The Most Important Thing You Can Eat!

By Elizabeth Szlek, LMHC



With that arresting title, I thought I would get your attention! However, there is one part of any diet that actually falls into this category, and I would bet that the overwhelming majority of readers has never given this piece of the nutritional puzzle a second thought. What could it be?: Protein, vitamins, fats (can’t be that!), minerals, water? Good guesses, but these elements are merely the raw materials used by this body system to carry on all the life processes and create all the body parts. The answer:  Food enzymes!

What Are Enzymes?

This is going to sound a little overblown, but the fact is, enzymes are the stuff that make life possible. For starters, they must be present for every one of the over 80,000 chemical reactions that take place in our bodies to occur. No enzymes, no activity. You could think of them as the “labor force” which actually does all the work. But, in truth, they are much, much more. You could ingest all the vitamin, minerals and other nutrients you want, but without sufficient enzymes, nothing would happen.

It is almost impossible to accurately describe enzymes, but giving it a stab, here goes: They are the life force of the body. They are the energy source of the body, and without them, bodily life ceases. It is amazing that so few of us understand or even recognize this fact, but learning how enzymes are used in the body can mean the difference between a life of health, one plagued with illness, and one which is cut short due to exhaustion of enzyme supplies.

Again, it is very difficult to describe “what” enzymes are. In a way, you can think of them as the essence of animal life itself. They are mystical, if you really want to think about it. With all this in mind, let’s see if we can figure out how to incorporate these ideas into our day-to-day lives.

Where Do Enzymes Come From?

The classic text on enzymes was written in 1946, by Dr. Edward Howell. Food Enzymes for Health and Longevity made a splash in certain circles, but it didn’t really get going until recent years, and has been especially promoted by the Weston A. Price Foundation (www.westronaprice.org) , the organization that is attempting to bring traditional ways of eating back to replace the deadly American diet we are now being pressured to adopt. Dr. Howell opened a healing clinic in the ‘30’s, in which he worked to cure illnesses through nutrition. His book is the fruit of those years of healing. The book is no easy read, but its foundational wisdom is there, and I am giving you the general overview. To pursue this topic further, you might want to read instead the wonderful book Nourishing Traditions, by Sally Fallon and Mary Enig. That opus forms the basis for the work of the Weston A. Price Foundation.

According to Dr. Howell, when a person is born, they have a storehouse of food enzymes within their bodies, which he calls their “enzyme potential”. He states that “This limited supply of activity factors of life force must last us a lifetime.” In addition, he goes on to state that the faster metabolic rate, the quicker the enzymes are used up. For me, this was an eye opener. Throughout our society, we hear, every day, “Get your metabolism to speed up!” Me, I’m pretty sedentary, and yet very healthy. Can it be that reading books is preferable to Zumba classes?? I certainly hope so! But I digress….


The second big idea he puts forth is that we can supplement our inborn enzyme potential by eating foods which contain the materials our body can use to produce more enzymes. However, listen up! Eating food that is cooked to a temperature beyond 212 degrees destroys 100% of the enzymes in it. This fact is the basis for the “raw food” movement that you may have heard of. And, our American diet consists almost totally of cooked and processed foods. In other words, dead foods that cannot ultimately promote life.

Here’s how Dr. Howell puts it: Regardless of the species of animal, the faster the metabolic rate, the short the life span. Other things being equal, you live as long as your body has enzyme activity factors to make enzymes from. When it gets to the point that your body can’t make certain enzymes, then your life ends.

The Secrets of Health and Longevity

If you are in despair at this point, don’t worry! Few among us have the fortitude to live on a diet of raw foods. But, if we realize that our diet MUST CONTAIN LIVING FOODS, and the more living foods we consume, the better our store of enzyme materials, we have several choices.

First, we can make a concerted effort to include raw, living foods in our daily diets. This would include nutritionally dense salads (spinach, not Iceberg lettuce), fresh fruit and uncooked vegetables, raw animal products such as raw milk and raw honey, and even raw meat and fish. All traditional cultures have had these products in their diets. Just think of steak Tartare, sushi, carpaccio, Kibbeh, and escabeche, to name a few. These are animal products which have been enjoyed for centuries. Then consider a rare steak, cooked to well below 212 degrees. Delicious! And full of enzymes.

Another way to go is to eat fruits that are high in enzymes, such as papaya (raw), bananas, avocados and mangoes. This is sounding better every minute! However, some foods, mainly seeds, contain elements known as enzyme inhibitors, and these foods should never be eaten raw. This includes raw peanuts, soy in any form (Don’t eat edamame!), raw peas or lentils, or potatoes. Most nuts should be soaked and then lightly roasted, which removes the inhibitors, and actually makes the nuts much more delicious.

Dr. Howell’s work seems to prove that using up our precious enzyme supplies leads to premature aging, and the development of most degenerative diseases. He recommends that if insufficient enzymes are ingested, and a diet of mostly cooked food is eaten, the person should ideally take enzyme supplements to make sure enzyme supplies are at levels that sustain life.

Think about eating more raw foods that are enzyme rich—and stay away from processed, dead food!



Elizabeth Szlek is a Health and Wellness Counselor, and is the Director of The Door Counseling Center of Yorkville. Questions and comments can be directed to her at (315) 768-8900 or at info@thedoorcounseling.com.