Supplements

J

JULIER

Guest
[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON Feb-14-01 AT 11:06AM (Est)[/font][p]I was wondering if anyone knew anything about digestive enzymes. Someone was telling me that they are really beneficial but when I went on the web I couldn't find too much info that was unbiased (all the web sites were from companies selling their products). Has anyone out there tried them?
Thanks in advance.
Julie
 
Hi Crystal! I'm curious as to what you were told about them. Did you get them at a health food store or what? I was told about them by a super nutrition conscious person who swears by them. Have you tried them. I'm tempted but not sure yet.
Julie
 
I use digestive enzymes in conjunction with concentrated whole leaf aloe vera juice. It is the only thing that works for me when my stomach feels acidic. Over the counter remedies such as Tums or Tagamet have never worked for me. I think they work very well.
 
HI

I bought a bottle from a local health food store. Actually,
I didn't go in for enzymes in particular, I just explained to
her that I need assistance with my digestion since it always
seemed that my food sits in my esophagus and stomach forever before it is digested.

She said that digestive enzyme supplements (plant never animal) would aid in digestion, absorption of more nutrients and elimination. Well, as usual I'm gung ho at first and then don't use a product regularly so I can't tell you for sure if they are working. I started taking them regularly last week and think my food is digesting more quickly but I will make a judgement for sure when I finish the bottle.
 
RE: HI

Oh and she did give me a free audio cassette about digestive enzymes. Don't know how accurate the info was but some of it made sense. The tape stated that most of us don't get enough "live" enzymes because we eat so many "dead" foods. That is to say foods that are overly cooked so that the enzymes are no longer "active" by the time we eat them. So,baking cooks the "life" out of grains, boiling cooks the life out of veggies and there's no "life" in the meats because we have to cook those. It encouraged eating more fresh fruits and veggies and taking enzyme supplements to make up what we lack in our diets.
 
RE: HI

That sounds good to me. I too get that feeling that I don't digest well. I'm gonna try it too and I'll let you know. By the way, the ones recommended to me are plant based not animal.
 
I hate to sound preachy, but as someone who used to suffer chronic, severe heartburn I can tell you that when you are properly combining food at every meal you don't need things like digestive enzymes or tagamet or tums. I used to chew tums like candy, every night before bed and sometimes I'd still wake up with horrible heartburn. I didn't eat anything horrible, I thought I was eating really healthy, but it was the combinations of foods I was eating that had me all screwed up.

When I started food combining a year ago as part of a larger program, my heartburn stopped immediately and never came back. I haven't even seen a tums in a year, and I also know my food is digesting so much faster and my metabolism is 10 times what it used to be. A healthy body being fed healthy food the right way can more than handle digesting food on its own. My aunt used to use papaya enzymes after meals because she'd get an upset stomach, etc but she's been food combining for 2 months now and says she never feels that way anymore. No more papaya enzymes and she feels like her meal is totally digested within a couple of hours instead of feeling full for so long. That's obviously a good thing, means her metabolism sort of woke up after all these years.

So, just wanted to get on my soap box and stick my 2 cents in here! I'll get down now. ;)
 
Are you kidding? I totally appreciate your input. That's why this forum is great. What food combining system are you using?
 
I only know of one food combining system, which I was first exposed to through Marilu Henner's first book. But I also read Fit for Life, which is absolutely incredible, and they outlined the same system. It might vary a tiny bit from book to book, but those two seemed to have the same theories. The crux of it all is to eat starches and proteins separately by at least a few hours. So instead of eating pasta with meat or meat with potatoes or rice, you'd eat pasta with veggies (non-starchy ones like green veggies, salads, etc) or chicken/meat/fish with veggies (same as above). The second HUGE part of food combining involves when to eat fruit. You never eat fruit after or with another meal. Always eat it alone, the reason being that when eaten alone it digests the fastest of any food you can eat. Your body already has it mostly broken down before it even hits the stomach. But if you eat it with other foods, the fruit won't digest properly and you end up with fermenting food in your belly. That creates all kinds of problems in a domino effect; gas, bloating, upset stomach, lack of absorption of nutrients, bowel obstructions can arise, and fermentation produces sugars that feed bad bacteria/yeast/parasites which can lead to a condition called Candidiasis. Your body uses more energy on digestion than any other function, ANY other function. So the easier you make that on your body, the more energy you free up for other things.

And I promise you, it works. If you're interested in all this rambling, grab the paperback of Fit for Life. It's quite remarkable. The info they give you, coupled with great ideas for rethinking the way you eat and giving great meal plans and suggestions...it's just a great resource. I carry it around in my backpack. The chapter on protein is particularly compelling, and I follow what they call the "energy ladder", which gives you guidelines on what time of day it's best to eat your fruits, carbs and proteins. I feel better than I EVER have. I'm 30 and I feel like I'm 15. Can't say enough about all of this. And my chronic stomach problems are a distant memory. I can't believe I lived like that for so long and it was always within my own power to stop it. But now I know.

Hope that helps you some. Feel free to email me or ask more on here if you like.
 
Thanks

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON Feb-19-01 AT 11:12AM (Est)[/font][p]Thanks for the "411" Lex ;-)
I am very encouraged by the success you have had with food combining. I am really interested in eating more healthfully and helping my poor body to function properly. I know it will be a challenge for me not to have a starch with meat because I am so accostomed to thinking that is how a balanced meal is "supposed" to look. When do you eat fruit, in the morning? What is a typical lunch and dinner for you? Hope I'm not asking too many questions, but you just sound like you feel so great since you made the adjustment and I wonder if I could too.
 
Thanks for the info. Doesn't Suzanne Somers have a book based on the same principles? I'll pick up Fit for Life and see how it goes. Great advice!
 
RE: Thanks

Hey Crystal, don't fret. I'm happy to answer questions, I'd love it if everyone felt as good as I do.

I do eat nothing but fresh fruit and fresh fruit juices until about noon each day, assuming I'm up at around 7 or 8 or earlier. I also adhere to combining when it comes to which fruits I can eat at the same time. So generally I eat a lot of pears, peaches, nectarines, grapefruit, etc. It's great for getting lots of water, vitamins and fiber into your body, and it's so easy to digest it doesn't take energy away from all the work your body is doing to eliminate and process the previous day's food.

Lunchtime is usually 2 or 3 small meals spread out, for me. I might make a great salad, then a while later have some pasta, rice, stuff like that. Never big portions, always kind of like my own appetizer sizes. Or I sautee some green beans in garlic and a little butter, which is to die for. But I try to vary my meals a lot. Someimes I have a bowl of cereal with rice milk as a pre-workout meal, about 45 mins beforehand.

I tend to eat any protein for the day as my late afternoon/early evening meal, which I guess is dinner. I just don't do 3 meals so I hesitate to call them that. But dinner could be baked fish with salad or steak with veggies. I eat damn good food, let me tell ya! I love to eat, I love food. So I do splurge every week and we go out for either Indian or greasy cheeseburgers.

But let me tell you this, once your body gets used to being able to digest foods really quickly and efficiently, you will notice a huge change when you eat foods the old way. You get really tired and sleepy because of the immediate energy drain in trying to digest, which you are no longer used to. And the food that ferments when not properly combined gives you gas or bloating. I can get away with just the weekly treat meal or a treat here and there now. FOr the first month or so, I was totally strict about it just to clean myself out.

You can still eat lots of great, yummy foods eating this way. It's just a matter of giving yourself time, physically and mentally, to get accustomed to the new way of thinking and eating. It made such a monumental difference in my life, I promise you that. Well worth the effort.

I hope I covered it all for you. If not, feel free to ask away. I'm not the shy or quiet type, obviously! ;)
 
I believe Somercize sort of combines the principles of food combining with some of the Atkins ideas. Not the bad Atkins ideas, like stuffing yourself with animal protein and nonstop fat. But the idea of limiting processed and starchy foods and eating things in certain combos. I haven't read the book, but that's what I got the gist of from her infomercial. And I saw her battling it out with Richard Simmons (who is a sweetie and I love him but his nutritional takes are horrible) on Larry King. Suzanne looks better now, in her 50s, than she did when she was a tv star in her 20s. Marilu Henner too. You have to look at that and figure, there must be something to all of this, huh?
 
[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON Feb-20-01 AT 12:00PM (Est)[/font][p]Suzanne Summers is just adorable for an old broad isn't she? She is doing something right. Thank you very much for the information Lex, you really answered my questions. I am going to try to incorporate this way of eating into my life little by little. It just makes so much sense. I think purchasing Fit for Life will help.

Thanks again and I will let you know how it goes.
 
You are SOOOO welcome, I hope you find it as fascinating and helpful as I did. Please do let me know how it's going, I'll be very interested to hear your thoughts and experiences with it too. If you need any advice or just some moral support, don't hesitate to email or post!

Take care.
 
Opinions

Well, opinions are like noses, we all have one. Here is mine.
Digestive Enzyme supplements are quite expensive and not for everyone. In limited circumstances, I think they can help for certain issues.
If your digestive tract is out of whack and you have lots of bloating after eating, irregular bowel movements, etcetera, and you eat alot of proteins and hard to break down foods, digestive enzymes may be a short-term solution until you are able to adjust your eating habits.
Many nutritionists recommend them.
HOWEVER, if you have food allergies, watch out. There's alot of stuff in this product that often prove troublesome for folks with food allergies.
I take acidophilus every day, and I find it very helpful. It is relatively inexpensive. I never get yeast infections and it keeps me very regular.
 
RE: Opinions

I second that motion, I take probiotics/acidoplhus and noni juice every day and not only am I regular, but I haven't gotten any signifcant illnesses since I started that duo either. I used to get sick at the drop of a hat, I mean I'd get cold or bug that even drifted by. Not anymore. So acidoplhus (and noni) can not only do wonders for your digestive tract, and keep you regular but it helps your immune system too.
 
This information is very interesting

Hi everyone,
I find this topic so interesting that I had trouble getting ready for work yesterday. Wanted to spend all that time reading this instead of getting going. So today I'm on line early to finish reading it. :7
My husband has had heartburn problems for years. He has a Hihadle hernia and needs surgery. But right now he is waiting for L&I to come through so he can have knee surgery. He's basically unemployed till he gets that done. Anyway I'm wondering if maybe this diet you all have been discussing could help him some with this heartburn stuff. Think I'll see if I can find it at the Library. If I can get him to read it that's the way I will go. I'm always reading book about fitness health etc. that I want him to read but with no luck. He likes to read History and boating and Theology books. Oh well. Wish me luck.
Thanks for being such interesting and informed group of ladies. I learn so much. Lora
 
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