The use of digestive enzymes to treat diseases dates back for many decades. The Mayans and other peoples applied papaya leaves, which contain an enzyme called papain, to try and fight against malignant types of ulcers.
It was in the early twentieth century that German scientists discovered that certain dysfunctions of the body were related to the activity of enzymes, or the lack thereof.
Is Enzyme Therapy Useful?
Pancreatic secretions are rich in enzymes and the Germans began to use this for the treatment of cancer. Today, enzyme therapy, the name given to the therapeutic use of enzymes, is increasingly used in treatments to improve digestion, eliminate viruses, and to stimulate the body’s defenses.
It is also used to accelerate wound healing and for suppressing the inflammatory response.
There are two different kinds of enzymes: digestive system enzymes, which help us to break down and digest food, and metabolic enzymes, which have a key role in the maintenance of life processes and cellular reactions. In addition, certain foods provide enzymes that help digest food properly.
Digestive organs like the pancreas and liver are responsible for producing most of the digestive enzymes, and the rest must be provided by uncooked fresh food, like fruit, raw vegetables, sprouts, seaweed, seeds and nuts, dairy products, pasteurized and supplemental enzymes.
When the diet is low in enzymes, the pancreas has to make a greater effort to produce digestive enzymes. If the pancreas is working too hard, it may be due to a deficiency of metabolic enzymes vital to the smooth development of all cellular functions. Thus, enzyme therapy may be needed.
How does Enzyme Therapy Work?
Enzyme Therapy works by improving digestive function and ensuring good digestion and absorption of nutrients. Digestive processes lacking the use of enzymes make people more prone to disease. For example, if food isn’t digested properly, it can lead to harmful intestinal bacteria, protein deposits, and undigested carbohydrates and fats.
This favors the formation of toxic compounds such as nitrosamines and ammonia, known to be carcinogens. Also, undigested protein material, called peptides, can enter the systemic circulation, where the immune system recognizes them as foreign substance and attacks them, resulting in allergic reactions. This can be grounds for enzyme therapy.
Digestive enzymes help to keep diseases from dangerously progressing. For example, certain enzymes help to fight cancer cells, tumors or viruses, and team up against malicious destruction of immune complexes. They also help to decrease blood clots and inflammation.
Pancreatic enzymes have been used to detect antigens on the surface of cancer cells, allowing the immune system to efficiently identify and stimulate immune function. Besides, proteolytic enzymes degrade the casing of cancer cells, which are composed of proteins and thus make chemotherapy more effective. Enzyme therapy can add to all of these functions.
Furthermore, several clinical studies have demonstrated the positive effects of enzyme therapy against herpes zoster virus and warts. Viruses and certain cancer cells are covered with a protein complex that can be digested by proteolytic enzymes.
Another promising area where enzyme therapy is used autoimmune disease management.
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References:
Cancer.org
NIH
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