***Why Enzymes are Essential for our Health

Enzymes are vital for our body and our health. Without enzymes produced by the body, you couldn’t live. Enzymes may be the forgotten digestive aid. Present in all live foods and secreted by the pancreas, enzymes assist the body in breaking down food and allowing you to properly utilize the nutrients contained in your food. Without enzymes, your foods would be lifeless. Digestive enzymes break down food so that our bodies can use the nutrients contained within that food. When food is swallowed, it moves to the stomach and then to the small intestine, followed by the large intestine. At each step along the way, specific enzymes break down different types of food. For example, an enzyme designed to digest protein has no effect on starch, and an enzyme active in the mouth may not be active in the stomach. Ideally, though, these enzymes work together, digesting food and delivering nutrients to cells to maintain their health. Most raw foods contain the very enzymes that your body needs to digest a particular food. Broccoli contains cellulase to help break down the cellulose cell walls of the plant fiber. Raw dairy products contain lactase, which can aid your body in breaking down lactose—the sugar contained in dairy products. Those are a few of the many examples found in nature. It’s no secret that over the past century, our diets have changed. Enzyme-rich raw and fermented foods, once staples in the diet, have been largely replaced by packaged and processed foods of convenience. Cooking, heating and processing the food we eat destroys the enzymes contained within. The burden then falls on our body to provide all of the enzymes necessary to maximize the nutritional value of the food you eat. Eating a diet complete with raw foods is the perfect place to start. Supplementing with Vitamin Code Raw Vitamins and Perfect Food Raw Green Super Food, Raw Meal, and Raw Protein can also help provide raw nutrients and enzymes that may be missing from your diet. Vitamin Code formulas are uncooked, untreated, minimally processed, and contain live enzymes and probiotics – delivering to you the ultimate in raw, whole food nutrition. The following articles provide more information on the value of raw foods and raw supplements, including Vitamin Code: "Raw is Good for Your Health, Are Your Supplements Raw?” "Is Your Multivitamin Raw?" Also, a broad spectrum, plant-based enzyme product whenever the food you eat is not raw can also aid digestion. Omegazyme Ultra by Garden of Life was designed to provide for the nutritional enzyme gap that is created by a lack of raw and fermented foods in the diet. It contains 21 different enzymes to break down proteins, fats, carbohydrates and even the hardest to digest foods like dairy, nuts, seeds and beans. There is no one “Super Enzyme.” Instead, enzymes follow a “lock and key” model. Different enzymes produced by the body or contained in the food will break down specific nutrients like proteins, fats, carbohydrates and sugars. Omegazyme Ultra contains potent enzymes that support the digestion of a multitude of nutrients in the gastrointestinal tract, including: • Protease blend of 5 proteolytic enzymes aids digestion & utilization of dietary proteins • Amylase digests starch • Lipase digests fats • Glucoamylase breaks down starch-like carbohydrates • Malt Diastase (maltase) digests maltose based carbohydrates or malt found in grains • Invertase (sucrase) is an enzyme that breaks down sucrose into glucose and fructose • Alpha-Galactosidase helps digestion of difficult-to-digest foods such as beans, legumes & cruciferous vegetables • Lactase digests the milk sugar lactose • Cellulase digests fiber cellulose into smaller units • Xylanase breaks down xylose, also called wood sugar • Pectinase breaks down carbohydrates such as pectin, found in the pulp of many fruits • Hemicellulase breaks down carbohydrates widely present in plant foods • Phytase breaks down phytic acid present in many difficult-to-digest grains and beans • Beta-Glucanase breaks down bulky beta-glucan molecules into smaller units • Bromelain, derived from pineapple, breaks down a broad variety of proteins • Papain, derived from papaya, also digests proteins into peptides and amino acids The enzymes in Omegazyme Ultra weren’t chosen just for their ability to break down a broad spectrum of nutrients, but also for their ability to actually work with the body’s digestive process. Throughout the digestive system, pH levels vary. Enzymes that can thrive in a low pH environment are rendered helpless in a high pH environment and vice versa. The blend of enzymes in OmegaZyme Ultra are specially formulated to function across the full spectrum of pH levels found in the gastrointestinal tract, enabling the enzymes to survive high stomach acidity and be delivered to the small intestine in their intact and biologically active form for maximum digestive benefit. While Omegazyme Ultra digestive enzymes contain 21 different enzymes, it also contains the highest levels of every important enzyme. Enzymes are measured on several different scales by their activity level. The comprehensive OmegaZyme Ultra formula delivers the highest activity per serving of a broad range of enzymes available today. So, unless you are eating a primarily raw and extremely healthy, whole-food diet, digestive enzyme supplementation is essential for optimal health, to ensure that you are breaking down your foods properly and absorbing the nutrients efficiently. The statements in this article have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. The information contained here is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Suggestions and ideas presented in this document are for information only and should not be interpreted as medical advice, meant for diagnosing illness, or for prescriptive purposes. Readers are encouraged to consult their health care provider before beginning any cleanse, diet, detoxification program, or any supplement regimen. The information in this document is not to be used to replace the services or instructions of a physician or qualified health care practitioner.