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NUTRITION ENZYME THERAPY Eating enzyme-rich raw foods and supplementing the diet with plant enzymes is our best insurance in preventing and treating disease and promoting health and longevity. Part 3 of 3 ince ancient times, enzymes have unknowingly been involved in treating human ailments. Food consists of protein, carbohydrates, enzymes, fat and fibre, miner- als and vitamins. While the properties of enzymes have largely been unknown until recently, results were witnessed and associations of health or disease were made between various plant and animal substances. The healing properties of herbs are primarily attributed to alkaloid or other chemical properties that trigger a response in the body. Invariably, the chemistry of herbs affects metabolic enzyme pathways. The unique substance either inhibits an enzyme or stimulates another to change body chemistry. Some plants have unique essential oils capable of inhibiting or destroying pathogenic micro-organisms due to the disruption of some enzymatic pathway of the organism. Observations of the few (medicine men, shamans and later monks) gave them a certain power over the rest of the population who could not identify which plants caused the heal- ing. This was reserved only for the tribal healer and passed on to the favourites within the tribe. The use of hallucinogenic plants was often employed by shamans to elicit the wis- dom from the spirit world to aid in the cure of the person. In today's world of organised medicine, control over one's health is still largely in the hands of the elite few and knowl- edge is kept from the populace. Contrary to the enlightening herbs of the shaman, a mod- erate number of health care workers become addicted to or self-medicate with pharmaceu- tical drugs or turn to alcohol to help relieve stress involved in their profession.'** Within the realm of natural medicine, old and new alike, therapies abound. Everything from acupuncture, botanicals and nutrition to homoeopathy and, more recently, "energy medicine" is available to the average patient. Regardless of the modality chosen, what remains to be understood is that in every case the healing can only occur if the body has enough metabolic enzymes to do the work. Enzymes do work. Work in this case denotes the ability to initiate, alter, speed up or slow down biochemical processes. It indicates having the capacity to break apart or join components together synergistically to change their original structure and function. Food is broken down during digestion and made into smaller components which are then utilised in the body for structure and function. Protein is rendered into amino acids and smaller peptides. These can be used as neurotransmitters for proper brain function. Certain amino acids are used for energy, mineral transport and repair of tissue. Nutrition, as defined by Webster's Third International Dictionary of the English Language, is "The science of food and the processes by which the organism ingests, digests, absorbs, transports, utilizes and excretes food substances". All too often, this def- inition is forgotten in the field of nutrition. Nutrition today is practised in much the same way as the pharmaceutical drug approach: for every symptom, there must be a deficiency; simply give the mineral or vitamin and the signs will go away. One of the most common assumptions in both allopathic and complementary medicine is that the patient's digestive system is working fine. Unless the patient complains of heartburn, gas, bloating, belching or pain in the abdomen, doctors assume no problems. Divergent to this is the approach Dr Loomis took in his research into enzymes. by Mark Rojek © 2003 785 N. Dancer Road Dexter, MI 48130, USA Telephone/fax: +1 (734) 433 9267 Email: mrojek1@earthlink.net Website: http:/Avww.radianthealth.cc Diet, Digestion and Detoxification When Dr Loomis began his exploration into the benefits of enzymes in restoring health, he knew the starting point had to be with diet and digestion. The dramatic increase in obesity, cardiovascular disease and diabetes in Western societies is evidence of the simple NEXUS + 23 ENZYMES AS THERAPEUTIC TOOLS IN HEALING by Mark Rojek © 2003 FEBRUARY — MARCH 2004 www.nexusmagazine.com