— Health from a biblical perspective —

Dear Health-minded Reader,

The only quote I recall from the late Bernard Beruch, brilliant urban planner and advisor to presidents, is: “We’re all ignorant, just on different subjects.”  Such is surely the case when it comes to the subject of health and nutrition, with enzymes nearing the top of the list.  Many allude to, and/or misinform on their behalf.  Still others wax almost metaphysically in their efforts to explain; for understandable reasons.  They’re at the very essence of life itself.

Dr. E. Howell, — a biochemist and physiologist, spent over 50 years of his life investigating and documenting enzymatic phenomena.  Though academia, as usual, is slow on the uptake, those who apply his counsel typically offer up a healthy “A-men!”  This article, puts forth the essence of his view and is crucial to your health and longevity.

Your Enzyme Account

When it's empty ... you die!

According to the research team of MacArthur and Baille at the U. of Toronto, after about 15,000,000 heartbeats, the average Daphnia (water flea) gives up the ghost and dies, though their lifespan can vary by as much as 4 to 1.  How long they live depends upon the rate at which they use up their life-force — their enzymes.  Such appears to be true, not only of a flea, but of you and me.

Though controversial in “official” nutritional circles, the monumental, 50-year enzyme research work of Dr. Edward Howell should be taken very seriously by those interested in living long and healthy lives.  In his book1, Howell convincingly puts forth the “Food Enzyme Concept” to identify, not only the reason for this nation’s poor health, but the credible source of sickness, disease, debilitation and premature death.  Adherents believe that every creature is born with a limited enzyme account, which when exhausted, it dies.  The good news is that humans can largely control the rate at which these life-sustaining enzymes are used up. First, we must have some understanding of enzymes themselves.  Though generally aware, few appreciate their function and importance.

Traditional teaching has it that enzymes are catalysts; agents which influence other chemical reactions without themselves being diminished in the process.  Though essentially true, according to Howell, this has been misleading because it’s now understood that enzymes actually contribute something of themselves to reactions and to that extent are consumed; they weaken and get used up.  It also had been widely thought that the body produces a near inexhaustible supply of enzymes — another dangerously flawed idea. Quite the opposite appears to be true.

Three kinds

Three types of enzymes exist; 2 bodily (endogenous) and those produced externally (exogenous).  Body enzymes fall into 2 classes; digestive and metabolic, of which there are 1000’s of types, mostly the latter.  External (food) enzymes can be of either plant or animal origin.  In short, all living material requires a wide assortment of enzymes to digest food and carry out the myriad functional (metabolic) needs of the organism in order to maintain life.

Physiologists have now proven that an organism, at any given moment, can produce only a finite quantity of enzymes; digestive types given priority over metabolic.  The implications of this discovery for health and longevity are staggering!  It suggests that diet can powerfully influence how many worker-enzymes (metabolic types) are available for bodily maintenance and repair.  Read that as health and healing!  In short, the more digestive enzymes required to process our food, the fewer will be available to keep us fit and healthy. Conversely, if fewer enzymes are needed for digestion, just that many more are available to handle all the metabolic chores that keep us in good repair.  It follows that an improper diet can lead to a shorter, unhealthy life and the correct diet to a longer, healthier one — prompting the question, “Just what constitutes a ‘correct’ diet?” The answer is so simple, it gets overlooked:

Eat food with enzymes!

Unprocessed foods naturally include enzymes required for their digestion.  Eat this kind to conserve precious body enzyme potential for health maintenance and healing.  It’s really that simple!  Eat as many enzyme-loaded foods as you can.  Here’s something that may surprise you: every creature does exactly that ... except man.  For reasons that can only be explained in spiritual terms, mankind has progressively chosen to eat what Dr. Howell calls a “minus diet” — food, minus its enzymes; a death-bent diet.  Although all food comes with them, we insanely disable enzymes before imbibing.

Processing kills enzymes

Almost all methods of processing food, especially by heat, denatures it.   According to Webster that means: “To deprive of natural qualities; to change the nature of; specifically: a) To render unfit for some purposes, as eating or drinking.  b) To so modify (a protein) as by heat, acid or alkali, that it no longer has all its original properties.”  Now, inspect practically all dairy products and canned food labels and you will find that the contents have been “pasteurized”.  What does that actually mean?  It’s defined as: “The partial sterilization (of a substance) at a temperature of 131 to 158⁰ F.”  Practically all store-bought food is thus treated to ostensibly destroy pathogenic organisms and undesirable bacteria — a worthy idea.  The rub occurs with an activity’s unintended consequences.  In this case, pasteurization’s heat also destroys food’s enzymes because their maximum survivable temperature is somewhere between 118-122⁰ F.  Heat denatures them, rendering the food enzymatically inactive — dead for short.  And don’t be mis-led by another labeling euphemism stating that the contents have been “cold pasteurized”.  That’s a deceitful way of admitting the contents have been irradiated — a nuclear method of denaturing food. Keep in mind, there are many ways to commit foodacide: microwave, adding acid or alkaline chemicals, etc.  But dead is dead!

How about cooking?

Interestingly, even most hard-core label readers don’t realize that cooking is but another way of “processing” food and is equally effective in denaturing it.  Most food is cooked at temperatures of 250-450⁰ F though some ostrich-type try to squeak-by, by steaming it; suspending it above boiling water.  What’s the temperature of live steam?  Right — 212⁰ F!  (Hey, don’t get mad at me simply because I’m telling you the truth!)

The consequences of a cooked-food diet are myriad and unpleasant.  The most conspicuous is extra body weight.  Simply put, most cooked-food eaters get heavier with age whereas unprocessed-food eaters do not.  The glut of toxic residue resulting from a cooked-food diet cannot all be excreted nor used to support health.  As a life-preserving measure, the body stores it — a bit like always stashing household trash in closets, with all its attendant consequences.  Further, a dead-food regimen requires the body to supply all the digestive enzymes needed to process it, thus depriving the body of the metabolic enzymes necessary to keep it in good repair.  Only years later does this become apparent.  By then, the size, weight and normal functioning of the various organs (brain, pancreas, liver, etc) have been dangerously altered.  For example; this inordinate demand on the body to supply all the digestive enzymes, prematurely exhausts its potential, leading to a premature death — but not before years of debilitating sickness and disease that stem from a shortage of metabolic enzymes.  A cooked food diet is also vastly more expensive when health care is factored in; doctors, medicines, etc.

How to live healthy, longer

To conserve your body’s finite ability to produce vital enzymes, embrace an “enzyme-plus” diet; one replete with foods containing the God-imbued constituents needed to utilize them without taxing the body’s reserves.  Working toward a nearly raw diet is especially important during the transitional first year of switching from the “S.A.D”.  Our bodies need all the help they can get.  Write; we’ll help you get started.

Afford yourself (and your family) the blessed opportunity for good health and a long life by breaking away from another of this culture’s health-robbing deceptions, processed food; including cooked.  Be assured, raw is the way our body’s Designer intended for it to be fueled.  Don’t be put off by many of the opposition’s easily answered objections such as, soil depletion, pesticides, etc.  Also recognize that your biggest enemy in making any such transition will be yourself.  We’re all creatures of habit and any habit will fight for its very life.  But by God’s empowering, you can change ... and live!

— Letters from Readers —

Thanks for the book!  I am incorporating more raw foods in my diet, convinced that what you shared about enzymes, “natural”, etc makes a big difference.  I’m also letting bananas get freckles before eating them.    — Santa Fe, NM

Dear Santa Fe — Appreciate your letter and delighted to hear you’re wisely moving towards a healthier diet.  The only ones who’ll not be pleased with your decision are (some) pharmacists, doctors and others making their living pandering to sickness and disease.

Regarding the “natural” aspect of so eating.  It’s only the recent few crops of Americans that do not realize raw eating is indeed the Designer-intended way.  As recently as 60 years ago and within an hour’s drive of most of this country’s largest cities, the average family fed largely from their own garden and a goodly portion of that was raw.  In season, lunch and supper tables were commonly graced with dishes of raw tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, carrots, onions, radishes, string beans, cabbage, apples, pears, cherries, berries, nuts, seeds and grapes.  Moreover, most of it was organically grown and a sizable percentage of the latter often foraged from the wild.  This is still the case in some of the more rural parts of the country, such as in Appalachia.

Only since the the budding prosperity and national busyness of the ‘50s have we all but abandoned the “natural” for the un-natural; the God-given for the man-made; whole food for processed, live food for dead; healthy, real food for other deceitful substances. — eds.

Disclaimer: The Hallelujah Health NEWS newsletter emphasizes nutrition-related health issues, to educate, encourage and provide lifestyle information.  There is no intent to diagnose, treat, prescribe for, cure or prevent disease.  The author or publisher assumes no responsibility for the use or effects of said information.  Hallelujah Health NEWS is a free public educational service, solely to promote a healthier lifestyle.

ABOUT US:  Founded in 1993, Hallelujah Living Ministries is a donation-based, non-denominational Christian outreach to uplift, inform and challenge followers of Jesus Christ.  For more information or a copy of our always-free print newsletter, please include a  postal mail address along with your comments and prayer requests. Thank you for visiting  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

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