Starting July 23rd, every Friday afternoon, Chef Patti Searle of Thrivin' Edibles will deliver raw food made to order for you to Chef Heather's home in Oakland.

Imagine that you could have Veggie Burgers and Coleslaw, Pizza, Basil Tomato Soup, Carrot Ginger Soup, Pumpkin Seed Rainbow Salad and Cherry Cobbler all made to order just for you!  Thrivin' Edibles also offers basic staples you need to get through the week including almond milk, bread, tortillas, coconut kefir, mayonnaise and cheeses too!  You can check out this week's menu here.

What are enzymes?

They are a protein that helps start or speed up a chemical reaction in a living organism.  Enzymes are necessary for life, because they start the basic chemical reactions in our bodies.

Enzymes exist in our food and in our body.
 
Think of food enzymes as helping "digest" raw foods. For example, when fruits ripen, the enzymes change starches into simple sugars, which is why unripe fruit isn't as sweet. Raw fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds contain all the necessary enzymes to start their growth cycle.

Food enzymes are the most heat sensitive of all nutrients, often destroyed at temperatures above 104 degrees.  When we eat raw food, we get the benefits of the food enzymes.  When we eat cooked food, we usually do not get the full benefits of the food enzymes.

Enzymes that our bodies make are different.  Enzymes in our digestive system help us digest our food.  Our food enzymes are particularly designed by our bodies to withstand the very acidic nature of our digestive forces.

You may have heard from raw food sources that the enzymes in our food help us to digest our food better.  According to two world renowned dietitians, Brenda Davis and Vesanto Melina, science does not support this. 

In their new book Becoming Raw, Brenda Davis and Vesanto Melina, took on the challenge of separating fact from fiction. This myth is a big one.  Davis and Melina explain clearly and unequivocally that raw food enzymes cannot survive the acid of our gut.

HOWEVER, raw food enzymes are critical to our health.  There are two families of plants with enzymes that we would truly miss if they were heated:  myrosinase and allinase. 

Myrosinase is in cruciferous vegetables such as arugula, bok choy, broccoli, cauliflower, kale and much more.  Myrosinase is part of a metabolic conversion that inhibits cancer growth.  Myrosinase becomes active when the cell walls of the vegetable are broken in some way, (chewing, blending, juicing) and it is most active up to 140 degrees.  So when you cook these foods, the myrosinase can not initiate the chemical reaction to do its miracle work. 

Allinase is similar in its work.  It is found in garlic and onions.  It too has anticancer activities as well as antibacterial, antifungal, antiarthretic and lipid lowering abilities.  It too must be masticated to begin its work, and it stops its miracle work when heated above 140 degrees.

When we eat raw food, these two enzymes have a huge impact on our health and vitality. But that is different from saying raw food enzymes help us digest better.  Our bodies produce their own enzymes to manage the digestive process. While studies have been done, there is no good evidence that enzymes in our food survive long enough in the high acid environment of our digestive tracts to have a positive or negative impact.