
You may have the best diet in the world, but if you’re not properly digesting your food and, more importantly, not properly absorbing and assimilating nutrients from your food, you may as well eat rubbish, because very few nutrients will be getting through the small intestine, to the liver, thenceforth transported to your cells and tissues where they are needed to keep us healthy and disease free from malnutrition.
Yes it is possible, even in the 21st century to live in a modern Western society and still run the risk of suffering with malnutrition. Unbelievable isn’t it.
I think those of you that have known me a while have a pretty good idea how passionate I am about live bacteria probiotics, and the fact that they are so important to our health and wellbeing, we should be putting them in the water supplies so that everyone gets a daily shot of them, but I haven’t spoken very much about the importance of enzymes.
Our bodies manufacture enzymes, and if they didn’t we would be dead! We each have around 3,000 different varieties of enzymes and they are involved in tens of thousands of different metabolic functions within our bodies, including digestive enzymes that help to digest our food, absorb and assimilate nutrients from our food, to help repair and renew tissues and bones, and give us a strong immune system. There are three main digestive enzymes manufactured in your body:
**Amylase that helps break down carbohydrates
**Lipase that helps to break down fats
**Protease that helps to break down proteins
You could say, therefore, than digestive enzymes have anti-ageing benefits, helping to stave off disease of ageing. It makes sense when you think about it, the more you can get from your food, in terms of absorbing and assimilating nutrients, then the longer you are going to live. Nutrients are absorbed through the small intestine, taken to your liver and your liver transports these nutrients to every living cell in your body. If that transportation system breaks down due to lack of sufficient digestive enzymes, then we’re in trouble.
Enzymes are found naturally in raw and fermented foods, but they are destroyed by cooking. Given that much of what we eat is processed or cooked nowadays, then the majority of our food is completely lacking in these essential enzymes.
Did you know that a 70 year old may have only half the amount of digestive enzymes as a 20 year old. This decline is a normal part of the ageing processes of the body. As we age, so do our enzymes and so do our ‘friendly’ gut bacteria! They become depleted and so less affective at keeping us healthy. One of the reasons I strongly recommend supplementation with probiotic capsules and digestive enzymes as we reach our 5th decade. Yes we can cheat disease and decline. We can’t cheat death. That’s coming to us all eventually, but let’s have a great ride before we are knocking on heaven’s door eh.
**Do you get bloated after meals?
**Do you get indigestion and heartburn?
**Do you suffer with constipation?
**Do you feel tired all of the time?
**Do you get headaches?
**Do you get skin problems like eczema, psoriasis, rosacea, acne?
Are you plagued with any of the above? If so, contact my Tummy Team at: tummyteam@justfortummies.co.uk and they will be able to give you dietary and supplement advice. Alternatively, you are welcome to contact me direct at: linda@justfortummies.co.uk
Linda Booth
Founder
Just For Tummies