the MISSING PIECE of the EQUATION - enzymes in well-being and proper function of digestive organs

Vegetarian Times, Oct, 2000 by Robin Westen, Janet Webb

--Janet Webb

tuning up your digestion

Everyone agrees that a healthy digestive system can determine whether your body runs like a well-oiled machine or just gets by. Where people differ is in how they treat the problems. Conventional physicians tend to help less severe tummy troubles with pills and more serious disturbances with surgery. Alternative medicine practitioners have a number of effective natural remedies, though they often support their therapies with different theories. The variety of opinions is enough to make your head spin.

There's no doubt, however, that you can benefit from the advice of authoritative experts who have achieved impressive results with patients. What follows is a boiled-down list of tips to improve your digestive health, offered by a roster of experts that includes Trent Nichols, M.D., a gastroenterologist; Joseph Pizzorno, N.D., a naturopath and former president of Bastyr University in Kenmore, Wa.; Michael Murray, N.D., a naturopath and enzyme therapist; Howard Loomis, D.C., an enzyme therapy authority; and Lita Lee, Ph.D., a chemist and enzyme therapist.

* Chew thoroughly.

* Eat whole foods (organic, if possible) and try to avoid processed foods.

* Vary your diet as much as possible.

* Avoid frying or microwaving foods.

* Choose colorful foods, like carrots and bell peppers (they're enriched with carotenoids and flavonoids).

* Analyze your diet for its major component. If you're eating mostly complex carbohydrates, you could be taxing your body's ability to digest them. Aim for a diet composed of 50 percent complex carbohydrates, 30 percent proteins and 20 percent (of the healthy monounsaturated type) fats.

* Determine which foods you crave and which you avoid. Your cravings and aversions might signal problems with digesting certain foods.

* Consider taking a plant-based, multidigestive enzyme supplement with every meal.

* Include more raw foods with each meal and in between meals.

--Janet Webb

ROBIN WESTEN, a freelance writer living in Vermont, writes about health and wellness for publications like Self and Glamour. Janet Webb is a senior editor of Vegetarian Times.