Enzymes

Old Time Notions Vs. Modern Knowing

There have been some ideas that although outdated or incorrect, simply refuse to die. Why don�t unworkable ideas die when shown not to be serviceable or no longer true? My guess is that the people who hold those ideas can�t come up with anything to replace them with and, that they have held these ideas for so long that is is incomprehensible to them that they might not be true. The notion held by many in US academia that socialism can still be made to work is a great example of an idea that despite repeated massive failures, moral and financial bankruptcies and even genocide just refuses to go away.

In the biochemical / medical world the idea that enzymes can�t be absorbed because they are too large a protein to pass through the intestinal wall is another untrue idea that still gets plenty of airing. Folks who still hold to this belief ignore the fact that they know that salmonella can easily cross the intestinal wall despite being 5 times larger than the largest enzyme! What magic does salmonella have that enzymes don�t? These adherents to old ideas continue to believe enzymes can�t be absorbed through the GI tract despite over 200 peer reviewed studies showing not only that they do pass through the intestinal wall but also that they get into the blood and have both physiological and therapeutic effects throughout the body! What about 200 peer reviewed studies published in respectable medical and pharmaceutical journals world wide is not to be believed?

Another old idea is the one that reads that enzymes are too sensitive to survive in the body. This line goes something to the effect that body heat and stomach acid will kill off the enzymes. Enzymes were first isolated and preserved by a biochemist pharmacologist from Bombay named Rathi in the 1920�s or 30�s. Dr. Rathis� Papain was a famous digestive aid in Asia for decades. Other words of old wisdom hold that ALL enzymes must be enteric coated to help them survive stomach acid if they are to get into the small intestine intact to be absorbed. If enzymes are not enteric coated, this line of reasoning says, then they are not effective.

The idea that systemic enzymes must be enteric coated is truly an old one, and not in keeping with modern technology. In the past, enzymes were subject to destruction by acids and heat over 125 degrees. An enteric coating is one which does not dissolve in an acid (6.5 pH or lower) but does dissolve in an alkaline medium (7.5 pH and higher). The enteric coating was meant to protect the enzymes from stomach acid and dissolve only in the alkaline environment of the small intestine. That still needs to be so ONLY if the enzymes used are from a raw material supplier who has NOT cultured the enzymes to be acid resistant, or if the enzyme itself cannot as of yet be cultured to resist acids. I was at their enzyme manufacturing plant and saw enzyme fermenters for proteolytic enzymes running with a 4.3 pH! That is amazing since proteolytic enzymes are not supposed to be able to survive below 6.8 pH. No other enzyme maker that I know of can claim a like achievement, not the Japanese, not the Germans or the Danes. Their enzymes still need to be enteric coated to survive.

These stronger cultured enzymes are the ones developed for and used by certain health care providers. All of the individual enzymes and the blends are pharmaceutical grade, not the much lower food grade. Most all of the enzymes and blends are both heat and acid resistant.

By: William Wong ND, PhD, Member World Sports Medicine Hall Of Fame

Music by Louis Landon - Peaceful

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