The Power of Enzymes: Best Detox Foods for Digestive Wellness

Why? The answer is enzymes. To understand why certain foods are digested more easily than others, knowledge of how enzymes work is essential. Enzymes are basically active proteins that act as catalysts for biological chemical reactions. In the body, digestive enzymes are responsible for breaking down molecules as part of the digestive process.

Our bodies naturally make enzymes, but we also get them from the foods we eat. Natural, uncooked, and unprocessed foods like fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds and some grains, typically contain enzymes.  Since enzymes start to break down when exposed to high degrees of heat, cooked and processed foods lack most, if not all, enzymes they originally had.  

In the U.S., the Standard American Diet (SAD) includes very few raw foods and a plethora of processed, cooked foods.  Many of us are lacking the enzymes needed to digest our food, which can contribute to a host of health problems. If digestion is not working properly, toxins from food and the environment cannot be eliminated properly.

The digestive system is like a clogged drain, and it’s easy to see how it can become “backed up” if the pipes aren’t clean regularly. Common symptoms like being overweight, having chronic headaches, or feeling tired and sluggish all the time are often the result of poor digestion.

Foods that will aid in the digestive process are any foods in their raw, unprocessed, uncooked state. Fruits, vegetables, sprouted grains, and raw nuts and seeds will all help digestion and accordingly, unclog your body’s “drain.” To determine whether or not a food is raw, simply ask yourself if any of the ingredients had to be cooked to create the final product.

By consuming raw foods, your body will digest meals quickly and easily, without storing excess undigested food inside your digestive tract for several days at a time.  A good start would be to do a raw food detox diet, during which you only eat raw foods and fruit juices.

Eating a raw diet is a lot more than boring salads and carrot sticks.  You can have all kinds of tasty treats like pizza, enchiladas, onion bread, chocolate chip cookies and delicious desserts.  The food is prepared differently and still tastes delicious.  Pick up a raw food “cook” book today to experiment with new recipes, you’ll be amazed at how scrumptious the food can be!