Many researchers and nutritionists agree today that the main health problems of today's populations are related to diet. The destruction by cooking of enzymes present in raw foods appears to be a key factor in the increase of allergies and chronic degenerative diseases observed today. Indeed, these enzymes are essential for digestion.

Remember that an enzyme is a protein molecule that increases the speed of a chemical reaction. It constitutes a real "workforce" at the heart of living organisms. They are busy assembling or separating elements. They initiate, accelerate, slow down or interrupt biochemical processes in a very targeted way since each of them is specific to a single substrate. They can only act on the substrate that corresponds to them perfectly.

The phenomenon of digestive leukocytosis had already been observed in patients as early as 1843 and was considered normal until the 1930s. This phenomenon consists of a dramatic increase in the number and activity level of white blood cells (leukocytes) in the blood following a stimulus. This phenomenon is quite normal when there is an aggression of the organism by an external agent. This same phenomenon is observed when undigested cooked food is ingested as it passes through the intestinal wall. It was Dr. Kautchakoff who noted that there was no increase in the number or activity of leukocytes in subjects consuming exclusively raw foods. The reason is simple: raw foods contain food enzymes that allow for complete digestion. [bctt tweet="Raw foods contain food enzymes that allow for complete digestion. " username="Santenu"]So there is no food residue that can pass the intestinal barrier and therefore no digestive leukocytosis. This was confirmed by Dr. Edward Howell of Chicago, who discovered that heating food to 118°C for more than 15 minutes destroyed all enzymes.

Eating a lot of cooked food for a long time gradually leads to a depletion of the immune system and the production of enzymes by other important organs. When the stomach's enzyme production becomes insufficient, food passes into the duodenum, the upper part of the small intestine. The pancreatic enzymes will then take over to digest the food. This is not its primary role since it is the stomach that should do most of the work of digestion. The pancreas should only act afterwards on already digested food bolus.

When the burden of digestion is placed on organs that are not primarily responsible for it throughout a lifetime, they become weakened and eventually succumb to the "disease". This was highlighted by Dr. Howell who, since the early 1940s, has devoted his life to collecting clinical observations from all over the world about this phenomenon.

In conclusion, the main digestion must take place in the stomach, thanks to the enzymatic richness of the food itself. Dr. Howell remains famous for his statement:

"There could be no life without enzymes".

He goes so far as to state that longevity is inversely proportional to the amount of enzymes depleted by digesting cooked foods or bad food combinations over a lifetime. To compensate for this scarcity of digestive enzymes, he was the first to create a plant enzyme production unit.

How do you know if you are lacking enzymes?

Enzyme testing is quite difficult to perform, as it can range from simply not digesting fats, fruits, proteins, grains, to reactions of food intolerances or allergies or other types. Enzyme deficiency can also manifest itself in unexplained weight gain, cravings for certain foods, diabetes, anxiety, poor sleep, attention problems, etc. A good tip: include as much raw food as possible in your menus!