raw foods: I've read that raw food diets are soo benifical for inflammtroy disorders and such because of their food enzymes that they restore the body with... But I read an article saying how that the stomach acid destorys the enzymes in your stomach and so none gets absorbed, and they had a reasrch study done saying a very tiny minute amount gets reaborbed... Can someone clarify this for me?|||Raw foods have digestive enzyme. The enzyme structure starts to change with temperature. At 116 deg Fahreheit, the enzymes become non-functional. Your body also creates digestvie enzymes starting with saliva in your mouth all through the digestive tract. When raw foods are eaten, 40% of the enzymes are used up in digesting the food itself. 60% of the enzymes remain that can be used by your body in addition to what it produces. If your hypothesis was true, then the stomach wil also denature the enzymes produced by your body. We know it is not true otherwise the people who do not eat raw produce would be in bigger problem than what they have now. The internal body temperature does not kill the enzymes in the food, nor does the acid produced by the body. In some cases, there may be over-active enzymes produced in the body that acid. We have to recognize that fact and then eat raw Pmegranate. The enzymes in the pomegranate will balnce out the over-active digestive enzymes. In Ayurvedic healing, over active digestion is called Pitta. But, when you have Pitta, the enzymes in your food will either make it worse, or balance it. Fresh ginger will make it worse, while fresh pomegranate will balance it out. Sorry! the digestive enzymes in raw foods are not destroyed by normal internal temperature or normal acid in your stomach Now let me go back to what i said earlier, 40% of enzymes is used to digest the food it self leaving 60% behind. Half of this 60% or 30% of the total is used in your body to balance the enzymes naturally. Now, you are left with 30% of the original enzyme that can be used in digesting cooked foods and only a tiny portion is used to expel the toxins. But this tiny amount is pretty large in comparison to the amound produced by the body to expel the toxins. Raw food diet is based on Ayurvedic healing. I don't agree with many hypothesis of the Ayurvedic healing, but the digestive enzymes in raw foods is not one of them.|||This is an interesting article: http://www.shirleys-wellness-cafe.com/ra鈥?/a> As we age, we lose much of our stomach acid and it becomes harder to break food down and absorb nutrients. Normally when you are a teenager you can eat and drink whatever you want with no side-effects. As you get older, digestive issues, bowels issues, allergies and the dreaded middle age spread are all a result of this stomach acid lose. Taking a vegetarian enzyme supplement is suggested by many naturopaths. . |||When eating raw food, stomach acid is very, very low. Enzymes will not be destroyed and this is the major way that the body gets its enzymes. Without food enzymes you can imagine what people look like. Fat, bloated, pale, wrinkled, gray haired, or no haired, bad breathed and arthritic. Just take a walk down your street and you'll see them. |||Many RAW diets use Juices as a staple to help absorb the nutrients. Also taking a digestive enzyme helps. I think the article may be a little lop sided on it's info. You need to read & study more. I have never healthier than when I do A high RAW FOOD Diet.|||Well, raw food diet can be beneficial for your health, because it promotes weight loss and fuels your body with vitamins and minerals, BUT... 1. It's not Ayurvedic diet, because Ayurveda recommends a lot of raw food only for Pita dosha. 2. Most digestion and absorption takes place in the small intestine. When you chew your food, salivary amylase begins chemical breakdown of carbohydrates. When the bolus of food riches the stomach salivary amylase IS DESTROYED BY ACIDS. So enzyme from our salivary glands are destroyed. I assume that enzymes from foods are destroyed as well, because PH influences enzyme activity, as well as temperature (but it's not the case). 3. In the stomach proteins are denatured and fat is broken into smaller droplets. There's no carbohydrate digestion in the stomach! (may be mechanical, but it has nothing to do with enzymes). So how does our body digest food? 4. Pancreas!!! Pancreatic lipase digests fats, pancreatic amylase digests carbs, proteases digest protein. Moreover, bile from the gallbladder emulsifies fat and aids digestion. So why would you need enzymes from food? Most vegetarians are not "hairless, overweight, gray, etc", only because they consume so many vitamins and minerals in their original state. Moreover, raw vegans tend to avoid most food allergens.