24 May How to Supercharge Your Health with Enzymes

I have gone my entire life not knowing anything about enzymes… well except those classes in Nursing school, which I like to forget. This all changed several years ago, when a friend suggested that I try an enzyme supplement as part of my wellness routine. I’m going to be honest, I didn’t even know there was such a thing as enzyme supplementation. So, curious, I started looking into different enzyme supplements and decided on Essentialzyme and Essentialzyme-4 from Young Living. I was so excited about the results, that now I’m convinced that you HAVE to learn how to supercharge your health with enzymes, too!

First, a technical definition (just to be official): Enzymes are proteins produced by living organisms and are made up of amino acids. They are powerful catalysts that create many of the essential biochemical reactions in our bodies.

The Roles of Enzymes in our Bodies

• Enzymes digest fat and clean up plaque in our circulatory system.
• They can support weight management.
• Enzymes digest fiber (most people today are not able to properly digest fiber)
• They digest carbohydrates.
• Enzymes digest protein.
• They support the immune system.
• Enzymes help maintain the normal pH of the stomach and the gut, supporting healthy digestion.
• They support faster healing because they improve circulation and provide the protein and necessary nutrients for new tissue growth.
• Enzymes provide a foundation for a more restful sleep.
• They support glandular function and hormone production, including insulin
• Enzymes facilitate toxic waste disposal.
• They stimulate the brain for memory retention and alertness.

I think of enzymes as a cook at a great restaurant. This cook is always putting together high quality ingredients to create meals that nourish and satisfy his clients. When needed, this cook will go to the garden or the pantry to get the ingredients he needs to continue cooking. But what would happen if nobody tended the garden or stocked the pantry? One day, the cook would go to the garden and there would be no produce. He would look in the pantry and there would be nothing stored there. Without his high quality ingredients, he can no longer create those incredible dishes and his customers would start to suffer.

Enzymes:  A Disappearing Act

We are born with a garden and pantry full of enzymes to use throughout our lives. Our bodies are created so that when treated properly, the enzymes will do their jobs well, maintaining health and vitality. Once their job is completed, enzymes are then reprocessed and returned to storage to be used, again, as needed.

As with the cook, the problem arises when we do not properly care for our bodies. Enzyme deficiency (or depletion of our enzyme storage) is a growing problem. Our lifestyles and environment strongly influence our enzyme depletion and reprocessing.

Actions that will Destroy your Enzymes and Prevent Reprocessing

• Consuming acetaminophen, aspirin and ibuprofen
• Receiving chemotherapy or radiation therapy
• Use of antibiotics
• Use of a microwave oven
• Eating fast food, frozen, boxed or highly processed foods
• Stress
• Disease
• Petrochemicals
• Aging
• Cleaning solvents and household cleaners
• Heating food over 120 degrees

Without enzymes, metabolic processes slow down and some stop altogether, leaving us with a host of problems including allergies and gluten intolerance, exhaustion and poor sleep, digestive issues and hormone imbalances. Any of these sound familiar?

What can we do about enzyme depletion? Just as the cook must tend to the garden and stock his pantry, so must we start to care for our bodies by consistently supplying it with high quality nutrients. Non-genetically modified raw foods contain enzymes. We can replenish our enzyme supply by eating live (raw) food, drinking live juices and by taking high quality enzyme supplements.

If you want to live a life of health and vitality, take care of your body! Build up your enzyme reserves! They may be so depleted that you have a lot of catching up to do – it may even take years – but the life that you get back is so worth it!

I use and highly recommend Young Living’s enzyme supplements because I have not found a company that compares in quality. Young Living has several different enzyme products to choose from, depending on your needs or health goals: Essentialzyme, Essentialzyme-4, Detoxyme, Allerzyme and Sulfurzyme.