The importance of good digestive health cannot be overstated. We get nearly all our energy from food. But if our body is unable to properly break down and absorb the nutrients in what we eat, the result is reduced energy production, nutrient deficiencies, and a potential cascade of health-related problems.
Domino Effect
Digestion uses up a significant amount of the energy our body produces. If our bodies are not producing enough digestive enzymes to break down the food we eat into absorbable nutrients — like amino acids, simple sugars, fatty acids, vitamins and minerals — our body has to work much harder, which can deplete our energy even more. Plus, all the poorly digested nutrients can cause unwanted and unpleasant gut symptoms.
It’s easy to understand that poor digestion can make us feel tired and cause abdominal discomfort. But when you aren't digesting your food well, you can also face imbalances in all the systems of your body, not just your digestive tract. Digestive enzyme deficiencies can cause minor symptoms like occasional gas and bloating, but can also be at the root of much more serious systemic disorders. When you are deficient in key resources, your whole health suffers.
Case in point, around 70% of the body’s immune system resides in the gut, so if we want to stay healthy, we need to pay attention to what’s happening in there! To that end, let’s explore some of the reasons why we may not be producing enough digestive enzymes on our own and understand the possible need for supplementing with full-spectrum digestive enzymes.
Poor Diet
Nature creates raw foods that contain the very enzymes that aid in their digestion. Papaya, mango and pineapple are especially rich sources of digestive enzymes. In contrast, the highly processed food in our modern diet is not only stripped of nutrition, it’s also lacking these important enzymes.
When we eat natural, fresh whole foods, our body doesn’t need to produce as many enzymes. If we continuously eat processed foods, however, we tax our system to constantly pump them out, and it can’t always keep up.
Eating In A Rush
Your grandmother probably told you how important it was to sit and chew your food. Well, turns out she was right! Digestion starts in our mouth where chewing triggers enzyme-rich saliva production, which starst breaking down what we eat.
When we begin to salivate, our stomach starts producing gastric juices and digestive enzymes that jump-start the whole process. When we’re in a hurry, and barely chew our food, we don’t give our body time to produce the essential enzymes that it needs to break down and absorb our food.
Stress
Stress keeps us in “fight or flight” mode and forces our sympathetic nervous system to be continuously in gear. When we’re functioning in this way we don’t allow our body to shift into parasympathetic mode, which means we are not able to properly “rest and digest.” Simply put, when we’re stressed, our body can’t produce enough gastric juices or enzymes to optimally digest food.
Aging
It is well known by medical science that the body’s ability to produce digestive enzymes simply goes down with age. Since none of us can stop the hand of time, this goes for all of us!
Tummy Trouble
Digestive enzymes are first secreted in our mouth by our salivary glands. Then as food progresses down our digestive tract, digestive enzymes are produced by our stomach, pancreas and small intestine. If there is imbalance or inflammation in any of these locations, our enzyme supply can be compromised.
Don't Go It Alone
Each food group needs a specific type of enzyme to break it down, and not everyone can digest all foods with ease. If this is the case for you, it might be time to take digestive enzymes and start feeling the rippling effects of good gut health spread to every corner of your body. Enzyme Power™ might just be your ticket for digestive comfort and optimal, glowing health.
