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Q52-Are plant enzymes capable of surviving the stomach's hydrochloric acid better than animal enzymes?
Research supports the fact that plant enzymes are much more capable of surviving the harsh acidic environment of the stomach than are animal enzymes. Dr. Selle, a physiologist from the University of Texas, fed dogs cereal starch with the addition of the starch digestive enzyme amylase extracted from barley. The pancreases of the dogs were tied off so that no pancreatic digestive juices would affect digestion. The stomachs were then emptied after a certain period of time and in some cases, the cereal starch was 65% digested. The barley amylase was proven to digest the starch in the stomach in pHs as acidic as 2.5. Furthermore, Dr. Selle research revealed that one-half hour after amylase was orally taken, 71% of it was found in the small intestine still actively digesting starch. When the fecal matter was studied for its enzyme content to see if the plant amylase could be found, there was a larger amount of plant amylase than the body's own pancreatic enzymes.
Enzymes that are released from the pancreas can only function in the alkaline conditions that are found in the duodenum. Usually animal enzymes are extracted, purified, and concentrated from pancreases of slaughterhouse animals. As a supplement, they cannot function in the predigestive stomach where much of the digestion can take place. As one can see from Dr. Selle's research, plant enzymes digest food in the stomach as well as in the small intestine. This relieves the pancreas from having to secrete its enzymes to digest the food. |
