With all the weight loss supplements on the market and all the misleading information regarding healthy weight loss, it's smart to ask the question, "Will digestive enzymes help you lose weight?" After all, so many supplements come with claims regarding optimal health or weight loss. The answer to the digestive enzyme and weight loss inquiry is somewhat complicated. Will digestive enzymes help you lose weight? Depending on how you attack this issue, the answer is both yes and no.
What Digestive Enzymes Do
Your body runs on enzymes. Some of these enzymes are manufactured by your body and many of the foods you eat contain enzymes. Enzymes are basically proteins that act as catalysts in your system to streamline chemical processes. They are essential to your existence, but as we get older, our enzyme bank lowers. This lowered production of enzymes greatly influences the effects of aging and is linked to many diseases. Digestive enzymes are only one category of enzymes produced by our bodies, but they play a pivotal role in breaking down our foods and making nutrients accessible to our system.
Scientists have identified key enzymes that help us break down food. Amylase is an enzyme that facilitates starch digestion. Protease works on proteins. Cellulase breaks down plant fibers such as cellulose, and sucrase is a primary enzyme for the digestion of sugars. Lipase digests fats, and maltase works on grain starches. This is only a small sample of what enzymes do in the body. It is important to remember that enzyme supplements will typically contain several of the aforementioned enzymes.
Natural News offers a hefty database of digestive enzyme-related articles that can educate you further regarding the vital function of these proteins.
Poorly Digested Food and Weight Gain
Raw foods such as fruits and vegetables contain enzymes that aid the digestion of their nutrients. However, the cooking process destroys these delicate enzymes. Enzyme deficient diets that provide little fiber and vitamins are a huge stress on the human body. If you consume a diet of lifeless processed foods for a lengthy period of time, you will eventually wear down your digestive tract as you deplete your system of digestive enzymes. You will begin to experience gas, bloating, constipation, diarrhea, and any other number of digestive woes.
If your system has a tendency towards constipation, the buildup of fecal matter in your colon can result in weight gain. Many colon therapists have touted the claim that the average individual carries about five pounds of fecal matter in his digestive tract, which, if true, is a very scary statistic.
A preliminary rundown regarding the influence of enzymes upon your digestion can be viewed at Mercola.com.
Will Digestive Enzymes Help You Lose Weight?
Taking supplementary digestive enzymes aids the digestive process and help to eliminate waste from your system. Enzymes also have an effect upon digestive ailments. You may notice less gas, for instance, as well as improved bowel health and more frequent, regular bowel movements. The elimination of waste alone will help in weight loss.
However, do keep in mind that digestive enzymes are only a small part of the problem. A deficient diet that boasts little more than processed sugars and starches is the overarching kink in your plan for optimal health. Just taking digestive enzymes without any dietary modifications may help you drop one to two pounds from your digestive tract, but do not expect a drastic reduction in weight.
Including more raw fruits and vegetables in your diet and limiting the intake of cooked foods lacking in life-enhancing enzymes will not only affect your weight loss to a more extreme degree, but it will also act as a preventative measure against further degenerative digestive diseases. Adding a good digestive enzyme supplement to your new raw food efforts will further bolster your weight loss regimen.
