The digestive system utilizes enzymes in the food for the digestive process. Enzyme activity in processed foods is nearly non-existent. There are several reasons for this (preservatives, high temperature cooking, etc.). The goal of food manufacturers is to reduce or eliminate enzyme activity, which increases shelf life. Our bodies are designed to use the food enzymes combined with the enzymes created in our pancreas to digest food. Without enzymes in the food, the pancreas overworks trying to produce enough enzymes to digest the food. Over time the pancreas begins to weaken and becomes ineffective. The body now does one of two things;
- The stomach will be filled with extra acid and the food will sit in the stomach three or four times longer than normal. If this happens you may feel uncomfortable several hours after you eat and may experience heartburn.
- The food will go right through you. In this case you will often feel the need to excuse yourself almost before your finished eating. If you are lucky enough to have your food digested after this you will get some nutritional value from your meal, but you will feel fatigued during the process.
An even worse case is where your food only partially digests. In this case the partially digested fats, sugars, and carbohydrates enter the blood stream causing all sorts of problems. The partially digested proteins cause your red blood cells to become sticky. The sticky red blood cells clump together
