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Solid JadeTM

Jade Spring Health Center Newsletter

March 2001

The Role of Enzymes in Allergy Elimination
By Alexis K. Rotella, Ph.D., M.Ac. L.Ac., Dipl.(NCCA)

As I stated in the Allergy Handbook (February, 2001 issue of Solid Jade), in order for allergy elimination to work (and hold), detoxification and drainage of organs and systems is of utmost importance. BioSET Enzymes are specifically formulated to acheive this purpose.

Each enzyme formula contains herbal combinations. For example, Gastrocalm does not just contain digestive enzymes but ginger and marshmallow root. Ginger warms the stomach without making the rest of the body hot. The Chinese teach that the stomach likes a warm environment. It does not, for instance, like to receive cold drinks and cold vegetables. It prefers warm foods like soup. Marshmallow root is an excellent digestive herb. Nearly every formula contains herbs that support specific meridians and organs.

I do a special exam called the Enzyme Evaluation. The person is asked to fast overnight. When they come in, I test a number of vials corresponding to different bodily systems. For example, if a person tests weak for Nose and Throat, I'll suggest the enzyme that addresses that area. After this first step, the person is given an Assessed Digestion drink. They then wait about forty minutes. They can either rest or read. I then test four other systems and if a person tests weak, for example, to Epigastric, I will suggest a digestive enzyme or Gastro Calm. I might also find in this second step that a person is not digesting fats or proteins, which is important information. In general, I don't give the person more than a few enzymes at a time. Part of the skill in BioSET is being able to narrow down to specific supplements that will balance the whole system.

Yes, if people are very ill or have heavy metal poisoning, many of their systems can test weak in which case we would take a look at the main symptoms. I also use the Acustress Meter to get a more in depth understanding of what's going on. If, for example, the patient's kidney surfaced in the Enzyme Evaluation, I might check the stress level of the Kidney. This gives further information, such as what part of the kidney shows stress.

Sometimes, yes. That's where playing detective comes in. Chances are if you get a really low reading on an organ system, that system has been down for quite some time. However, if you get an off-the-charts reading for, say, joints, there may be a temporary inflammation that may not show up three days later. A machine is only as good as its operator.

There is no perfect test for anything that I know of. All you have to do is look into how many times a mammogram misses malignant tumors. Bear in mind, also, that those of us who have been trained in Chinese pulse reading have a very handy tool for assessing what is going on inside a person. If, for example, I find a person's Kidney pulse to be consistently low, it will always show up on the Acustress Meter. While the Acustress Meter is a handy machine, there is nothing like hands-on muscle testing and pulse diagnosis.

That is a huge question. Let's begin by saying that there are many different types of enzymes and without them, you can't live.

You need enzymes to digest your food, you need enzymes to fight off infections. You need enzymes to purify your blood and fight off allergies. The older we get, the fewer enzymes we have. And if you survive on a cooked diet, you don't get enzymes. If you eat a lot of raw fruits and vegetables, especially fresh organic ones, you get a lot of enzymes. But the Catch 22 situation is this: our kidneys/adrenals are the generator of our body. This is the main heat source and cold foods and drinks put a great strain on the heat processing plant that we need in order to live. In Chinese medicine, the kidneys give us life. They are involved with reproduction and giving us enough energy to survive on a day to day basis. Every time we put cold or raw food into our mouths, the kidney is not a happy camper. The compromise, especially if you're chronically ill, is taking enzyme supplementation.

In a sense, yes, that's true. Enzymes are life giving. For example, when you have a fever, the white blood cells which contain enzymes go after the invader. When enzymes are supplemented, the WBCs have an easier time of it, but if there is not an abundance of enzymes, the WBCs have to go into the cellular tissue and borrow enzymes to fight off the infection or invasion. This is not "cost effective," so to speak.

Enzymes are like vacuum cleaners that go after the protein molecules that enter the blood stream. They purify the blood. People with allergies don't have clean blood. In a nutshell, supplementation with the proper enzymes can cut down or dissipate allergies.

They are protein molecules that initiate all cellular activity. Enzymes digest all foods, they build proteins in bones and skin and they aid in detoxification and are there at conception. Enzymes dissolve blood clots. In small form, enzymes pass through the intestinal walls which enter the blood to build muscles, nerves, blood and glands.

There are many. Perhaps 3,000. Different enzymes have specific jobs. For example, digestive enzymes will not digest fat. Fat enzymes won't digest starch.

There are four enzyme categories. Lipase breaks down fat, protease (trypsin and pepsin) breaks down protein, cellulose breaks down cellulose and amylase breaks down starch.

By eating raw foods or taking supplementation. We lose enzymes constantly through sweat, urea and feces.

Our immune system, blood stream, liver, kidneys, spleen, pancreas as well as our seeing, breathing and thinking.

Zoo animals develop the same illnesses we do because their food is usually cooked. The same holds true for our pets.

Unassimilated protein, yeast cells, carbohydrates and fats.

When food is not completely digested, skin diseases can occur. There is low blood amylase in cases of dermatitis.

Yes, bromelain.

Exogenous enzymes are found in raw foods and endogenous enzymes are produced in our bodies. The more endogenous enzymes we use, the less we have to borrow from. Raw food enzymes digest 5-75 percent of the food itself with help from the enzymes produced endogenously.

Yes, it does. Cooked food creates a more toxic body. Have you noticed how much better and energetic you feel during the seasons when we have access to fresh local vegetables and fruits?

Experts say that if we could eat raw food we would be smaller in stature and our organs would be smaller. Enlarged organs lead to pathological conditions because they have to work harder. A raw-food diet takes stress off the pancreas and whole body.

Young people have more enzymes. The older we get, the more our supply diminishes. But bear in mind, more and more kids are being diagnosed with ADD/ADHD. It's an epidemic as is autism. Sugar and preservatives are often two of the main allergens. School cafeterias can be toxic places. Best to pack your child's lunch.

Yes. The sicker a person is, the less enzymes they have. Acute illnesses need high levels of enzymes. Suppose you get the flu or your body temperature goes up. You need enzymes to help fight the flu. It's great that kids have a higher enzyme supply since they tend to get more fevers.

After a cooked meal, our white blood cell count (WBC) goes up. Enzymes in white blood cells transport the enzymes to kill invaders. If you eat a raw-food meal, the WBC count is minimal and actually gives the WBCs a rest. All acute illness brings out our WBCs.

In chronic illness, enzyme levels plummet. During severe illnesses such as diabetes and cancer, the pancreas and digestive tract don't have a lot of energy.

Apparently so. When pancreatic enzymes especially are hindered, the whole body suffers. Holistic practitioners who work with cancer claim that the first organ that needs to be detoxed is the pancreas, otherwise the person will never recover.

Low amylase.

Yes. If we have no enzymes, we die. And it's interesting to note that stimulants like caffeine and nicotine eat up enzymes.

A high protein diet is hard on the liver and kidneys. Enzymes break the protein down into urea which results in calcium loss. Calcium is then leached from our bones. Not a pretty thought.

Without enzymes, vitamins can't be utilized. If you have an abundant supply of enzymes, you'll need less vitamins and minerals.

Canned food has no enzymes. When we eat canned food, our glands overwork and we gain weight. Same with cooked food. Our glands work overtime and don't know when to turn off. Raw food takes the stress off our endocrine system. But the Catch 22 is if you have kidney deficiency, the body needs warmth and raw foods are too cold. So enzyme supplementation is recommended.

In other words, cooked calories make us chubby and raw calories make us slim. A cooked-food diet causes our organs to be weak yet it is not recommended that everyone go out and start eating raw foods because our spleens would suffer. Again, until a person gets really healthy, enzyme supplementation is the key.

No. Raw calories stabilize weight. Too bad raw potatoes don't taste as good as mashed.

Probably yes, but you need to ask your health-care practitioner about any change of diet. In any case, obese people benefit greatly from enzymes because they have fewer enzymes. Fat in the blood blocks insulin action and sugar is absorbed which can cause diabetes.

The primitive Innuits had no circulatory disease because they ate raw meat. As they became more "progressive" and began cooking their food, they developed hardening of the arteries. Hardening of the arteries develops from low (or no) levels of lipase. Enzymes predigest our foods and they fight cholesterol.

The more digestion that takes place in the stomach before it gets to the small intestine the better. Predigestion takes place in the cardiac portion of the stomach. Salivary digestion happens here. The body is greatly relieved when predigestion takes place in the stomach because it's not necessary to draw on the metabolic enzyme store of the body. In Chinese Medicine, the job of the small intestine is to sort the pure from the impure, not just food but thoughts and ideas, too. The Western occult schools teach that spiritual enlightenment is a chemical process and unless the small intestine produces enough chyme (which ultimately comes from eating dark leafy greens), we won't have the chi needed to achieve our spiritual goals.

The pancreas.

Over cooked foods have no enzymes and the only enzymes that get mixed with it are the ones in our saliva. That's why chewing our food is so important. Ever since grade school we've been hearing, "Digestion begins in the mouth." If you chew your food twenty times before swallowing it, you will do a lot to improve your overall health. We would also cut down on allergies and lose weight. In our culture, we swallow our food whole.

When we eat cooked food, the fat remains nearly untouched in the cardiac section of the stomach until it gets to the small intestine where the lipase starts to break it down.

Cooked foods also putrefy and byproducts of putrification are toxins absorbed into blood and deposited all over. A great way to get arthritis.

Yes. Protease is especially good for cleaning the blood.

Good question. Sounds like unsound economy and ecology. While organic food is certainly better than nonorganic food meaning that it contains no pesticides or fungicides, it doesn't mean the food has been grown in mineral-rich soil. We need to take off the rose-colored glasses. Sometimes the truth hurts. So many people wonder why when their sick and switch to expensive organic foods that they don't see an immediate difference. If they took proper enzyme supplementation (and minerals) they would see a bigger difference.

Yes, it would. Low enzymes = an endocrine system that functions below par which leads to obesity and hypoglycemia.

Generally low lipase levels. Lipase breaks down fats. Hibernating bears lose weight because of the lipase activity. No lipase causes fat stagnation which can accumulate in the arteries. This can cause high blood pressure and other circulatory problems.

Enzymes - when joined with WBCs - are scavengers or little Pac-Men. They go around the body looking for invaders to swallow up. When there aren't sufficient enzymes, there aren't many Pac-Men to do the job.

Hypoglycemia is a malfunction of our fuel supply. When our sugar level drops, our metabolism drops and fatigue and psychosomatic symptoms develop. Remember, our brain is nourished only by glucose and oxygen. The four big glands to consider are the pituitary, the adrenals, thyroid and pancreas. The pituitary is the master controller who takes its orders from the hypothalamus which receives its information via the nervous system. The adrenals control our sugar level. They secrete epinephrine which raises blood sugar. The thyroid secretes hormones that control the rate at which the body uses oxygen and the pancreas, as everyone knows, secretes insulin.

Without fail, everyone who suffers from hypoglycemia tests weak when I press the pancreas alarm point. Hypoglycemia is one of those denial illnesses. Sugar puts us in a fog so we can't even see that sugar is doing it to us. That's why it's so hard to "see."

Many small meals a day for starters. Eating more protein and not eating carbohydrates alone. Start off with a protein breakfast. Once you're cleared for eggs, you'll be able to enjoy them. Reducing sugar intake. Some people need to let go of it entirely. If you need to have coffee, then only one cup per day. Chromium supplementation needs to be looked at-it can make the difference between fainting or not fainting. A tablet before bed is a good idea since you'll be fasting for eight hours.

Checking your labels for sugar is so important as it's hidden in nearly everything. Just this afternoon I opened an all natural clam sauce from Trader Joe's only to find that one of the ingredients was corn syrup. Debones pasta should be on everyone's shelf as it contains Jerusalem artichoke, a root vegetable that is known to control blood sugar. Lentils are also excellent. If you eat a baked potato, eat the skin. And let go of concentrated fruit juices.

When there's a lack of nutrients in the blood which supports the endocrine system, the hypothalamus stimulates the appetite causing a craving for more cooked foods. The more we crave, the more obese we become and our glands get exhausted. How many obese people do you know who are raring to run around the block?

When there is a dearth of enzymes, the pituitary can get large. When there is a lack of blood amylase, we develop blood sugar problems. Amylase controls blood sugar.

Almost ninety percent of diabetics have deficient amylase in their intestinal secretions. Amylase helps storage of utilization of sugar in blood.

Mother's milk. When a child is on a formula, he or she doesn't get a lot of enzymes. It's hard getting a head start in this world. A Dr. Bailer states that unless Mom is detoxed before the child is conceived, the baby is born toxic. He says it takes three years to detox under the best care. So, in a nutshell, we inherit birth poisons. On top of that, kids eat food with no enzymes increasing their toxicity level. Their nervous system becomes overstimulated. Salt can be as bad as sugar, so our kids are not just sugar junkies but salt junkies, too. I would love to get future mothers into my Clinic to prepare their bodies, minds and spirits for that important moment of conception. This is not to let the dads off the hook, either, because both parents contribute to the health of a child (not to mention grandparents).

Chinese wisdom teaches us to pay homage to our ancestors. And our own Bible tells us that the sins of the parents will last seven generations. (The word "sin" means "to miss the mark." Throw out the guilt, folks. It will only keep you stuck in the proverbial mud puddle.)

Enzymes increase, which are beneficial to the body.

Eat only when you're hungry.

Yes. Drugs taken years ago may start to come out of the cells when you detox. Enzymes get the colon to clean out more quickly which cuts down on arthritis.

Yes. The stomach and small intestine have different pH levels.

No. Citrus is not as good for you as you might think. I tell all of my patients to knock off the orange juice. If you live in a climate that doesn't naturally grow oranges or grapefruit, then the body is going to have a harder time digesting them. Even if you live in Florida or California, the body isn't made to digest the juice of l2 oranges for breakfast. In some cases, I tell candida patients who simply can't live without fruit to use Granny Smith apples and white grapefruit for a while.

The blood is purified, the glands are harmonized and the organs and tissues are purified.

They cause trouble by causing toxic reactions. Undigested proteins, fats and starch molecules cause allergies. Amylase, protease and Lipase normalize blood and the allergies dissipate. That's what I meant in my Allergy Handbook (Solid Jade Newsletter, February 2001 issue) when I said that a toxic body mimics allergies. There are people who've eaten Mexican or Italian diets their whole life. When they changed to a raw-food diet their allergies disappeared. But most people would rather suffer or even die than to give up their burritos or pasta in which case enzyme supplementation is a necessity. One of the simple things you can do to increase your enzyme level is to sprinkle raw parsley or herbs on your food after it's cooked. Not to cook your vegetables to death would also help. But heat kills enzymes, no matter how you look at it.

Juicing between meals can help cut down on food cravings but you have to be careful not to juice vegetables high in sugars such as carrots and beets. And again, if you are suffering from kidney deficiency, it's not a good idea to put cold food into your body.

Cholesterol goes up and sugar level problems start up.

First of all, if you want to detox, you need the supervision of a health-care practitioner. While in California I was treated by a Vietnamese acupuncturist who was also one of my greatest instructors. He used to warn people if they wanted to stop coffee they should not do it cold turkey. But to slowly let the body adjust. A healing crisis can develop when the body is overloaded with toxins. The skin, bowels, sinuses, kidneys and lungs can start to excrete. Rashes are common. UTIs are extremely common. I personally get bladder infections when I start to detox.

Enzymes can really help a healing crisis. My suggestion is that unless you have cancer or some serious illness that to go slowly is the best bet. There are those people whose bodies are used to going on several fasts a year, but most people get nervous when they have to change their eating habits. What they don't realize is that when the body gets healthier, their energy level shoots up.

Drinking 8-10 glasses of pure water a day away from meals will flush out the system. At Jade Spring Health Center, we offer a number of reasonably priced supplements to help with detoxification. They don't just help with the physical level, they support the emotional component as well.

In short, enzymes are the mules of the body. Vitamins have to combine with enzymes before the body can use them. Over nutrition can lead to under absorption which will give us low energy.

We need to add to our enzyme supply, not deplete it. And a word of wisdom for you athletes out there as well as women going through menopause: when the body temperature rises, the need for enzymes rises, too.

To study about enzymes in more depth, read Food Enzymes: The Missing Link by Humbart Santillo, N.D., (Hohm Press).

Developed by Dr. Ellen Cutler, Protease Plus recently became available. It is a great blood cleanser and protein digester and indispensable when suffering from allergies. It's also great to take to clear inflammation. I use it for headaches. It can be used for bladder infections or any infection as well as colds. When you feel a cold coming on, take one Protease Plus and one Nose and Throat Enzyme every fifteen minutes until you see an improvement.

A lack of hydrochloric acid may cause heartburn and digestive problems. As a person ages, the ability to secrete gastric acid decreases. Betaine HCl is not an enzyme, but a hydrochloric acid that aids digestion. Not everyone needs HCl. Oftentimes a digestive enzyme will suffice.

Your body needs 70 minerals a day to stay healthy. Every cell must have them to function properly. If you don't have a sufficient mineral supply, your body and life lack quality.

You can't get the minerals necessary from the food you eat because our soil has been badly depleted. Over the last 100 years, the mineral levels in fruits, vegetables and grains have decreased by 70 percent. So no matter how much grain you ate all day long, you could not get the nutrients you need. And while I'm all for organic produce and wish everyone could afford it, organic food is also grown in poor soil.

Organic minerals work but inorganic ones do not. Inorganic minerals are in the metallic form in which they're found in the soil and rocks. They are not easily absorbed into the cells and can create a toxic buildup. Organic minerals have been processed through the plant kingdom through photosynthesis and are rapidly assimilated into the cells, used and carried out of the cells, preventing toxicity. There are organic trace minerals that act as natural chelating agents where they attach themselves to a metal, carry it into the cell and then carry it back out of the cell where it is eliminated.

In Chinese Medicine, the Metal element is what gives quality to the bones, tissues and to life. People lacking in the necessary minerals cannot have a high quality of life. The key to enlightenment is photosynthesis.
 

Go back and read the February 2001 Newsletter which suffices as our Allergy Handbook. Yes, the more allergies you have, the higher the cost. Through muscle testing, we determine what organs are stressed and what supplements (enzymes, etc.) are necessary to strengthen them. The sicker a person is, chances are the more supplements they will need. I tell my patients to consider their supplements as part of their grocery bill. Instead of complaining about the cost of treatment (which is, in the long run, a lot less than most medical services) and need for supplements, it's a good idea to practice giving thanks and gratitude for a system that works well 80-90 percent of the time. I feel very lucky to do this work. Bear in mind also that if you are chronically ill, you may need more than just BioSET treatments. Oftentimes I recommend that a patient receive acupuncture at one visit and BioSET at the next But every individual is unique and as I have said previously, in order to make payment easier, I now have Visa/MasterCard and offer discounts on prepaid, prescheduled appointments.

BioSET works great with children. So many parents bring in their kids because allergy shots are traumatic for a kid to endure and oftentimes they simply don't do any good. Little kids, two and three years old, are so full of antibiotics and suffering from yeast infections. If MDs would spend ten minutes just holding the child and playing with the child, I don't think they would be so quick to prescribe drugs for a toddler. Colorpuncture is also a wonderful modality for treating kids. They take to it like a trout to a stream. Colorpuncture can get the lymph system moving and it doesn't hurt. In fact, kids think it feels great. It calms them down and gets their attention. Some say it "tickles!"

First of all, a course of BioSET treatments is the logical step. It's acceptable to do the allergy elimination while the child is still taking conventional allergy shots. In fact, we can clear the child for the shots. Many times a child can develop an allergy to the substance the allergens are bottled in.

Even though BAET treatments can detox a child and eliminate their allergy to cow milk or wheat, it's important for kids to be on a nurturing diet. I encourage parents to start buying organic foods and to buy their meat at the Amish Market in Annapolis. The meats are inexpensive, delicious and are free of hormones.

However, the vegetables and fruits at the Annapolis Amish Market are imported from California. Fresh Fields offers a personal shopper service which some parents take advantage of.

It's better to switch to organic goat milk, soy, rice milk, almond milk and oat milk. You can gradually dilute the cow milk with goat milk until the child doesn't notice a difference. It's important not to try to make all changes at once. To go slowly and methodically. I do recommend that parents stop giving their kids orange juice and they stop drinking it themselves.

After a child has received 20-30 allergy elimination treatments, parents are usually open to learning how to muscle test the child themselves. I encourage that they do and I am willing to teach people how to muscle test others, their pets and how to muscle test for themselves. If we are living in this toxic world where manufacturers (not to mention the FDA) try to slip unhealthy things into our food supply, we need to be able to ask our bodies if it's okay to eat this cracker or that fruit. Fructose is still sugar.

Even if it snows, the yang energy of winter is on the rise. Spring began showing up in patients' pulses around Valentine's Day. Spring is the time for creativity, for goal planning and for getting your ideas out in the world. If you feel like your growth is stunted (physically, mentally or spiritually), and you can't stretch those tendons and ligaments, consider five-element acupuncture. If you're already a five-element acupuncture patient, it's time for your spring tune up.

Fresh flowers are beautiful but if your immune system is low, you may notice that you don't feel good when you bring them into the house. When I am run down or feel a cold coming on, I make sure I don't have any flowers in my house. Sending bouquets to sick people in the hospital is not a good idea. Maybe I LOVE YOU balloons are better.

In the last month, some of the surprising allergies that have surfaced are allergies to money (yes, money), gold, diamonds and dusk (yes, the time of day when the dark starts to take over). More common allergies include radioactivity, minerals, Vitamin C and E and of course, allergies to people, places and things. Many people are hypersensitive to the moon during its New and Full phases, exhibiting headaches and other symptoms at those times.

Aside from the usual rhinitis, sneezing and cravings, allergic symptoms can include poor memory, lack of focus, talking too loud, nightmares, no eye contact, non-stop chattering, pinching or hurting others, pushing people away, protruding abdomen, hair pulling, pack rat tendencies, tantrums, staring at people, spinning, sensitivity to sounds or light, unable to receive affection and becoming addicted to routines or compulsive behavior.

After Valentine's Day a lot of chocolate allergies started to surface. The phone started ringing off the hook. Why do so many people crave chocolate? Why do we have such a love/hate relationship with this dark love stuff? Many people who crave it might be trying to forget about the dark things that have happened in their lives concerning love relationships. It's not uncommon to find that women who have been raped or molested have a severe craving for chocolate. It can also camouflage the hurts we have suffered over having been mistreated in relationships. It seems that the deeper the hurt the more the person craves the darker, bitter kind. Many people (women especially) who feel they have been victimized think about chocolate a lot. Craving anything is a good clue that there's an allergy going on. Next time you feel like you gotta have that chocolate truffle that coats your lips with powdered cocoa, massage your thymus gland clockwise for a few minutes instead (and I'll try to do the same).

When you just think of a food, do you start to salivate or become fearful? That's your body talking to you. When you go to make coffee and the coffee spills all over the kitchen counter, that just might be your body saying, "I don't want it." When that cookie finally is about to reach your mouth and it drops and the dog gets it, there may be a message coming from Mr. Stomach, like, "Don't send that thing down here or I'll throw it back up all over your new cashmere sweater." If the messages are not that strong, just try sitting with an item in your lap for a half hour and pay attention to how you feel. If you're holding a banana and you start to cough or start to worry or your self esteem drops, it's your dear old body talking.

It's common for a patient when they're going through BAET clearing to become fearful or anxious while still holding onto the allergen. It's strange, but when something is leaving us, even if it isn't good for us, there can be a sense of loss. When I have cleared myself for parasites, I have often felt a deep sadness. Sometimes grief needs to move out before it can be replaced with gratitude or joy.