Do we need enzymes from food?

[Christina]

RRM,
I understand that you eat raw because you want to avoid the toxins from certain cooked foods. But you don't believe that live food is otherwise superior? Does that mean that you would drink one week old orange juice? How about Wai saying that the value of juice deteriorates after 24-48 h.?
You're right as in the live enzyme talk in the raw community. I wouldn't call it a doctrine, though. It just makes perfect sense to me to eat sth. raw instead of cooking it. Doesn't matter if it's the enzymes that get destroyed or sth. else we haven't even scientifically understood, yet.
Nature against human assumption.
Correct me if I misunderstood you.
Christina

[RRM]

you don't believe that live food is otherwise superior?

I think its superior in the sense that cooking destroyes part of the vitamins, damages other nutrients and also creates toxins.
But do you think that the enzymes in raw food are beneficial to us?

Does that mean that you would drink one week old orange juice?

If it would last that long?
sure!
We can eat fruits that last for months and Brazil nuts that last for years.

How about Wai saying that the value of juice deteriorates after 24-48 h.?

Does that mean its not fit for consumption?
Its still very healthy.
Only when a raw food goes bad, its less healthy.

Doesn't matter if it's the enzymes that get destroyed or sth. else we haven't even scientifically understood, yet.

To me it matters to know what happens when we cook food.
I dont want to base my opinion on flawd assumptions.
I agree with "Nature against human assumption", but i want to be able to explain it to myself and others.[/quote]

[Christina]

Hi RRM

But do you think that the enzymes in raw food are beneficial to us?

Enzymes are proteins that catalize chemical reactions. So they are the active,connecting part in our digestive process. Without them we cannot digest our food. Foods contain enzymes and our body can create enzymes in the pancreas. When we overeat foods, like cooked foods the pancreas has to work extra hard. When the pancreas is overburdened and doesn't work properly anymore, the result can be diabetes. That's why we need to ingest lots of enzyme rich foods without the inhibitors like egg whites etc..
Whole fruits can last very long since they are protected by their skin but the moment you cut it open, it's color starts to change. Juice changes in color over time after having been juiced. The exposed part starts it's oxidation process. Let's say you cut open an avocado and leave half out. It creates a hardened and darker layer, like a new protective skin and behind that the avo is still bright and fresh. I don't know if it is only bad when it tastes bad. Makes sense. I just have this romantic idea that the fruits are full of life while on the tree they are in the sun and fresh air. And that the best way to have them is to pick and have tham that day. Or juice it and have it that day.
Or just the best you can do.
But yes , I have no proof if the juice goes bad to a point of being less healthy. I just don't think that supermarket juice which is older than a few days and unpasteurized could still be good.
Christina

[RRM]

Enzymes are proteins that catalize chemical reactions. So they are the active,connecting part in our digestive process.

They are everywhere in your blood as well, catalyzing all reactions / processes. But we dont take up these enzymes from our food, we make them ourselves.

Foods contain enzymes and our body can create enzymes in the pancreas.

In your view, which digestive enzymes precisely does our food contain that we need for digestion?

I just have this romantic idea that the fruits are full of life while on the tree they are in the sun and fresh air. And that the best way to have them is to pick and have tham that day.

Its a bit more complicated than that. It differs per fruit and on how ripe they are. Many fruits ripen even after picking, which can be beneficial. (Raw meat is another good example; meat gets better in taste if it has ripened properly)

I just don't think that supermarket juice which is older than a few days and unpasteurized could still be good.

There are many methods of preservation. Not exposing the juice to any air at all is one of them, which increases shelf life significantly. Sugar also functions as a preservative.
Older fruit / juice / meat is not necessarily less healthy / good.

[Christina]

RRM, I don't know enough on enzymes to make a solid point. But you don't know for sure either if food provides them.
Raw meat is very good when aged. It's enzymatic action digests itself and makes it more easily digestible for us. If the meat had been cooked and then aged naturally, it would rot because the enzymes aren't alive anymore.
I still won't try it with orange juice. I agree, it might possibly last, as you say though.
Christina

[Oscar]

I've never found an explanation how, since protein is digested in our stomachs (pepsin) and small intestines (proteases), enzymes 'sneak' past the digestive system, in order to be beneficial to us.

I think 'ripening' of meat is also done by bacteria, a sort of pre-digestion.

[Christina]

Oscar, how do you then explain the rotting cooked meat and aging raw meat. It has to do with the meat itself and not it's environment.?

[Oscar]

Every organic substance decomposes over time. Looking at protein, it means that first the long protein chains are broken up into shorter ones (peptides) and then into the basic building blocks (amino acids). This is done by bacteria which produce the necessary enzymes (proteases). Basically the same happens in our body, except the pancreas produces the protease. So 'ripening' of meat is actually the same as rotting or decomposing. Cooked meat is usually less fresh, plus temperature has an effect on the denaturization process, in that it helps breaking up the protein, thereby speeding up the process.

[Christina]

Makes sence. I'll keep inquiring on the enzyme subject to see how solid other people's answers are.

[Oscar]

Okay, keep me posted.