In America, you may think that Congress passes laws, the President signs them, and those laws run the country. If you think it is that simple, you are missing the “fourth branch” of government – the role played by the myriad of governmental agencies. The FCC, OSHA, EPA, FAA, FDA, HUD, the IRS, and nearly 50 other agencies are collectively controlling the rules by which we live by. Yes, laws are passed, but the agencies are tasked with setting the details of those rules, and their interpretations can deviate significantly from the laws themselves. So much so, in fact, that we are having massive numbers of lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of many of the regulations that are being passed down. This process takes time, and until it completes, agency rules are the effective laws of the country.
The appointed members of these agencies are critically important. When new members are appointed, they usually get confirmed and the news media barely mentions them. Yet their viewpoints and leanings will shape the direction of those agencies and the interpretations of laws that they turn into regulations. They are in control of the country’s ongoing operation.
Your cells have “agencies” as well. They are supposed to take the genetic code and pass it along to the working components of the cell. These regulators are proteins, usually enzymes, that control cell function primarily by enabling biochemical reactions to occur rapidly. Cells need certain reactions to occur to function normally, and enzymes are the keys that allow those reactions. These enzymes are in control of the cell’s operation. Without them, cell function would cease.
Yet, enzymes are just enablers. The reactions they enable must have chemical components, called “substrates”, available to act upon. The only reason these substrates are not reacting on their own is because the chemical process requires a key portion of the reaction that does not easily happen – at least not without the help of the enzyme. There is a “hump” of sorts in the reaction, an energy roadblock, and the enzyme gets the reaction over the hump. This is similar to a siphon in a hose: you can take a bucket of water filled full, put a hose in it so that the hose routes over the top of the bucket and down to the ground, and water will not flow through the hose until you create a siphon, meaning that you somehow pull enough water through the hose so that it is filled with water. Then the siphon works and water will flow through the hose and out of the bucket. Gravity is pulling the water towards the ground all the time, but until the siphon is activated, the water has no path to get over the top of the bucket and to the ground. How fast the water flows out depends on how much water is in the bucket, how big the hose is, and how thick (sludged up/contaminated) is the water.
Enzymes get the reaction over the hump by temporarily binding with the substrate and enabling the portion of the reaction that has the energy barrier. Enzymes in your body are working all the time, or you would not be alive. However, enzyme effectiveness is another matter – that is controlled by the amount of substrate available, the quantity of the enzymes, and the existence of inhibiting factors. All these aspects are impacted by diet and other environmental issues inside the cells. Enzymes are even necessary for the process of DNA and cell replication. Their “regulations” even control epigenetics, or the expression of the genetic code. When we look at enzymes, we are looking at the inner workings of physical life itself. And since enzyme effectiveness is highly affected by environment, how well that physical life functions is dependent on the internal environmental conditions the enzymes encounter. The effectiveness of enzyme activity is called the “enzyme reaction rate.” The faster the rate, the better, if the enzyme reaction is desirable.
Enzymes enable gene expression
Genes are portions of code in DNA, and DNA is in turn tied up with proteins into “chromatin.” The chromatin structure is very tightly folded up so that the massive amount of information it contains takes up very little space. However, in this compact form it is hard for the gene reading process to function, and portions of the chromatin must be opened up to be used. The open portions are the genes that can be expressed by the production of proteins with the same coding as the genes. Epigenetics is the process where only certain genes are expressed, while most are ignored. The opening up of portions of chromatin containing the genes to be expressed is enabled by enzymes. Therefore, enzymes are key to epigenetics. And that means that the right enzymes need to be made available, in sufficient quantities, for proper genetic expression to occur.
Published in Science Advances(, researchers at the Max Plank Institute of Biophysics in Frankfurt, Germany tracked levels of a specific enzyme that opens up chromatin at a specific point, which is an epigenetic process, thus enabling specific gene expression vital to the development of blood cells. Their research showed that insufficient levels of the enzyme resulted in poor differentiation of cells into blood cells, leading to anemia. In the human body, 3 million red blood cells die every second, but also 3 million replacements are born, if the enzymatic process is working correctly. This is just one example of why you would not live even for a few minutes without enzymes.
Can’t do this alone
Many enzymes require “co-factors”, which are additions to the enzyme molecule that are needed to complete the enzyme. These are non-protein additions to an enzyme molecule that are nonetheless vital to the enzyme’s function. There are two types of co-factors: inorganic, such as metal ions (example: magnesium), and organic, which are carbon-based molecules that get attached to the enzyme to complete it (they are also called co-enzymes). Co-factors must be present in the environment to make the enzyme function. The building blocks of co-factors come from vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals (plant-based chemicals).
Most water-soluble vitamins are co-factors or support the construction of co-factors. For example, vitamin B12 is needed for the coenzymes methylcobalamin and deoxyadenoxylcobalamin. You cannot expect superior function of a particular enzyme in your body without the necessary building blocks being available first. While modern science has isolated a number of vitamins crucial for enzymes, many more phytochemicals exist and are likely even more valuable in providing a full range of enzyme functions, and plants are the source for phytochemicals — and those phytochemicals are most active when the plant has not been cooked.
An example of the importance of enzymes in life is the ATP cycle. Here the very energy that your cells use is generated through a multi-step chemical process. In that cycle, enzymes called “ATPases” are vital for certain steps. Published in Frontiers in Physiology, researchers at Institut de Biochimie et Génétique Cellulaires, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Université de Bordeaux, in Bordeaux, France, along with partnering universities, concluded that diminished oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) supported by the ATP synthase enzyme accounts for over 150 mitochondrial dysfunction syndromes. Any disruption in the ATP cycle is devastating to health, and without plentiful necessary enzymes, the ATP cycle is easily impaired.
Enzymes are the functional agencies of your body, promoting and controlling your cellular function. While the genes are the official law of your body, the proteins are really in control. Enzyme proteins enable chemical reactions of the cells, making the biochemical processes that support your life happen. A high enzyme reaction rate means your life process, and thus your health, runs better. To make enzymes, the building blocks need to be available (vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals). Some enzymes are part of the epigenetic process, meaning they are controlling gene expression. And epigenetics controls enzyme production. Epigenetic gene expression is an effort by your cells to optimize life in their present environment. What does all of this come down to? Environment – it’s that simple.
Dr. Nemec’s Review
Enzymes are proteins that speed up the millions of chemical reactions that occur every second in your cells. Without them you die very quickly. With less of them your cells die prematurely or can malfunction or mutate. The second part of the picture is the cofactors that are needed for the enzymes to work efficiently. These are the vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals that come from your diet. The biggest category that affects your enzyme function are the phytochemicals. These are plant bound chemicals that turn on enzyme function to the maximum level. Now the third part of the picture is: what form are these phytochemicals in? The best is the most natural state which is living and raw. All animals in nature that eat plants do not eat them after they are cooked. They do not eat them out of the refrigerator, they eat them alive as they grow. So this is the highest level of not only phytochemical activity but also this living food (and raw food, which is second best to living) adds enzymes themselves into your body to spare you wasting the production of digestive enzymes in your digestive tract. When you eat living and raw plants and greens you are not only turning on the cofactors to maximize enzyme reaction rate at the highest but also you are adding enzymes into your overall enzyme bank account. This is a big deal and many people do not eat very much if any living and/or raw plants that are not cooked. Cooking denatures the enzymes and alters the efficiency of the phytochemicals. So remember to eat a lot of living and raw greens, vegetables and sprouts in your daily diet. Your cells are counting on you so they do not have to die early or transform into pathogenic cancer cells.
Here are the ways we can help you in your health journey:
- Outpatient Comprehensive Teaching and Treatment Program-has the most benefit of teaching, treatment, live classes and personalized coaching. This program has the most contact with Dr. Nemec with 3- 6 month programs that can be turned into a regular checking and support program for life. This is our core program that has helped so many restore their health and maintain that restoration for years.
- Inpatient Comprehensive Teaching and Treatment Program-is our four-week intensive inpatient program for those that are not in driving distance, usually over 4 hour drive. This is the program that is an intensive jumpstart with treatment, teaching, live classes and coaching designed for all our international patients along with those in the US that do not live in Illinois. This program is very effective especially when combined with our new membership program support.
- Stay at Home Program-is offered to continental US patients who cannot come to Total Health Institute but still want a more personal, customized plan to restore their health. This program also includes our Learn Membership Program.
- Membership Program is our newest program offered for those that want to work on their health at a high level and want access to the teaching at Total Health Institute along with the Forums: both Dr. Nemec’s posts and other members posting. And also, to have the chance to get personalized questions answered on the conference calls which are all archived in case you miss the call. The Membership Program has 3 levels to choose from: Learn, Overcome and Master. The difference is at the Overcome and Master levels you received one on one calls with Dr. Nemec personalizing your program for your areas of focus.
