Hi Gorgeous Souls,
My friend and colleague Angela Minelli of www.angelaminelli.com wrote this wonderful guest blog for you, I am sure you will find it as informative and transformative as I did.
An often neglected aspect of health is enzymes, and even more so, the signs of an enzyme deficiency and how it affects you.
In fact, most people aren’t even sure what enzymes are, what they do, or how critical they are when the truth is, enzymes guarantee life whereas without them, life could not exist. And even though you have them, you may not have enough of them, and that’s when troubles start.
Side effects like acid reflux, chronic joint pain, gas, bloating, constipation, insomnia, or even high blood pressure and arthritis just become a normal part of life for people who are enzyme deficient, which is usually at the same time they start thinking “this is just how I am,” due to aging, what their doctor told them or just not knowing any better.
But it’s time to wake up, because it really doesn’t have to be that way! When enzyme activity is optimal, you have the energy of a teenager, your thinking is clearer, you’re more rational, less anxious, less depressed, and more rested.
But first it’s important to understand what enzymes are in order to know why you need them so badly. Enzymes are the workers that make your body function, and although the action of enzymes cannot be seen, they are the driving force behind every biochemical process that takes place in your body. There are hundreds of thousands of enzymes active in every organ, tissue, and fluid and each has its own function. They activate your muscles, stimulate your nerves, make your heart beat, and regulate breathing.
In nutrition, they’re essential to breaking food down into energy and ultimately making your body the way it is. Without them, your body can’t process proteins, fats, carbohydrates, fibers, and sugars, leaving behind nutrient deficiencies throughout that lead to the very symptoms that plague people the most.
There are 5 key reasons why enzymes become deficient that can easily be prevented or better managed to preserve the integrity of your cells and their ability to function, which include:
Aging. It’s true, once you turn 40, things start to happen, and that includes enzyme activity. The natural aging process by default inhibits your enzyme production, causing you to naturally produce less. To help yourself out, if you don’t already chew slowly, start! The action of chewing extracts enzymes naturally from the foods you eat and mix with your body’s enzymes so that food has a much better chance of being digested properly.
Prescription medication. Medications interfere with your body’s natural ability to produce enzymes which automatically creates a deficiency, so in this case, a good daily plant-based, pH-balanced enzyme would be a good supplement to add in.
Cooked, irradiated foods. Food that is heated over 118 degrees is enzyme deficient in and of itself, which means just by eating it your poorly impacting digestion. Try incorporating more raw foods into your diet, like organic fruits, vegetables and juices that are loaded with enzymes making them easily digestible and less stressful on your gut to break down.
Stress. It’s inescapable, and unavoidable, and doesn’t just effect enzymes but instead, effects everything! Whether it’s mechanical, nutritional or emotional, stress is stress and has the potential to cause break downs, crying fits and even disease. It goes without saying your best strategy here is to reduce or eliminate whatever your biggest stressors are, and that includes your job if necessary, which for many people is their #1 cause of stress. It may mean you need to make a big decision, and in the end, they can live without you, and you’ll be better off down the road when you don’t wind up in a psych ward or on Prozac.
Eating too fast. Millions of people eat so fast they barely have time to breathe! What’s more is your brain is slow to recognize food consumption when you’re eating at marathon speed which makes it impossible to draw any enzymes from the food you’re eating. There is only one solution to this problem, which is to slow down, breathe and relax. Eating slower puts your body in parasympathetic mode allowing nutrient absorption to occur much more readily and gives your body time to acknowledge the food you just ate, leading to less cravings, smaller portions and better digestion.
With enough enzymes working for you, you’re sure to feel more energized, less stressed and more like yourself, and by implementing these 5 tips every day, you can ensure a long, active life for years to come!
To learn more about enzymes and digestive health, register for my new class Digestive Health For the Everyday Woman!
Angela
After over 30 years of gaining and losing the same 20 lbs, sugar addiction, and total confusion about how, when and what to eat, Angela Minelli, Emotional Eating Coach and Functional Digestive Health Specialist, finally freed herself of dieting and now lives a naturally thin life.
Grab her FREE REPORT 10 Reasons Why You Can’t Live Without Enzymes (And Why You Don’t Want To!) here: http://angelaminelli.com/blog/10-reasons-live-enzymes-free-report/.
