Thrive: The Vegan Nutrition Guide to Optimal Performance in Sports and Life

made up of high-quality fats, all in the health-promoting form of fatty acids, including essential fatty acids. It includes:
     

     
    The final tier consists of starches, primarily from whole unmodified grains and starchy vegetables. It includes:
     

     

raw and low-temperature cooked foods
     

enzyme enhancement
     
    Food that has not been heated above about 118 degrees Fahrenheit is considered to be raw. High-temperature cooking and processing of food destroys the enzymes and nutrients that allow the food to be efficiently digested. Therefore, before the body can make use of cooked food, it must produce enzymes to aid in the digestion process. That takes work—an energy draw that creates a nominal amount of stress.
     
    One of the least appreciated yet most important components of our diet, enzymes are vital to achieving optimal health. An absence of enzymes in your diet can result in the same sickness and disease associated with malnutrition, even if your diet is otherwise healthy. Without enzymes, food cannot be turned into usable fuel for the body. As with hormones, enzyme production in the body diminishes with age, leaving us reliant on diet to provide them.
     
    In the distant past, that was of little concern, as enzymes were plentiful in food. But today enzymes are not so abundant in our foods. As our fresh whole-food choices dwindle, making way for highly refined, processed options, enzymes in our foods diminish. Meanwhile, our ailments are on the rise. Coincidence? Probably not. I believe poor dietary habits and stress are again at the root of the problem. Poor diet depletes our system: The digestion of starchy, sugary, and fatty foods is a major draw on body-produced enzymes, further diminishing our precious supply.
     
    Plant foods have several advantages, including easy digestibility and bioavailability (the rate at which the food is absorbed by the body and exerts an effect). Fatigue, bloating, cramping, and an upset stomach can often be attributed to poor digestion. Many whole plant foods have enzymes that facilitate quick and efficient digestion. The quicker nutrients are extracted from the food, the sooner the food can be eliminated—a key factor in optimal health. As well, insoluble fibrous plant matter (discussed in Chapter 5) speeds waste through our system, reducing the risk of toxins settling in the colon and then spreading throughout the body.
     
    Enzyme-rich foods help ensure the body makes use of the nutrients in the food.
     
     
    There is some evidence to suggest that consuming too many processed, cooked foods for several years exhausts the body’s enzyme-producing glands, resulting in poor digestion and assimilation of food later in life. This is one possible reason for the rapidity of signs of aging and disease—food is no longer nourishing the body the way it once did, simply because it’s not being digested the way it once was.
     
    Stress also destroys enzymes. Stress damages cells that enzymes in part are required to reconstruct. But stress also inhibits the body’s ability to produce enzymes, creating a catch-22 situation. Let’s look at an example: Pollutants in the air are a draw on the immune system and enzymes are called upon to fortify it, yet this environmental stress is reducing the body’s ability to produce the needed enzymes.
     
    The speed and quality of cell reconstruction after exercise depend in part on the body’s enzyme levels. If the body does not have enough enzymes to draw on, the reconstructive process will slow, speeding signs of aging. Low enzymatic levels, due partly to stress, slow the repair of stress-related damage, using up more energy over the course of more time. That means that more stress will be created over that period than if the body had the enzymes to speed the recovery in the first place. Since it’s a stress, this in turn can lower enzyme levels, creating a vicious circle. Enzymes are a vital part of the regeneration process, which in turn is part of the anti-aging process.
     
    For enzyme health, it would ideal for all of us to eat only raw, organic food the day it’s harvested, not be exposed to any environmental pollutants, and to live a stress-free life. Obviously, this is not realistic. But we can enhance our enzyme intake and production. Since raw foods have enzymes still intact, they are a vital component of a healthy diet. The Thrive Diet is built on a platform of enzyme-rich foods. Those who follow the diet will simply