Enzymes: why we eat natural foods

Enzymes are tiny proteins that drive the chemistry of life. Every breath you take. Every bite of food you digest. Every molecule in your body builds relies on enzymes. Without enzymes you would not be capable of chemical reactions. 

Life would not be possible without enzymes.

Your body produces enzymes required for these chemical reactions. We also get them from the foods that we eat. 

For example, uncooked foods such as fruits, vegetables and sprouts have enzymes. The enzymes help break down the food they come with. 

Take a papaya. It contains papain, an enzyme that digests protein. Pineapple carries bromelain, another protein-digesting enzyme. 

Sprouts are another example. As seeds sprout they flood themselves with enzymes. Their intention is to convert stored starch into energy. 

Eating them at this stage delivers a powerful enzymatic boost.

When you eat them raw, you are borrowing nature’s machinery to support your own. 

There is a catch, though. 

When you heat foods that have enzymes, the nature of the enzymes changes. They are made out of delicate proteins. 

Increasing temperatue above 45–50°C and the structure breaks down. 

Once denatured, they lose their function. So in essence, cooking is destroying the enzyme. So the papain in pineapple will become inactive. Or the amylases in sprouted grains are lost. 

Heating or cooking food is not bad in itself. Cooking kills pathogens and makes some nutrients more available. You can chew, bite some foods only after you cook it. 

So what should you do?

Mix your food with both cooked and uncooked food. When possible, eat foods in their raw form. 

We celebrate several festivals where we are encourged to do this. Navaratri is beginning shortly. Many people switch to more natural and less cooked food. 

Even a short nine day spell eating more raw food, helps build back enzymes in the body. Our festivals encapsulated scientific knowledge and understanding. 

What are you waiting for? 

Reach out to me on twitter @rbawri Instagram @riteshbawriofficial and YouTube at www.youtube.com/breatheagain