Proteins, Enzymes and Amino Acids
Protein: Is It In You?
Protein Deficient? Chances Are You Are!
Did you know that 9 out of 10 people lack the proper amount of protein
in their systems in order for their bodies to function properly? Even
though you may be eating a sufficient amount of protein it does not mean
that your body is utilizing it. When our dietary proteins are consumed
in the proper amount and balance, as well as properly digested, our bodies
will create systemic proteins, which keep our bodies intact. When our
diet is lacking in this essential nutrient, our pancreas will stop creating
the enzymes for proper digestion, and our body will become unable to manufacture
much needed systemic protein. In a very short period of time this deficiency
will cause our bodies to malfunction and we will begin experiencing the
symptoms of disease.
Why Is Protein Important?
Protein is throughout our body, providing structure, function, and organization.
It is in our skin, nails and hair. It is in our blood, lymph, and plasma.
It enables our muscles to contract. It provides integrity to the walls
of our intestines. It fights infection in our body and repairs any tissue
damage that occurs. It is in our bone and brain cells. It makes the enzymes
that digest our food, repair damaged DNA, and regulate all chemical reactions
in our body. It forms lung cells. It carries oxygen to cells. It removes
toxins from the liver. It makes up all neurotransmitters except one. It
maintains a proper pressure differential between the fluid inside and
outside of our cells. It makes 95 percent of all hormones in the body
as well as carrying hormones, vitamins, fatty acids and minerals to the
cells.
Protein Turnover
The list goes on and on. The point is that when we talk about protein
we are not talking about a part of the system, we are talking about the
system itself. When we assimilate protein into the system daily, we are
keeping the entire system intact. When we are protein deficient, we will
begin to miss pieces of our system resulting in systemic malfunction.
It would be as if the foundation of your house started to degrade and
so the walls cracked. Then the roof tiles started to degrade and so the
rain came in and rotted the floor. Then the insulation degraded and the
unprotected wiring inside shorted out and set the rest of your unstable,
rotting house on fire! Luckily the materials comprising your house are
pretty stable and last for years before degrading. Protein, however, is
not stable, it is constantly being used up and exchanged for new protein
in a process called "protein turnover." About one pound of protein
a day is used up in this process, and so it needs to be replenished from
the diet on a daily basis.
Here are some examples of turnover times for different body proteins:
1. enzymes-7-10 min.
2. insulin-30 min.
3. liver protein-10 days
4. muscle protein-60 days
5. In 1 year all the protein in our body has turned over.
How Are Proteins Made?
When dietary protein is consumed in a healthy system it is broken down
by stomach acid and pancreatic enzymes into amino acids, (the molecules
from which protein is made) absorbed through the small intestine, and
made available to the body for systemic protein production. Literally
thousands of different kinds of proteins are being manufactured constantly
in our body from 20 different amino acids. The body can make 10 of these,
and the other 10 are considered "essential", meaning they must
be acquired from the diet.
What Happens If You Don't Get The Proper Amino Acids?
Amino acids must be present in the body in the sufficient quantity and
proper ratio to one another in order for protein production to properly
occur. Research is finding consistently, that when amino acids are low,
missing or out of balance, the body will begin to malfunction. This malfunction
starts with the digestive system. Poor diet as well as certain illnesses
(such as alcoholism and hepatitis) cause amino acid deficiency due to
pancreatic malfunction because, when the pancreas can not make digestive
enzymes (remember these are made from amino acids) in sufficient quantity,
dietary protein will not be broken down sufficiently to be used by the
body for systemic protein production. Lack of systemic protein means the
liver will start clogging with toxins, wounds will heal more and more
slowly and blood sugars will be less stable. Mineral and vitamin deficiencies
occur, hormones become unbalanced. The brain will cease making enough
of certain important chemicals leading to mood disorders, hyperactivity,
attention deficit, and depression. Immune system proteins become low diminishing
the work of antioxidants, leaving the body prey to viral and bacterial
infection.
How Can You Keep This From Happening?
Dr. Vickery's Platinum
Plus Amino Acids are a balanced blend of amino acids. When Platinum
Plus Amino Acids enter the body and move through the stomach, immediate
production of systemic protein begins. Pancreatic cells churn out digestive
enzymes, which properly break down foods into more amino acids. Amino
acids are then carried all over the body to produce the thousands of proteins
necessary to sustain the structure and function of our body.
In a well functioning system the body will not over produce any of the
10 nonessential amino acids. The amino acid production process has a built
in mechanism to keep this from occurring. The 10 essential amino acids
in Platinum Plus Amino Acids are combined in a balanced blend to encourage
optimal amino acid activity in the system. The Vickery's clinical
studies have consistently found that a well balanced diet supplemented
with Platinum Plus Amino Acids along with the vitamin blend Bio Multi
Plus and the essential fatty acid blend Platinum Flax/Borage, will maintain
a healthy system and revitalize a diseased one.
Enzymes and Amino Acids
 The
keys to good health are an abundance of digestive enzymes
and the proper digestive pH for them to perform complete
digestion. Here's how the system works:
The food goes into the mouth and gets mixed with enzymes that begin
the process of carbohydrate pre-digestion in the mouth (this is why it's
so important to chew your food well.) The food travels to the upper stomach,
where it sits for one hour in a relatively high pH, pre-digesting and
getting ready for the more acidic pH of the lower stomach, where hydrochloric
acid will begin protein breakdown and fat emulsification. Then the food
enters the duodenum where pancreatic juices are supposed to raise the
pH so that the pancreatic enzymes can finish the job of digestion, breaking
the food down to the point that the body can use it for repair, protection,
and maintenance. If the food is not fully broken down, the body will not
be able to use it. If this situation continues over a period of time,
chronic disease will set in. When the digestion process is complete, the
small intestine will allow the food to pass through into the body where
it is used to make blood, bone, muscle, hormones, enzymes, neurons, and
everything else it needs. Incompletely digested food may pass through
the intestinal lumen, but the body cannot use it.
Pancreatic juices
Say we have an overproduction of hydrochloric acid in the lower stomach
that pours into the duodenum. This calls for an extra rich supply of sodium,
potassium and bicarbonate ions in the pancreatic juice to raise the pH
enough so that digestion can be successful. However, what if our diet
is chronically acid, what if we are under a lot of emotional stress, or
what if we take certain medications (such as antidepressants, blood pressure
medicine, or diuretics.) All these are things that will leave our system
poor in alkalizing elements and we will not have enough sodium or potassium
for our pancreas to put in its juice. The pH of the duodenum will remain
too low for optimal digestion. The enzymes that complete protein and carbohydrate
digestion in the pancreas, work within a specific pH range. In the center
of that range, they are at peak performance. As the pH moves to the limits
of the range, their performance drops. So if we are right at the limit
or just over the limit of the pH range for these enzymes, we are getting
incomplete digestion activity from the enzymes. Now, if our pH goes and
we can't digest our food, then what is our body going to use to make
more digestive enzymes?
Digestive Enzymes
When protein is completely broken down it becomes single amino acids,
which our body uses to make, among many other things, digestive enzymes.
(Amino acids also create the mineral carriers of the body so that the
alkalizing minerals like sodium and potassium get where they need to go
in the body, thereby protecting the pH of things like the pancreatic juice.)
When protein cannot be broken down into amino acids, our body can't
use it. So, if we are making less and less digestive enzymes (as well
as less and less of everything else our body needs) our food is digesting
less and less. Until finally we begin to experience the symptoms of chronic
illness. Fine, we say, we will take antacids to buffer our digestive pH
level. Antacids will raise the pH in the stomach, which needs to be low
to start protein breakdown. In this scenario, inefficiently predigested
fats and proteins enter the duodenum which:
1) is not designed to do the job of the stomach, and
2) still doesn't have enough enzymes to do its part of the job.
Antacids Are Counterproductive
In other words: antacids compound the problem. The digestive system
is so complex that trying to control it from the outside is a losing proposition.
The only way to have success is to give the body the raw materials it
needs and let the digestive system heal itself. The basic raw materials
for digestive enzymes are amino acids. The body makes some of these itself
and has a very complicated system for keeping them in the proper balance.
The amino acids that the body does not manufacture are called essential
amino acids and must be supplied from outside sources. But if these are
not supplied in the proper balance, the entire amino acid system will
reduce in efficiency. All we have to do is figure out the essential amino
acid combination that will fit into the delicate Acid/Alkaline balance
the body demands in order to create the enzymes it needs!
Healthy Digestion
Dr. Vickery spent years researching this phenomenon and formulating
a very specific balance of pure, professional grade essential amino acids,
Platinum Plus Essential Amino Acids. Platinum
Plus allows the body to reverse this cycle of mal-digestion so that
it can heal itself and maintain that health. (To understand more about
amino acid supplements see
Product Notes.) Four to six Platinum Plus Amino Acid capsules a day
will protect the pancreatic enzyme level in your system so food digestion
will normalize. Taking Platinum Plus along with eating a diet that balances
digestive pH levels, will heal the body and ensure that it stays well.
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