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Meditating
Raw Newbie
I am posting this as a separate thread because I found what I learned to be very important and thought it might be helpful to others.
In the Food Preparation Forum, there was a thread on soaking nuts. Based on what I have heard and read, I improperly assumed that enzymes were living organisms and prompted a question about it. BlueDolphin directed me to another thread wherein RawJim, who evidently sleeps on chemistry books, stated that enzymes are molecules and not organisms. This was a revolution to me and I had to take the time and research the topic. Based on other posts I learned I am not the only person who misunderstood this. Now that I actually understand what an enzyme is and what its job is, raw food makes much more sense to me.
Enzymes are not alive. They are molecules, usually proteins, that are catalysts for chemical recations which take place in our bodies. They link up with reactants and then do their unique thing as each enzyme has a specific purpose. When they do their thing, they lower the amount of activation energy otherwise needed and in turn speed up the reaction. It seems enzymes are or can be repeatedly used as they don’t change after they set off a reaction. They are not destroyed by fulfilling their purpose. In addition to being denatured by heat, body pH can do the same thing. This helps explains the importance of the body not becoming too acidic.
Of all the sites I found, I think this one offers the KISS (keep it simple stupid) explanation that makes sense to those of us who do not sleep on chemistry books. I would recommend taking the time to go through this simple tutorial and learn about enzymes:
Comments
Dain5000~ The link you posted is great. I have seen a summary of how different sugar molecules can be created out of, say, glucose. There is a ton of enzymes and other chemicals that are needed. This clarifies the role that enzyme plays in that complex process. Glad the site is atleast aimed at high schoolers and not a 5th grader. ;)
Now have a ton of other questions about the process… geeze. LOL
Thank you for the great info and a tearful laugh! There is humor on this site! Long live a sense of humor and laughter! Raw! Raw! Raw!
Thank you Raw Jim and Dain5000 for explaining this. I always felt kind of dopey not knowing what enzymes actually were, but like a sheep, went along with the program.
My cousin drowned in a frozen lake for 45 minutes ( 20 yrs ago ). I took 15 minutes after he was found to get a faint pulse ( he was clinically dead ). He survived with only an occaisonally seizure as a reminder of his ordeal. All of the specialists stated that it was the extreme cold temperatures of the water that stoped any brain damage. I guess my point is, if it works for the human brain I have no problems freezing my bananas.
I loved the enzyme tutorial – very helpful!
I have a friend that went through IVF (invitro fertilization) a few years ago and successfully gave birth to a healthy baby girl. They had some of the embryos frozen so that they can have more children in the future without going through all of the fertility drugs, egg harvesting, etc. When they are ready, they will thaw a couple of eggs, have them injected in the uterus and hope one or both decide to implant!
If a human embryo can be frozen, thawed and still live and grow into a human being, I would venture to say that enzymes could do the same. Just my guess…
There may be other nutritional areas that get effected by freezing, but I don’t think (and I am far from an expert on enzyme preservation) that enzymes are effected. I would think that cellular issues occur like freezing of liquid breaking down cells. Everything has trade offs. Bummer there is no simple answer to it all. :(
Generally what I know about enzymes is that they are a catalyst for biological reaction, and used in generally everything we do, walking, talking, breathing, etc. In terms of digestion, enzymes naturally available in uncooked foods serve as a catalyst for digestion, as they position substrate molecules, such as sucrose, in the proper position for the water molecule which will break up the large molecule (known as hydrolysis), sucrose, into fructose and glucose, which will then be utilized by our body in cellular respiration.
It seems to me that there is a consentration on “raw” as if that is the end all be all.
I think the core question here is how to maximize usable nutrition. Not all raw things are nutritious and useful to the body. Not all cooked or processed things are made by the devil… But how does one get what the body needs while minimizing toxins and maximizing useful nutrition for the bang? What factors contribute to this maximizing/minimizing puzzle? What are the trade offs?
I didn’t remember what enzymes were from school, but after I started feeling good on raw, attributed it to enzymes because of all the talk about them. So this is very interesting…
And I haven’t read the tutorial yet but it now seems to me that enzymes act a bit like engine grease to get the whole digestive (and other systems?) running smoothly – or maybe extra spark plugs?
Which would mean that the process of benefitting from enzymes shouldn’t happen till digestion gets started?
Which makes me wonder along the same lines as Bluedolfin….. A few years back I was stressed beyond measure and had a day of total exhaustion followed by a long drive home through a major storm in the dark. My husband had bought me oysters and I was just going to walk past them to fall down somewhere, but he insisted I have at least one. Within instants of eating the first one my energy had completely shifted.
Sometimes these days when I eat something that is really good for me I find myself making involuntary humming noises the moment it hits my mouth – even before I have really tasted it.
Clearly this has something to do with the life force of the food – but now I am wondering if it has anything to do with enzymes at all. Maybe there is some kind of vibrational nutrition that hasn’t yet been measured? And different foods would naturally vibrate with different people?
Spirit that’s an amazing story about your cousin!
Mopoke, yes it is quite an amazing story. It is the 20th anniversary of that event, it’s a bigger celebration in my family than his birthday.
Amazing spirit! It never ceases to amaze me the awesomeness of the body. Doctors are now trying out lowering the body’s temp when there is spinal injury. The doctors believe a huge contributing factor of Kevin Everett of the Buffalo Bills who suffered a life threatening cervical spine fracture dislocation in a football game is able to walk again is because they lowered his body temp in the ambulance. Amazing!!!