Experiment:

“Which group of mice, one fed only raw food and the other fed only cooked food, will live longer?”

Take a moment to guess the answer.

In recent years, discussions about gut health often mention the “microbiome” and “fiber intake”. These are indeed crucial points in understanding and improving digestion.

However, when considering one of the most vital functions in humans—digestion—there’s another crucial element: 

Enzymes.

Dr. Edward Howell, a leading researcher on enzymes in the United States, stated in an interview:

“Enzymes act as catalysts in all chemical reactions. Without enzymes, vitamins, minerals, and hormones cannot fulfill their roles. Enzymes are not just catalysts. They emit a kind of radiation when active, possessing life energy. Therefore, by consuming foods rich in enzymes, you can avoid illness and extend your lifespan.”

“Neanderthals left traces of mostly consuming roasted meat. Fossils show they suffered from severe rheumatism, indicating they might have also suffered from modern adult diseases such as cancer, diabetes, and kidney disease, due to their predominantly cooked food diet.”

Many digestive enzymes are produced by the pancreas. For instance, trypsin breaks down proteins, lipase breaks down fats, and amylase breaks down starches.

The more enzymes we consume from food, the less our bodies need to rely on their own enzymes. However, it’s essential to note that enzymes are delicate and become inactive at temperatures exceeding 47 degrees Celsius; they are destroyed in boiling water.

In reality, depending on cooked foods with zero enzymatic activity as the main diet significantly burdens the pancreas. This leads to its enlargement, and considering the ratio of body weight, the human pancreas is among the heaviest in the animal kingdom.

Humans have a limited supply of enzymes in their bodies, and as they are utilized, they are depleted. This not only causes declining digestive function as we age but also contributes to premature death due to adult-onset diseases and chronic illnesses.

In essence, akin to money, if you keep spending without income, your savings will dwindle until they run out, leading to eventual demise. Depletion of enzymes in the body literally means death.

So how we maintain the level of enzymes in our system? 

Eat raw. Ferment and germinate your food as much as you can.

Additionally, foods like nuts, which contain good fats, also harbor enzymes when consumed raw. However, it’s crucial to note that seeds contain anti-nutrients, inhibiting the absorption of various nutrients and enzyme activity when consumed raw. Therefore, it’s essential to soak or sprout them to remove anti-nutrients before consumption.

Even without reading this far, you likely understand the answer to the initial question.

According to the experiment results, mice fed only raw food lived for three years, while those fed cooked food lived for only two years.

Though not directly applicable to humans, the result suggests that a diet devoid of cooked enzymes could shorten lifespan by 30%.

If we could apply this result to humans, maintaining enzyme levels could potentially extend human lifespan by over 20 years.

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