lmost everyone has experienced constipation, bloating, acid reflux and water retention during or after a heavy meal. Before you reach for an antacid, suppository, or diuretic medication to mask your holiday eating indiscretions this year, investigate the most overlooked beneficial component of digestive health: digestive enzymes.

Enzymes: their function, source and demise
The body naturally produces over 3,000 different types of enzymes. These protein catalysts are necessary for every metabolic process in the body, from thinking to blinking. Enzymes are manufactured in the liver and stored in our major glands, but we also can add to our enzyme supply through our food choices. Enzymes are found naturally in all food, whether it’s fruits, vegetables, or meats, however research demonstrates that heating food above 118°F destroys enzymes. Likewise, foods that are chemical-laden, processed, irradiated, grown with pesticides and chemical fertilizers are also devoid of enzymes because these processes disrupt normal enzymatic activities in plants.

How the body copes
Over time, an enzyme-depleted diet can spell problems for our health. With insufficient digestive enzymes available, our body’s natural enzyme reserves are called in to break down undigested food, or to cope with chemicals ingested with our food and water. Dr. Edward Howell, author of Enzyme Nutrition, suggests that the body has a limited 'enzyme bank account' that gets drawn down as we age and as a result of a cooked food diet, alcohol or drug use, inconsistent sleep and inadequate water to stimulate enzyme production. Dr. Howell believes these factors contribute to many conditions associated with aging, including diabetes, colon cancer, mental disorders, skin diseases and liver dysfunction.

Colon expert Dr. Hiromi Shinya writes in The Enzyme Factor that undigested protein from milk products, fast food and red meat can feed ‘bad’ bacteria creating toxins that leak into the blood stream. Over time, these toxins pollute the liver, the kidneys and the heart because the body has to use its enzyme reserves to digest food.