Normally people refer to enzymes as digestive enzymes, but for those of us who know better we simply refer to them as enzymes. You see, in the nutrition world we are taught to think in terms of MACROS ( fats, carbs, protein), especially for those of you who are in high performance activities. These are important when you think in terms of building a house, they are what would be known as the material. But who is going to build the house? What good is all that material if you have no workers? That is where enzymes and probiotics come into play. The more “high performance” you are, the faster you run out of the workers (probiotics and enzymes). We know the more demands we place on our bodies, the more support our bodies require from us.
We start to see a decline in the production of enzymes at around age 30, now let me ask you this. How many athletes peak after the age of 30? Coincidence? On average, by the age of 40 we have lost 30% of the enzymes we were born with. Those are old numbers,that stat is actually much worse now.
Let’s talk health. Many of us are coming from a place of compromised health. It’s easy to fix with a healthy diet as long as you include the very important missing links. Probiotics and enzymes – most importantly enzymes. It’s not as much about the material you are using (food), although high quality building material will always stand the test of time (organic, NON-GMO). It’s more about the quality of the workers you have building your house.How many workers do you have? How effective are they at removing toxins? How effective are they at building those houses we call cells.
Removing the chemicals and toxins is directly connected to our enzymatic capacity. When clients first come to me one of the first steps I take is to nourish, the other is placing them on an extreme enzymatic protocol. This is part of my healing method, it’s meant to be temporary and is always followed by a personalized maintenance plan for the long-term. We need specific enzymes for optimal levels of health and performance. Unfortunately we think of enzymes strictly as digestive aids. Which they are, but that is not actually their primary function. It’s actually the last function they are meant to perform. There is a hierarchy in the role enzymes play, they are meant to heal and repair. They repair scar tissue, help in recovery for athletes and lastly they help us digest food. Unfortunately we are taking the wrong enzymes and at the wrong times. It’s all part of the hierarchy of survival
Due to many deficiencies in our enzymes and the abrasive-ness of our diet, our enzymes can’t properly do their job. Add in digestive distress, which steals our enzymatic response and our own daily state of stress and BAM, we’ve got problems. Hows this hierarchy work? I you are in a state of repair (where we should be) and you sit down to a meal our body naturally switches to a state of digest. This means we steal those enzymes from their task of repairing and send them straight to digestion.
Repair + Eat + Digest = Enzymes
Want to know the whole protocol? You should head over to my free, private FB group. It’s free and the protocol is there for the taking! Let’s talk about the right and wrong enzymes. We need them all but we don’t need to be taking them all…
Proteolytic enzymes, specifically protease. You want this to be the number one enzyme found in your supplement. If it starts with amylases, put it back. This specific enzyme has been shown to diminish at the same time as athletes start to lose their “mojo”, the age of 30. This is also where you would traditionally start to see muscle loss, in the average person. Let’s break this down. Enzymes are made of protein. The body is converting that muscle mass into enzymes. How do we solve this? Taking a high dose proteolytic enzyme has been shown to stop the catabolic reaction. The problem is that proteases is expensive, especially if you are purchasing a cultured version vs a food source. This breaks down to plant vs animal vs synthetic.
Protein needs to be broken down in the first 30 minutes, this has to do with cleaving 5 specific amino acids. They get claimed in that first 30 minutes before the HCL (hydrochloric acid – stomach acid) comes into play. Once the HCL gets into the mix it changes the pH. Once in the mix of partially digested protein you will find various types of protease which are activated at different levels of pH, this is to cleave those proteins into specific amino acids so that we can use them. Unfortunately we tend to find the cheaper enzymes like amylases, bromelain, alpha galactosidase, in most supplements. Since we live in an over protein society, most people suffer from too much protein. This makes the need for a high quality proteolytic enzyme even more important.
A cool test to look up is the oatmeal test (fast forward to 1:30 into the video), this will give you a good idea of how well your enzyme supplement is working.
Did you know that build up of excess protein in the body is actually the number one toxin in the body. Let that sink in a minute as you reach for another protein shake…
#1 toxin in the body = undigested protein
Let’s look at mood, anxiety and depression. Studies are showing that probiotics, regulating the gut flora is key to the puzzle, but studies are also showing something else.
Mood, depression >not enough proteolytic enzyme to extract protein > turns into polypeptides.
Or undigested protein that’s being consumed by bacteria which in turn are creating neurotoxins which are affecting our mood.
On a side note there is an interesting study on the use of proteolytic enzymes in cancer treatment. Athletes and bodybuilders or anyone who puts extreme strain on their body should be taking a higher dose especially as it has been shown to increase recovery and performance. Think of it as a bucket. If you have a tiny hole where the enzymes are leaking out and you only add small amounts to keep the bucket from becoming empty you will never have a full bucket. Fill it up! Once yo have built it back up and repaired the damage (no more leak in the bucket) then you can adjust it accordingly.
You want to have enzymes prior to a meal, but you also want them prior to a workout. I take them before sports, working out or any activity where I apply strain to the body. As a side note, absorption is everything. When you increase the bioavailability of your protein you will find you body requires LESS. I will say it again… Protease breaks down protein into absorbable amino acids. Proteolytic enzymes speed up recovery. That means hitting the gym harder and growing faster. Every serious trainers dream!
Try it for two weeks and let me know how you feel. Gains baby! You may also want to check out this article on resetting your digestive function.
