As you may know, enzymes are the essential building blocks of life. They are key to the body’s ability to properly digest and benefit from the food we eat, and they provide the energy we use to rebuild muscles, cells, nerves, tissue, bone, and glands. As such, these enzymes spark the chemical reactions responsible for breathing, digestion, growth, reproduction, and most other body functions. Dr. Max Wolf, M.D., who researched enzymes and hormones at Columbia University from the 1930's through the 1960's, determined that enzyme production diminishes in humans after age 27. While humans have historically supplemented their enzyme levels by consuming fresh, raw foods, modern preservation and preparation techniques often destroy the enzymes these foods contain. Combined, these conditions create an enzyme deficiency that causes our bodies and normal body functions to break down. What does this mean? It means we must supplement our diets with systemic enzymes – those that offer system-wide benefits – just as we supplement the vitamins, minerals, and herbs that are essential for good health.Enzymes are proteins that act as catalysts, speeding the rate at which biochemical reactions proceed but not altering the direction or nature of the reactions. Enzymes are found in every cell of every living plant and animal, including humans. As biocatalysts, they either begin a reaction or cause a reaction to speed up. Without enzymes, life would not exist.Enzymes work by virtue of their shape. An enzyme molecule can be compared, in shape at least, to many short strings of pearls (amino acids) strung together. This long string folds in on itself as certain sequences of amino acids are more attracted to each other than to other sequences, thus giving the enzymes a