The Enzyme Factor Paperback – April 1, 2010

Once again, we have a health book written by a gentleman in his 80's who is still enjoying excellent health. I think this is where we'd all like to be at his age: free of disease, healthy and happy, and pursuing our goals and ambitions. Rather than taking advice from relatively young people who feel pretty good while eating carcasses all day and having no idea what lies ahead in their next forty years, it makes more sense to follow the ideas of older people who continue to enjoy good health. To make this author's advice even more compelling, he is a gastroenterologist who has examined the colons of hundreds of thousands of people and compared their health with their diets.Having read nearly a hundred health books in my life, I found a lot of new insight in The Enzyme Factor. Dr. Shinya says that he has used a colonoscope to study the intestines of chimps and found almost no difference between their digestive system and those of humans. The only striking difference he found was that chimps, who are 98% vegetarian, have clean and healthy colons while human colons are clogged with meat, dairy, and their damaging effects such as diverticuli, polyps, and inflamed blood vessels. He makes the argument that all disease begins in the colon, and does a fairly good job of explaining why. He also repeatedly stresses the importance of eating foods that are "alive," foods that contain natural enzymes (fruit and vegetables). Although I think his emphasis on whole grains might be a bit much (he recommends 50-60% of our diet should be whole grains and after all, I've never seen a chimp eat grain), I agree with his recommendation of keeping meat to no more than 15% of the diet. And by meat, he means white fish and seafood. He is a big fan of fruit, though, so I simply replaced the grains with fruit. I found it rather surprising that a gastroenterologist was unaware of the link between grain fiber and digestive disorders. Still, I found quite a bit of good advice here.Much of what I read in this book were the author's own suspicions and conjectures. Some reviewers had a problem with that, because for some people, something that has not been scientifically proven cannot possibly be true. In my opinion, this is foolish thinking. Did gravity not exist until Isaac Newton wrote down the equation? For example, Dr. Shinya suspects that there is an enzyme pool in the body from which it can draw and sometimes even create the enzymes it needs for any function. Simply by using digestive enzymes and eating foods rich in enzymes, we can make our bodies' jobs easier. If this conjecture appears to be the case, to someone who has been studying the subject for more than fifty years, we should be willing to listen. Who cares if it hasn't been proven yet? Some of Einstein's conjectures weren't proven until the 1990's. Highly intelligent people can see the truth before science validates it on paper. Shinya's intelligent perspective are worth the price of this book.I'm not sure the book has an appropriate title, though. If you're looking for a lot of deep talk about all the thousands of human enzymes and what they do in the body, you'll have to look elsewhere. He does not discuss specific enzymes. He simply says get as many enzymes from raw whole foods as possible and let your body do the rest. Don't clog up your intestines with too much meat and dairy. Eat a whole foods, mainly vegetarian diet. The diet plan is sensible and it will indeed keep your colon clean. Keeping your colon clean will help you live into your eighties as the author has done. I didn't find anything controversial here, but I did find a lot of insight and sensible advice. Highly recommended.I hope this review helped you decide whether or not this book will interest you.

Must read and a must to execute. I am terminally ill and this book has forever changed my life for the good. If only my doctors treated me and not each illness independently. Truly a life saving guide to better life.

While there is much in the way of theory and conjecture in this book, it IS coming from a most reputable source. The fact that Dr. Shinya, the doctor who first did colonoscopies and has done 370,000+ over the past 40 years, takes detailed dietary histories on his patients and correlates those dietary habits with physical findings in the colon--that's something I want to hear more about. I have had two colonoscopies, and no one ever asked the first word about my diet. I learned of Dr. Shinya from colonoscopy videos that popped up in youtube with some GI topic I was looking at. (Not for the faint, but if you're not grossed out, his videos of the insides of colons are very compelling to eat right). As a GI nurse, I was fascinated with them.Based on his observations, Dr. Shinya recommends a plant based diet, shuns dairy, and believes homogenized milk is a toxic substance (I don't think I'm overstating his opinion). In addition to a vegetarian diet, the doctor recommends drinking a couple of glasses of water first thing in the morning on an empty stomach, for cleansing. He drinks Kangen water, but I haven't made that leap yet. He also suggests occasionally having an early dinner and late breakfast, giving yourself a 16 hour fast, as an easy way to give your body a small cleansing fast. I can do that.There are more tips for staying healthy; he states he hasn't had a health problem since he was 19 years old, so again--I'm all ears. I take the studies funded by pharmaceutical companies with a large grain of salt; I'm more interested in hearing what healthy people living long lives are doing.This is a book by a true pioneer and authority on the subject, who has led a long and productive life and is still going strong physically and mentally. I am grateful he is sharing his knowledge to all of us who can't see him for an office visit.

As a patient of Dr. Shinya I was delighted to find that one of his books was translated into English. While the diet he recommends is more suitable in Asian culture, it is still very worthwhile reading for everyone no matter what ethinic background they come from.As usuual, the cost and delivery time were excellent.

I am a Kangen Alkaline Water Independent Distributor in Fuquay Varina, NC.Quoting from the back cover, "This Book details why Medication often makes you sicker, that Antacids will make your stomach worse, and that Calcium and supplements and dairy products might actually cause osteoporosis."Dating back many generations we've learned that Our bodies were designed to heal itself and ignorance could be making us sick.Quoting the back cover, "Enzymes are the key to your health. Find out why."I highly recommend this Book for everyone including those who are in the medical field. It truly is one of the best books in the World today that describes, in detail, the importance of Enzymes. Where they came from, their meaning in our bodies, and why it is important to know about them.Quoting from the Book; Chapter 1, page 8: "You can become a healthy 100-year old."You will be glad you ordered this book. It would be a great Gift to share with everyone. In deed, highly recommended. You will not be disappointed!Written by Dr. Hiromi Shinya, MD, Chief of Surgical Endoscopy Unit, Beth Israel Medical Center, Clinical Professor of Surgery, and Albert Einstein College of Medicine.