Most people would rather not think or talk about matters of digestion. They choose to deal with the consequences of neglecting this aspect of their health - quietly.

People pay a terrible price when their digestion goes wrong! When it strikes, you will consider almost anything to get relief. Unfortunately, most of the time people deal with the symptoms - not the problem.

Many people have discovered that they are far better off restoring the digestive process.

• Food is taken in
  
• Broken into smaller parts
  
• Liquefied and treated with acid
  
• Processed by an army of microbes until it can be absorbed
  
• After which, the by-products are discarded
  

• Provide an orderly path for food to follow
  
• Create nutrition to sustain the body
  
• Separate caustic agents from delicate body structures
  
• Protect the body from toxic substances, infectious micro-organisms and parasites
  
• Gather the remnants of undigested food, toxic substances, infectious organisms, parasites and the wastes produced by the body
  
• Quickly expel these toxins and wastes to avoid contaminating the body
  

DIGESTION IS MORE COMPLEX THAN IT MAY SEEM.
It is an intricate dance between enzymes, stomach acids and microbes. One partner preparing the food for the next with one goal - a strong, healthy body.

ENZYMES
The digestive tract converts food into nutrition to sustain the body. The processes involved in the conversion of food to nutrition are fully dependent on the interplay of digestive enzymes, stomach acids and microbes.
Dr. Howell, (Enzyme Nutrition, Avery Publishing, WaWe NJ., 1985) writes: "Enzymes are protein molecules that catalyze chemical reactions. All living things depend on the swift completion of thousands of biochemical, enzyme reactions every hour."  We are completely dependent on these metabolic enzymes for virtually every body function: energy, alertness, memory, thought and hundreds of other activities are totally dependent on enzymes. 

Dr. Edward Howell identifies three types of enzymes: digestive enzymes, metabolic enzymes and food enzymes which exist in raw, unprocessed, uncooked food.

Enzymes, while very powerful, are fragile. Cooking and processing foods destroys the raw food enzymes. Dr. Howell writes " … a diet composed of cooked and processed food, in which the natural enzymes are destroyed, leads to enzymes insufficiency and stresses the organs which secrete enzymes.

Enzymes may be damaged or excreted during the process of digestion, absorption and elimination and are not recycled. We depend on raw food enzymes to replace these damaged and lost enzymes. A lifetime of eating "dead foods" is a contributing factor …" in the decline from radiant health.

The short version is:  if your diet consists of cooked, packaged, processed and preserved foods, Dr. Howell advocates supplementing your diet with enzymes.

PROBIOTICS
The definition for probiotic is "for life". It is the science of administering living, friendly microbes to promote and maintain health.

Researchers estimate that the intestines of one human contain more beneficial microbes than there are people on earth. Babies are born with "germ free" intestines, rapidly acquiring an army of beneficial microbes from their mothers during and shortly after birth because, without this natural microbial inoculation, the newborn cannot complete digestion and will die of starvation. Once established, the relationship with this vast internal ecosystem of microbes, called intestinal flora, influences every person's physical health, mental health and longevity.

During digestion, food is subjected to the action of enzymes, stomach acids and gastric juices; this partially digested food (called chyme) is turned over to this army of microbes to create the nutrition that supports the body and keeps it healthy. The support includes:

Regularity Diarrhea Constipation Gas, Bloating & Belching Liver Function

Vitamin Uptake Mineral Uptake Calcium absorption B Vitamins production

Cholesterol Immune Function Intestinal Function

The regular use of a probiotic* supplement is one way to assure a vital population of intestinal micro-flora.
*Probiotics, from the Greek "for life", is the science of administering living, friendly microbes to promote and maintain the health of the digestive ecosystem.