Enzyme Questions and Answers

Q41-Can enzymes lower cholesterol?

Yes, in most individuals.  Remember, cholesterol is a form of fat.  Research has substantiated that consumed animal fats tend to cause cholesterol to settle in the arteries and cause atherosclerosis.  However, it has also been found that the crystal clear "purified" vegetable oils (not heated) do not raise the blood cholesterol level.  One answer for this might lie with the fact that lipase is found in the fat of animals (including humans) and plants.  One researcher found that the fat tissue in obese humans has less lipase than the fat tissues in a slender person.

Three British researchers tested the enzymes in normal individuals and individuals with atherosclerosis to find the relationship between cholesterol and clogged arteries.  They found that all enzymes studied became progressively weaker in the arteries as persons became older and also as the hardening became more severe.  These researchers believe that a shortage of enzymes is part of a mechanism which allows cholesterol deposits to accumulate in the inner part of the arterial walls (intima).  Another researcher found a progressive decline in lipase in the blood of atherosclerotic patients with advancing middle and old age.  Yet another researcher found that not only was lipase low in older persons, but that older atherosclerotic persons had slow fat absorption from the intestine.  He also found that some absorbed fat was in the unhydrolyzed state.  When he fed lipase extracted from animal pancreas to the older and younger persons he found a definite improvement in fat utilization.

Research confirms that when we eat fats with their enzymes intact no harmful effect on the arteries or heart results.  No atherosclerosis in the arteries will occur.  Wild animals do not have atherosclerosis because they eat raw foods containing enzymes.                                            However, when we cook our foods we destroy the enzymes in the fat which also kills the lipase.  The result is cholesterol sticking to the intima (inner lining of artery) and heart disease.  Taking plant enzyme lipase or eating raw foods will normally lower your cholesterol and may protect you against heart disease.