ENZYMES ARE NECESSARY FOR THE BEST PET FOOD

Enzymes are complex proteins that speed the myriad chemical reactions necessary for life. They are catalysts, without which all of the chemical reactants would just sit there in a pile. Life is not possible without enzymes.

Enzymes are also necessary for digestion. The gastrointestinal tract and pancreas secrete specific enzymes to break down protein, carbohydrates, and fats.

There is also another category of enzymes usually ignored. These are the enzymes within plant and animal tissue that break it down upon death. These enzymes, along with microbes, are why dead plants and animals eventually disappear into dust.

When raw foods are eaten, the enzymes within them begin to break the food down in the stomach. This begins to occur even before our (and our pet's) digestive system swings into action. Raw foods autodigest and spare our digestive system some of the work. We and our pets are designed to have our digestive burden lifted in this way.

Enzymes are very fragile. All of them lose their activity at temperatures above about 118 degrees. So when heat processed foods are eaten, there is no autodigestion and the body must carry the entire load of breaking food down. Over time, this exhausts digestive capacity and stresses organs such as the pancreas. The result is not only improper digestion leading to malnutrition, but increased susceptibility to organ disease, such as pancreatitis and diabetes.

This is another reason why fresh, raw, natural foods are so important for the best pet food. It is also a reason to select processed foods that have active enzymes incorporated into them after processing, or to supplement with enzymes.

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Thought for the day: Health comes from awe and humility in the face of nature.

Word for the day: zeitgist - noun: the spirit of the time, a climate of opinion, a convention of thought, or implicit assumptions. In other words, fad thought. That is what rules our opinions; and our opinions rule our actions. We cannot assume that conventional ideas, like what we should eat or feed our pets, are correct. We must do the brainwork of using reason corralled by fact.