A Forefather of Enzyme Nutrition

Enzyme Nutrition by Dr Edward Howell

This book is fascinating. Especially Chapter 8 - Enzymes to the Rescue: The Mystique of Fasting. Dr Howell starts out the chapter with "Some people actually fear they may die if the miss a few meals" which is interesting in the Westernised world, considering we are actually never really without food. This comes back to the thoughts you focus on. If you think you are hungry, then you are.

Chapter 7 - Little Known Facts About Raw Foods is also very interesting and the information on enzyme inhibitors and germinating nuts and grains to activate the enzymes very useful. I only eat activated walnuts or almonds now. I won't waste my money buying nuts that haven't been activated, when I get no nutritional value from them.

With over fifty years of research into food and soil enzymes, Dr Howell paved the way for future research and breakthroughs on the importance of digestive enzymes to good health and maintaining longevity.

Enzyme pioneer Dr. Edward Howell

Nearly eighty years ago, Dr. Edward Howell, a physician and researcher, uncovered nature's secret to healthy digestion. While others were touting vitamins and minerals as the nutritional breakthrough of the century, Dr. Howell discovered perhaps the most vital nutrients of all food enzymes. Through his extensive clinical research, he learned that food enzymes are essential for proper digestion which directly correlates with dramatic improvements in health and longevity.

Our bodies are designed to rely on two sources of enzymes in digesting food the enzymes produced by our digestive system and the enzymes naturally present in the food we eat. Raw food like uncooked fruits and vegetables contribute enzymes to the digestive process, but each one brings only enough enzymes to digest itself and no more. Whenever food is cooked or processed at any time before it is eaten whether it is microwaved, steamed, broiled, roasted, pasteurized, canned, sauted, stir-fried or heated in any manner - all of the food enzymes are destroyed in a few short minutes. And this doesn't mean you have to do the cooking - the enzymes in all processed foods, whether you cook them or not, have been destroyed. In his book, Enzyme Nutrition, Dr. Edward Howell observed that the refining of food and improved cooking methods have rendered the modern diet enzyme-deficient due to the effective destruction of enzymes in foods by these processes. 

To compensate for a lack of food enzymes, our bodies must assume the full burden of producing all of the enzymes for the digestion of that food. If you've ever felt sleepy after a meal, it's because your body is working harder than it should to digest the food you've eaten. This tremendous stress on the digestive system depletes the body of energy and other materials that could be better utilized to support other important functions in the body like protecting against harmful organisms, making new cells and tissues and, simply, enjoying life. Adding to this problem, research tells us that our bodies ability to produce digestive enzymes and therefore digest food decreases as we grow older, which explains the higher incidence of digestive complaints and other chronic health problems in older adults.

Although a strong advocate of eating more raw food, Dr. Howell soon realized that most people prefer cooked food over raw food so supplemental enzymes were needed to help digest this food. By carefully selecting the sources and methods of growth and extraction, Dr. Howell was able produce unique and highly active enzymes that, when added to the diet, provide the same type of digestive activity as raw food enzymes, relieving some of the body's digestive stress. Thus, the first vegetarian enzyme supplement, known as Genuine N·Zimes, was produced in 1932. For the next 60 years, Dr. Howell diligently researched the therapeutic health benefits derived from the use of enzyme supplements. Only two people still in the industry, one of which is Enzymes, Inc. VP Lynn Greaves, had the distinct privilege of working with Dr. Howell and had access to his original formulations and production techniques. While Enzymes, Inc. has expanded on the original research, creating premier lines of products, Dr. Howell's original formulations are still available through Enzymes, Inc. today.

http://www.enzymesinc.com/index.php?id=405