Enzyme Nutrition by Dr. Edward Howell Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Enzyme Nutrition
Book Review: The Missing Link of Essential Nutrition
Summary: 5 Stars
This seminal work by Dr. Howell fills a much needed void in the nutrition paradigm. With abundant clinical research to back his findings, he explains the critical importance of consuming foods rich in natural enzymes and how these life-sustaining molecules are destroyed by our modern methods of cooking, sterilizing, and processing foods. Written on a level basic enough for people with little nutrition background, yet comprehensive enough to take a doctor like myself to a new level of understanding regarding the power of raw foods in both health and disease. He even takes one quote from the standard "bible" of anatomy for all U.S. medical schools, Gray's Anatomy, which points out that the human stomach is actually similar to the well known ruminant animals in having two seperate divisions for digestion. This book, which took over 20 years to compile and originally spanned over 700 pages, was written by a man who dedicated his life to patient care and research. This is an excellent primer for anyone interested in learning the value of unadulterated food in its natural state for health maintenance, as well as the ultimate natural weapon in conquering disease.Book Review: The Real Deal
Summary: 5 Stars
This book turned my conceptions of food, nutrition, disease, disorder, and digestion up-side-down. If you have doubts about *why* a raw food diet is a good idea, and why in many cases it can save a person's life, then this is the book to start with. "Enzyme Nutrition" is pretty much a scientific book. It is not a manifesto, or a how-to book, but rather a presentation of one man's life-long research into the role that food enzymes play in human digestion. Don't let that scare you away, however, because the language is very easy to understand, and the book is easy to read. In fact, this book is a condensation of the author's unpublished 700 page book, a book that supposedly took him 20 years to write.It is really a shame that this book is not a bestseller, and that Dr. Howell's theories are not more widely known. The ideas in it are, pardon the possible hyperbole, revolutionary. Many of the ideas that you read in other raw food and enzyme books are based on Howell's research (although, to be accurate, not all raw food advocates are advocates of Howell's ideas). I can not recommend this book highly enough. I hope I live to see Howell's theories accepted by the mainstream "medical establishment," just as the discoveries of vitamins and minerals (which are only two-thirds of the equation) have.
Book Review: The Secret
Summary: 5 Stars
The Secret of all life is clearly shown to us in this book.Book Review: This book changed my life!
Summary: 5 Stars
This one of my favorite books on enzymes. I am the author of two books on this topic and attribute my career to having read this book in 1997. Though this book is now a bit outdated it still offers valuable insights into the research of and practical application of enzymes as a therapy. It is also very helpful in addressing the real benefit of raw food diets and how they contribute to a longer, healthier life.
This is a must read for anyone interested in enzymes!
You might also find this book of interest:
Everything You Need to Know About Enzymes: A Simple Guide to Using Enzymes to Treat Everything from Digestive Problems and Allergies to Migraines and Arthritis
Book Review: What a Sham!
Summary: 1 Stars
I have to confess that I couldn't stomach reading more than a little over two chapters of this book. It was clear by then that this wasn't going to be worth the time to read. I've read several dozen health-related books and this is the only that has provoked that response in me. So what turned me off? I started to get an uneasy feeling when the author stated that he spent a significant part of his career working for the National Enzyme Company, which specializes in selling enzyme supplements. That's a conflict of interest that, at least for me, casts significant suspicion on the results of his research. And I had the feeling that he was cherry picking the research of others to support his conclusions, though obviously I didn't stick with the book long enough to confirm or deny this feeling.
But the thing I couldn't stomach was the proposition that over production of digestive enzymes by your body (to compensate for lack of enzymes in your food) causes your body to deplete a finite store of enzymes (which are also needed for metabolism), and once you've depleted your enzyme "bank account" you're dead. So he basically proposes that the way to put off death is to eat lots of raw, natural foods (for their enzymes, which are destroyed when foods are cooked - this minimizes your body's need to overproduce digestive enzymes and thus preserves enzymes for metabolism) and to live your life in such a way as to minimize your rate of metabolism so as to preserve your metabolism enzymes. Basically you should be a couch potato, but eat a very healthy diet. Doing so will have you living to a ripe old age. But if this were the case, wouldn't athletes all die young from over-metabolizing? I think about my 91 year old Uncle Bill - exercises religiously, smoked and drank a good part of his life, and eats very poorly. Yet he's in better shape than most folks 20 years younger. Now some people would correctly point out that as you become very fit your BASAL metabolic rate declines. They may point to this as proof of the author's point. But people only become fit by being very active, so their overall metabolic rate is higher than that of an unfit, sedentary person.
At least it wasn't a total waste. I did learn there are three types of enzymes - metabolic, digestive and those contained in foods. And I suspect there is benefit in preserving the natural enzymes in most foods, which is part of why folks on a diet that avoids processed foods enjoy better health than those eat too many processed foods. But if I could give this book zero stars I would.