The Secret To Improving Digestion

The digestion of food is largely taken for granted by just about everyone. Most books on the science of nutrition describe the normal process of digestion but do not attempt to unravel the secrets of poor digestion.

More than 1 billion dollars are spent annually on drugs to relieve symptoms of indigestion. But these drugs only mask the real problem These products are designed to give temporary relief or to cover up symptoms. They do nothing to improve people’s ability to digest food on their own. Fortunately, these is a little known secret about improving digestion that has been around for at least 50 years. Only now is it receiving attention, but not nearly as much as it deserves.

“Simply stated, the secret is that raw, uncooked fruit, vegetables, and meats contain enzymes that will digest the food in which they are contained.”

The problem is that these enzymes are destroyed during cooking, canning, and other methods of food preparation. In fact, cooking is stressed as a major digestive aid in nutrition textbooks. While cooking does function to make it easier to digest some foods, like raw vegetables, it also destroys enzymes contained in the food that would improve digestion even more than cooking. Temperatures above 118 degrees Fahrenheit destroy the enzymes found in our food. Also, many foods we eat today are man-made and do not contain enzymes.

Enzymes run virtually all of the biochemical processes in living things. In the case of plants, these enzymes bring the plant to maturity or ripeness, and they will digest that plant when they are properly activated. All that is required is for the enzymes to be released by chewing or cutting of the plant. All enzymes require the presence of water, proper temperature, and correct pH to work, and our bodies provide all of these conditions.