Digestion is perhaps the most important function our body performs. Obviously, that’s up for debate but the truth of the matter is that faulty digestion is where most health problems begin.

Think of allergies, auto-immune diseases, candidiasis, constipation, eczema, asthma, and many more.

All of these problems (and tons of others) can be caused and/or attributed to bad digestion.

Bring in the Enzymes…

Our body produces 2 different kinds of enzymes: digestive and metabolic.

Metabolic enzymes are used in every single reaction in the body outside of digestion. These are also critical for helping to breakdown immune complexes and dead cells, and helping to rebuild new tissue.

Digestive enzymes are produced within the digestive tract and are used exclusively to assist in the breakdown of food.

The problem with digestive enzymes is that we only have a limited number of them.

That’s where the importance of eating more raw foods come into play. Raw foods are packed with food enzymes (the 3rd category of enzymes). These enzymes are inherent in every single living food and are there to help the digestion of that given food.

If you eat a raw apple, it’s inherent food enzymes will pretty much take care of the digestive process. However, cook that apple above 118 degrees fahrenheit and you can kiss those food enzymes goodbye.

When we eat food that no longer contains “food enzymes” our body is forced to expend more of its limited supply of digestive enzymes to break down the food.

Over time, this can become a problem as our digestive system weakens and digestion becomes compromised.

Digestive Support Nutrients

So we know that we need to support our digestive system by eating a greater proportion of living foods since they are enzyme-rich.

But what do you do if you occasionally eat cooked foods?

One thing I would highly recommend is to supplement with some digestive aids like digestive enzymes and hydrochloric acid.

In general, you want to choose a digestive enzyme that covers a full spectrum of enzymes. You’ll see the suffix -ase on nearly all enzymes. For instance, maltase digests the sugar maltose. Lactase breaks down lactose. And so on.

However, there are other enzymes that do not end with -ase such as chymotrypsin, pepsin, trypsin, and pancreatin.

I personally use a digestive enzyme at any meal in which the foods are cooked. Since I understand the importance of proper digestion, as well as the fact that I have an underactive stomach (as do most people), I definitely feel that my digestion is much improved with the use of supplemental digestive enzymes.

Hydrochloric acid (HCl) is another digestive aid I use anytime I eat cooked foods, and in many cases raw foods as well.

HCl is naturally produced and secreted by the parietal cells in the lining of our stomach in response to the ingestion of fat or protein. However, when we eat more frequently than required by the body or over-consume fats or proteins, acid production begins to decrease.

And decreased HCl production can lead to faulty digestion, with symptoms like gas, belching, bloating, discomfort after meals, fatigue after meals, and excessive fullness.

As I just mentioned, most people have an underactive stomach. This means that their stomach does not produce sufficient HCl to properly digest their foods.

For this reason, I highly recommend taking supplementary HCl with your meals.

The only contraindication to using digestive enzymes and HCl is if you have an ulcer or other type of gastric inflammation as too much extra stomach acid may further irritate the situation.

HCl is primarily available as betaine hydrochloride. You can take one or more capsules before, during, and after your meals to assist your stomach in producing enough acid.

The combination of digestive enzyme and HCl supplementation will not only help you digest your foods better but they will also improve your energy levels, help slow the aging process, and prevent many chronic degenerative diseases from developing.

It’s very powerful stuff!