Re: Enzymes in food are utilized

" I'm afraid this contradicts the entire substance of nutrional Science which says that enzymes in food *do* matter. If food is deficient in enzymes the body must produces its own thus stressing the body, and taxing its limited energy supplies."

Our genetic codes contain all the information necessary for us to produce the enzymes we need for all biochemical functions. Proteins from foreign sources are not absorbed intact into the body they cannot supply anything except amino acids for our own cellular machinary to produce the proteins we need....all living things do this!! What limited enegy supply?

There is utilization. Just take an enzyme capsule and pour it onto food (Udo Erasmus suggests this as a matter of course). If it is any good it will start the digestion process for you which you can see with your own eyes. As for need - there is only need if you want to be healthy and vital, and not tax your pancreas any more than necessary. If you don't care about health/vitality then enzyme deficient food is fine

Now in that same experiment add enough HCl to food sprinkled with enzymes and see what happens! Simply because food (about neutral pH) has enzymes sprinkled on them and they start digesting does not equate to them participating our digestive process. TEh pH of the substrate is correct for its function so I would expect it to work. However, once this food hits the stomach it is rapidly made acidic ....very acidic. At this pH these sprinkled on enzymes cannot function...they cannot maintain their structure due to acid hydrolysis. They are substrates for us to digest and obtain amino acids for our own endogenous proteins. We secrete and then digest 50 grams of digestive enzymes ourselves each and everyday. In the end these proteins are reduced to their amino acids constituents and resorbed as such. They are not resorbed intact we must make new ones which our cells very easily do. Why do you think we have all that DNA, mRNA, tRNA, ribosomes and all that other stuff used for the production of our own proteins?