Recently, Ms. Cao from Lin'an took a weight loss pill called "Enzyme Plum" purchased online for about ten days, and began to feel weak all over. At first, she thought it was heatstroke, but after two days, she not only felt tired but also had a poor appetite. On the third day, her condition became worse and worse. She vomited at night, her urine turned yellow, and her skin itchy.
So, she hurried to the hospital for treatment and found that the liver function was elevated due to blood tests. The doctor initially determined that it was "cholestasis liver disease" caused by the drug, and the culprit was "enzyme plum".
It is understood that "enzyme plum" is a product of green plums processed through multiple procedures by adding a variety of special substances. Some unknown components may need to be metabolized by the liver, which may cause drug-induced hepatitis or even liver failure.
Putting aside the unknown weight loss medicine ingredients, what exactly is enzyme ? Can it be used to lose weight? What is
enzyme
enzyme is actually what we usually call "enzyme". It is a type of protein that has special effects.
Junior high school chemistry knowledge tells us that some substances cannot react chemically under normal conditions, or the reaction speed is extremely slow. If some catalyst is added, the speed of chemical reaction can be accelerated by hundreds of times, and the products are greatly increased. Enzymes act as catalysts in organisms. Any life activity cannot be separated from the catalytic action of enzymes, including growth, metabolism, respiration, digestion, and absorption... Therefore, the body needs to synthesize various enzymes.
Because an enzyme can only be used specifically in a chemical reaction, such as respiration that cannot be used for metabolism, digestion that cannot be used for growth, and decomposition of protein that cannot digest fat, there are countless enzymes in the biological world. Moreover, the catalytic activity of enzymes is very strict in the environment, especially to pH and temperature. For example, once the human body temperature exceeds 37℃, the effect of many enzymes will fail, and people will feel weak in their limbs, dizziness, and even rice becomes difficult to digest, so try to eat white porridge when they have a fever.
The enzymes sold on the market do not refer to any specific enzyme in the organism, but the abbreviation of fruit and vegetable enzymes. They are mostly eaten directly by microorganisms after fermenting fruits and vegetables, or extracting the biologically active ingredients in them into capsules, dry powders, and liquids. These enzymes generally contain cholesterol-degrading enzymes, papain, etc., which are a mixture of multiple enzymes and other ingredients.
What effect can enzymes play
enzyme is a three-dimensional structure formed by connecting one amino acid into a chain shape and twisting and folding. When proteins enter the digestive tract, they will be destroyed by various digestive fluids, such as gastric acid, proteases, etc., and the chains are cut into pieces, and only individual amino acids will be absorbed. In other words, the enzyme will be decomposed by the body from the entrance and lose its original structure and function.
enzymes have very low content in enzymes. Not to mention "drink 100 ml a day" as advertised, even if you drink 1,000 ml, the total protein obtained is only 0.2 grams. Even if a very small amount of enzymes that have not been decomposed successfully enter the body, how much function can it play? Moreover, they need specific temperatures, pH and targets to work. None of the conditions are possible. The so-called weight loss, skin care, detoxification and other effects are just beautiful imaginations.
Many enzyme products claim that in addition to enzymes, they also contain beneficial ingredients such as vitamins, probiotics, fiber, etc. To find out, in fact, due to the activity of microorganisms, vitamin substances will be decomposed and destroyed. For example, after a week of fermentation, the content of vitamin C will drop to 1/10 of the initial value. At the same time, whether microorganisms can enter the intestine alive after entering the stomach full of strong acids is a problem. Even if a small amount can enter the intestine, they have to face the bacteria that already exist in the intestine. In the end, there are very few people who successfully "settle" the bacteria, and the effect of improving the intestinal bacteria has always been controversial. There are cellulose substances, but with a little fiber amount, it is better to eat an apple or sweet potato.
So, the health care effect of enzymes is minimal, and more nutrients are found in the cells of vegetables and fruits, so it is better to eat vegetables and fruits directly.
Is it harmful to eat enzymes
Since eating enzymes cannot have any health care effects, is it harmful to the human body to eat them regularly?
The process of producing enzymes is to put it bluntly, which means putting various fruits and vegetables together and giving appropriate temperature and humidity, so that the lactic acid bacteria , which comes with fruits and vegetables, undergo metabolic reactions, decompose proteins in fruits and vegetables, and finally produces nutrients such as amino acids, lactic acid, vitamins, etc.
From this we can see that most of the enzymes are enzymes released after the death and lysis of microorganisms, rather than the cells derived from fruits and vegetables as many people imagine.
Of course, if the enzyme is produced by a regular manufacturer and has qualified hygiene supervision and can be strictly monitored for the proliferation of harmful bacteria, there is nothing wrong with eating amino acids, peptides, cellulose produced by these microorganisms, as well as sugars and other auxiliary ingredients added to improve the taste. They are all nutrients, and it is the same as eating amino acids and vitamin capsules.
If you really want to eat it, you must go to a regular merchant to buy it. The risk of online counterfeit products being contaminated by harmful microorganisms may be greater.
Really dangerous enzyme
However, homemade " fruit enzyme " is much more dangerous. Most of the methods taught online are similar to pickled kimchi. They are washed and cut into pieces, mixed with a certain proportion of sugar and water, put them in a clean container, sealed their mouths, and left in a cool place for a week or two. The liquid obtained is fruit enzyme.
The production method is essentially a natural fermentation, that is, no artificial addition of bacterial species, and rely solely on the microorganisms carried on the surface of the raw materials to reproduce to form a certain colony, fermentation process. The obtained fruit enzymes are theoretically sweet and sour: the sweetness source is the sugar added in advance and the sugar released by the fruit itself, and the sourness comes from lactic acid bacteria. If the fruit enzyme has a alcoholic flavor, it is because yeast produces alcohol when oxygen is exhausted in the container. Compared with the manufacturer's, homemade enzymes obviously produce more impurities and the taste is not that good.
More importantly, the composition of colonies during fermentation is easily affected by the external environment. In addition to the yeast or lactic acid bacteria required for fermentation, other microorganisms are also ready to move, including fungi, , and pathogenic bacteria. If you are not careful during the production process, miscellaneous bacteria and pathogens will "occupy the mountains and be king". The fruit enzymes produced in this way will not only not play a health-care role, but will also pose a threat to health. For example, molds have neurotoxicity, embryonic toxicity and certain carcinogenicity, and have an inhibitory effect on the animal's immune system. Therefore, if you see homemade fruit enzymes, you must throw them away quickly.
In addition, even if there is no mildew, some bacteria will produce many substances that are harmful to the human body. For example, nitrite and methanol are common harmful substances during the fermentation process. They can cause poisoning and cancer. I believe everyone is familiar with it.
It is precisely because family conditions are difficult to control bacterial strains, so homemade enzymes inevitably produce these unpopular bacteria, and they are difficult to detect. Although eating a little by chance will not make people sick immediately, if eaten regularly, it will be difficult to protect you from your health.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-