilize, cleanse, and degrade immune complexes created by the immune response process. In one large study reported in Enzymes: The Fountain of Life, depending on the type of rheumatoid disorder, 76-96% of the patients were cla.s.sified as improved or considerably improved. The condition did not progress in 10%, and 2% experienced a deterioration of their condition. Proteolytic enzyme therapy has been used to alleviate such rheumatoid symptoms as morning stiffness, joint swelling, loss of grip strength, and loss of joint flexibility. In one double blind study by Dr. Klieg of Austria, the course of chronic polyarthritis could be stabilized with enzyme therapy.

Enzymes decrease and minimize the immune-mediated inflammation of joints, while strengthening the immune system rather than weakening it like cortisone. Enzymes have been shown to degrade the inflammatory-causing immune complexes deposited in the joints and even remove them while they are moving in the bloodstream of rheumatoid patients. Another way the proteolytic enzymes work is to dissolve the fibrin mantle which forms around the deposited immune complexes in the joints. This allows these immune complexes to be actively degraded by the immune system as well as the proteolytic enzymes.

As compared to gold treatments, which run about 20% effective over the long term, enzymes have about 1% side effects versus 20-30% for gold. The one drawback to enzyme therapy is that it may take weeks or months to be effective. But once effective it remains so, and enzyme therapy rarely has to be discontinued because of side effects. This is contrary to the case with other rheumatoid treatments, which often have c.u.mulative side effects over time and have to be discontinued. There is a variety of arthritic conditions including arthritis from psoriasis that proteolytic enzymes can help to ameliorate. Enzymes also help in osteoarthritis because of their anti-inflammatory effect, immune-moderating effect, and the general improvement of circulation.

In auto-immune diseases of the nervous system, enzymes break down the immune complement reaction with its destruction of the myelin sheath. By decreasing all levels of inflammation, enzymes protect the myelin sheath and hence slow or neutralize the progression of diseases such as multiple sclerosis (MS). Non-spastic symptoms of his MS patients, according to Dr. Wolf, were decreased 50% with enzyme therapy, and the improvement was maintained over many years. Dr. Ulf Baumhackl, chief doctor at the neurological department at the hospital in St. Polten, Austria, and a full professor named Kretschowa in the department of neurology at the University of Prague both found that two years of enzyme therapy gave better results than the use of cortisone. In another European study, 80% of patients with episodic progression of MS benefited from enzyme therapy.

Proteolytic enzymes have been proven to play a significant role in the treatment of cancer in several ways. One is to strengthen the immune system to better cope with the cancer. Another way is to dissolve the fibrin cloak which often forms around tumor cells. The fibrin covers the cell surface landmarks of the cancer cells that attract the immune cell response. When the proteolytic enzymes dissolve the fibrin cloak, the immune system is better able to recognize the cancer cells and then destroy them. The proteolytic enzymes also stimulate the anti-cancer macrophages and natural killer cells, so that their anti-tumor capacities increase twelvefold. Proteolytic enzymes help the tumor necrosis factor (TNF) molecules do their job of destroying tumor cells. They do this by keeping the TNF molecules from clumping together in large ma.s.ses and blocking their own action. Another way the enzymes work is to inhibit the cancer cells' adhesiveness, which is important for their ability to create metastasis.

The adhesiveness of the blood and of cells is increased during chronic diseases and cancer so there is a concomitant decrease in blood flow, especially with age. Proteolytic enzymes increase the blood flow by dissolving excess fibrin and decrease the activity of the adhesion molecules of the cancer cells so it is harder for them to form metastasis. In studying malignant melanoma, Dr. Lucia Desser of the Inst.i.tute for Tumor Research and Tumor Development at the University of Vienna found that proteolytic enzymes inhibited metastasis formation of the melanoma cells. Dr. Rudelf Kunze of Berlin showed that by blocking the formation of vitronectin, an adhesion molecule on the surface of the melanoma cells, proteolytic enzymes inhibited the adhesion molecule receptor CD44 on colon and breast cancer cells, and thus blocked the metastasis of disease. In general, it seems that proteolytic enzymes act as a prophylaxis to metastasis and are helpful in maintaining cancer recovery.

Proteolytic enzymes plus vitamin E seem to help with breast fibrosis and many cases of early breast cancer. Professor Dittmar of a teaching hospital in Starnberg, Germany, showed in a study of 96 women with breast pain, swelling, and tenderness from nodular and cystic changes in the breast tissue that enzyme therapy significantly improved symptoms. Dr. Wolfgang Scheef of the Robert-Janker Clinic in Bonn, Germany, found that 85% of his patients with benign breast fibromas had no symptoms after six weeks of enzyme therapy.

Enzymes support many aspects of our immune system. They help build immune activation and immunoregulation. Proteolytic enzymes strengthen and potentiate many aspects of the immune system and therefore may help with the healing of the immune and auto-immune diseases. They also serve to protect us from heart attacks, stroke, blood clots, varicose veins, injuries, inflammation, rheumatoid and other forms of arthritis, a range of infective diseases, especially viruses, and from cancer. There are even enzymes which constantly repair mutations in the DNA and RNA. Enzymes optimize and enhance many levels of functioning of the immune system and so counter the potential negative effects of aging on the immune system.

The importance of a high level of enzymes for maintenance of quality of life and rejuvenation is significant. Three of the main symptoms of aging- a decrease in the function and efficiency of the immune system, a slowing of blood flow because of increased fibrin production, and cross-linking of proteins in our connective tissue-are directly improved by maintaining a high enzyme level in our tissues. Proteolytic enzymes fill in for the declining plasmin-producing cells to dissolve fibrin and minimize any clotting phenomena and the progression of atherosclerosis. According to European research, proteolytic enzymes both break down and inhibit the formation of cross-linked protein chains and thus help maintain the elasticity of the tissues, including the arteries and veins.

We can postulate that the higher we keep our enzyme reserve, the better all aspects of our biological functioning will be, and thus we will minimize the biological aging process. Eating live and raw foods is one of the best ways to enhance our body's enzyme reserve, thereby minimizing the physiological aging process and maximizing the rejuvenation process. The use of proteolytic enzymes prophylactically and therapeutically is a powerful additon to the live-food lifestyle.

Food Enzymes: A New Perspective on the Theory of Food Combining.

THE GENERALLY HELD THEORY OF FOOD COMBINING in some sectors of the vegetarian community is that certain combinations of foods will disrupt digestion and cause putrefaction, fermentation, toxic acids, and heartburn. The combining at the same time of certain foods is said to disrupt digestion-for example, fruits and vegetables; fruits and starches; fruits and protein; starches and proteins; simple sugars, complex carbohydrates, and proteins; fats and protein; acid fruits and proteins; acid fruits and starches; two different types of concentrated starches; two different types of concentrated proteins; and dairy or melons with any other food. These poor combinations are said to take longer to digest and use up a great deal of enzyme energy Many find these "rules" to be obsessively overwhelming.

The idea of food combining is not new; it is historically recorded in Exodus 16:8, which says, "And Moses said ... the Lord shall give you in the evening flesh to eat, and in the morning bread to the full." This can be interpreted to mean that we should not combine starches and proteins. Another Kosher food-combining law from the Torah is not to combine flesh and dairy at the same meal.

The general theoretical principle behind food combining is that the different food cla.s.ses require different enzyme secretions and digestive pHs for their a.s.similation. They also have different rates of digestion. For example, food-combining advocates claim that fruit digestion requires an alkaline solution that neutralizes the acid medium needed for the protein digestion and, therefore, fruit and proteins are a bad combination. Also, fruit has a faster digestive rate than protein, and if the fruits are held up for the slower protein digestion, they will begin to ferment. This is also why fruits and starches should not be combined. Fruits and vegetables are said to be incompatible because the enzymes required for their digestion neutralize each other and block digestion.

From a live-food perspective, there are some major incongruities in the orthodox food-combining approach that need to be considered. The first is the scientific evidence that live foods bring with them their own active digestive enzymes which digest a considerable amount of the food in the enzyme, or upper, stomach. Therefore, the concept of different bodily enzyme secretions for the different foods cancelling each other is much less an issue, especially in the food enzyme stomach where no enzymes other than saliva and those released by the living foods themselves are activated. It is a proven scientific fact that each raw food comes complete with its own set of specifically combined enzymes to digest that specific food. For example, seeds are made up of primarily oils and protein, so Mother Nature has packaged in the seeds sufficient amounts of lipase for the oils and proteases for the protein. In seeds there is not much amylase present because they do not contain much starch.

Another scientific fact that needs to be considered is that there are two distinctly different digestive stomachs, as discussed earlier in this chapter. There is the pyloric-or primarily protein-digesting-stomach, and the food enzyme stomach, in which all the raw-food starches, proteins, sugars, and lipids are self-digested. We do not have just one stomach in which competing enzymes are poured as if into a bag, cancelling each other out. In the food enzyme stomach, the pH is between 5 and 6, which is a range in which all of the plant food enzymes for all the different cla.s.ses of food are active. No enzyme of any cla.s.s of food is neutralized by any other food enzymes in the food enzyme stomach.

A third point involves a set of foods called the predigested foods. This predigestion process happens primarily by soaking or sprouting the seeds, nuts, and grains. In this process, the enzyme inhibitors, phytates, and oxalates are deactivated and almost entirely washed away after 6-24 hours of soaking. During soaking, complex carbohydrates are broken down to simple sugars, oils are broken down into free fatty acids, and proteins are broken down into free amino acids. In these predigested forms, these foods are much easier to a.s.similate. Some examples of these highly a.s.similable predigested foods are: raw, soaked, and sprouted seeds, nuts, grains, and legumes; bee pollen; raw nut and seed ferments; nut and seed cheeses and yogurts; and other fermented products, such as sauerkraut, tempeh, and miso. Most of these foods, except the tempeh and miso, which are cooked, can be digested easily with all cla.s.ses of foods, including fruits.

The ability to comfortably combine predigested protein and fruits is particularly important for people with hypoglycemia. I have found that a great many of my patients who have hypoglycemia become unbalanced by eating just fruit in the morning. By adding the predigested seeds and nuts either directly to the fruit, or blending them into seed sauces, hypoglycemics have stabilized well and improved with this approach. I have also had good results using these predigested proteins for people with digestive disorders or other forms of malnutrition.

The fourth consideration is that food enzymes are not destroyed in the very acid, protein-digestive part of the stomach. They again resume active digestive capacities in the more alkaline-digestive part of the small intestine. They are also not neutralized by either the acid secretions or the alkaline pancreatic secretions of the small intestine, and so they keep their digestive powers to some extent throughout the full digestive process.

I do not intend to negate the orthodox theory of food combining. It is, however, put into a less urgent perspective if one eats primarily live or predi-gested foods. By presenting this more liberal view, I will be very happy if just one less person doesn't become obsessive about food combining; or if one less person stops breaking down in frustration and being alienated from Mother Nature and his or her own intuition because of intellectual fear of combining the wrong foods. I will be happy if one more person is not psychologically and gastronomically blocked by all the food-combining concepts. Human beings are extremely capable of creating what they believe and expect is supposed to happen. The more we can put orthodox food-combining theory into perspective, the easier it will be to establish our own harmony with the gifts that Mother Nature offers us.

Honor Your Food-Combining Needs.

THE SIMPLEST RULE OF FOOD COMBINING is to eat a food, or combinations of foods, that in our direct experience are easiest for us to digest and thereby maintain our life energy and enzyme reserve. If we are eating a primarily live- and predigested-food diet, the food-combining rules are considerably less applicable. If we have a mono diet, but eat too much of that one food, we will still have digestive difficulties because overeating of any food, no matter how well-combined or raw, is still a stress on the digestive system. Overeating is a primary cause of digestive difficulties.

When I was in India in the 1970s, I lived on very little food. Often in the morning, about four hours after getting up, I would have raw tahini mixed with banana on a chapati (a piece of flat bread). Theoretically, this was the worst of three combinations: fruit, protein, and starch. I never had digestive difficulties from this simple meal because I ate so little of it and so little food altogether. If, however, we eat when we are emotionally upset or rushed, we will tend to cause digestive difficulties. Some people, especially pittas, have very strong digestive const.i.tutions and so are less affected by their food combinations. Others have delicate digestive const.i.tutions and need to pay more attention to their harmony with nature. It behooves us to become our own scientists and experiment to discover what are the best food combinations for us. The food-combining ideas can serve as a rough guideline for this.

Now that we have taken a new look at orthodox food-combining rules, we can appropriately consider some ideas of food combining. Whether or not the food-combining rules are based on accurate explanations for why people have digestive troubles when eating certain combinations, there are some combinations of foods, particularly if cooked, that are more likely to create fermentation or putrefaction than others: milk and meat, protein and starches, fruit and vegetables, and melons with any other foods. Eating too many different types of foods, even of the same food cla.s.s, can also result in disrupted digestion.

Papaya and lemons seem to go well with any type of food. Avocados can also go with fruits or vegetables. A few easy-to-digest combinations are predigested proteins with vegetables or sweet and subacid fruits, sprouted grains with vegetables, or protein with vegetables.

The timing of eating plays a role in digestion too. A little water at meals if one is thirsty is acceptable, but drinking many gla.s.ses of liquid at a meal dilutes the digestive enzymes and therefore tends to impair digestion. A good time to drink liquids is twenty or more minutes before meals. If one must have dessert, it is a good idea to eat a fruit dessert one or two hours after a nonfruit dinner. Paavo Airola used to teach that if one is eating a salad and a protein, it is better to eat the salad either with the protein or afterwards. The roughage of the salad may tend to block the hydrochloric acid secretion from reaching the protein if it is eaten beforehand.

The best way to tell if our food combinations and volume of food intake are good for us is through the results. If we get gas, constipation, bloating, nausea, or exhaustion after eating, these are distinct signs that our combinations can be improved and the quant.i.ty of food decreased.

In a quote from the Essene Jesus in The Essene Gospel of Peace, Book One (p. 38), the concepts for proper food combining are nicely described: Take heed, therefore, and defile not with all kinds of abominations the temple of your bodies. Be content with two or three sorts of food, which you will always find upon the table of our Earthly Mother. And desire not to devour all things which you see round about you. For I tell you truly, if you mix together all sorts of food in your body, then the peace of your body will cease, and endless war will rage in you.

It is more difficult to enjoy the flow of the cosmic energies and the peace of meditation when gas warfare is raging inside the bowels. In the US, Taga-met, a drug for digestive disorders, is among the number-one-selling drugs. This suggests that people have not yet begun to pay attention to what, how much, and how they are eating. Part of the reason is that the traditional, "home economics, basic-four-food-groups-at-each-meal" concept is still being taught in our schools. It is hard to overcome old food thoughtforms, no matter how unscientific they may be. In general, however, if we eat live food with some degree of awareness of food combining, eating the appropriate combinations will no longer be a big issue and we will not need Taga-met for dessert. The more we become attuned to the laws of nature, the simpler our meals become, with fewer combinations at each meal. Please trust in your own experience and use some artful intelligence.

Shop for organic life in your foods.

Smell and touch foods to feel aliveness.

As you eat these foods, the memory of soggy, frozen, overcooked, cheesy, goopy vegetables will fade.

Preview of Chapter 27.

THE ESSENCE OF THIS CHAPTER is-if it is not broken, don't fix it. Raw foods are the original creation and nutrition gift of G.o.d. Do we really think we can improve on them? In the process of trying to "fix" live foods to appease our taste buds, we destroy their SOEFs, deplete and disrupt their bioelectrical energy, disrupt their immune-protecting factors, destroy a high percentage of nutrients, destroy the living enzyme force, and destroy many known and unknown heat-sensitive health factors of the living food. As with the rain forest, there is much we don't even know we are destroying. In this chapter you will also learn about the ancient and modern history of living-food cuisine and health practices, an energy system for cla.s.sifying foods, and potentially harmful natural factors in foods. For many, increasing the living foods in the diet means letting go of culturally programmed habits of cooking and taste. Are you ready to begin eating more foods for health and learning new tastes?

I. Live-food nutrition, a gift of nature A. Raw foods as healers B. Energy categories of food II. Bioelectric energy of live food III. Biophysics of live foods IV. Raw food boosts immunity V. Cooked foods are damaged goods A. Cooking is a risky business and can transform certain fungicides into cancer-causing agents B. Browned or burned sections of food are mutagenic VI. Lesser-known health factors in live foods: wholeness of raw foods is health-producing VII. Potentially harmful factors in food A. Oxalates and phytates B. Estrogens in vegetables.