Hiromi Shinya - The enzyme factor - comments and questions

[jsf]

I've read today The enzyme factor (2005) (in the french translation "le régime Shinya" (2008)) since it is in the recommended list, and also Gaby mentions him in Diet research. So I was curious about it...

Shinya says that he "examined the stomach and colons and taken the dietary history of more than 300,000 patients".
He thinks that our health depends on a "miracle" enzyme :

Your health depends on how well you maintain -- rather than exhaust -- the source enzymes in your body. I use the terme "source" enzymes for these catalysts, because they are, I believe, unspecialized enzymes that give rise to the more than 5,000 specialized enzymes that take on various activities within the human body. I also call them "miracle" enzymes, because they play a pivotal role in the body's ability to heal itself.
I frist developed the idea of a source enzyme because I saw that when a particular area of the body is in need of and, therefore, consumes a large quantity of a specific type of enzyme, some other parts of the body tend to lack their own necessary enzymes. For example, if a large quantity of alcohol is consumed, a greater-than-normal amount of a particular enzyme is needed to break down the alcohol in the liver, creating a shortage of necessary enzymes for digestion and absorption in the stomach and intestines.

Shinya explains well some of the problems that the modern food causes. He is very good at explaining the problems of milk consumption, fried food and trans fats (but NOT of plant oil : "plant oil flush out wastes such as bad cholesterol and prevent arteriosclerosis by keeping cells and blood vessels flexible." p.148).

But in the other hand, he seems to COMPLETELY ignore the problems of grains, soja, fruits and vegetables.

While reading the book I had some questions,

Although it is believed that many kinds of enzymes are created in response to our bodies' need, it is still not clear how they are created in the cell.

Do we now know more about the creation of enzymes inside the cells ? And if, indeed, the "source" enzyme exists ? Because if this hypothesis made by Shinya is wrong, than his theory should be completely rethought, maybe ?

He then goes on and on critisizing meat (white meat and red meat), saying that because the fat of the animals is at a higher body temperature (more than 37°C), it clogs the arteries !

The toxic byproducts of excessive animal fat and proteine digestion can damage the DNA, turning the cells cancerous. (p.15)

Really there is no science behind this hypothesis. Often, his reasoning is simplistic.

Then he goes on praising the merits of fibers (again on wrong assumptions).
He seems to ignore the irritation caused by fibers, and he says :

The biggest reason eating meat damages our intestines is because meat contains no dietary fibers but does contain a large amount of fat and cholesterol. In addition, meat causes the walls of the colon to gradually become thicker and firmer. This happens because the lack of dietary fiber in meat results in significant decrease of stool in the colon, making the colon work harder than usual to excrete the small amount of stool through peristalsis. In other words, excessive peristaltic motion causes intestinal wall muscles to become thicker and bigger, making the colon firmer and shorter. (p.19)

I don't understand why Shinya don't take the "paleo" approach, even though he mentions the importance of organs (Eskimos, p.52).

He recommends a diet that is 85% plants (including different whole grains) and 15% animals.
He thinks plants can give all amino acids, and only briefly mentions an anti nutriment (trypsin inhibitors, p.71). He says that humans are similar to chimpanzees :

I have examined the gastrointestines of chimpanzees with an endoscope, but they are so similar to those of humans that I could not tell just by looking whether it was of a human or a chimp. (p.75)

He then blames tobacco of "constricting capillaries" :

Equally serious and harmful for the body is the constriction of capillaries throughout the body. When capillaries constrict, fluids cannot flow throughout the body. If the fluids cannot flow, nutrients carried in the fluids also do not reach some parts of the body. Moreover, waste, which should be excreted, does not leave the body either. As a result, waste collects and decays, giving rise to toxins. The "blackness" appearing on the skin is easy to see, but in actuality, the same things are occurring within the body, especially in parts connected to the tips of capillaries. (p.85)

Also, according to Shinya, the Japanese are more adapted to a grain/plant based nutrition, because :

Westerners have consumed a meat diet over the course of centuries, but the Japanese only adopted a meat diet during the Meiji Period (1868-1912), a relatively recent phenomenon. The intestines of Japanese who have been eating a diet mainly consisting of grains and vegetables for centuries, is 1,2 times as long as the intestines of Westerners in proportion to body size. Because their intestines are longer, it takes longer for their food to be excreted. Since the food stays in the body longer, the effect of a meat diet has on their intestines is that much greater. (p.125)

So could it be that all the benefits of the Shinya diet are only due to the elimination of milk (and some other processed foods, like trans fats) ?

 

[Gaby]

So could it be that all the benefits of the Shinya diet are only due to the elimination of milk (and some other processed foods, like trans fats) ?

Yeah, I agree. He is an advocate of the vegetarian hypothesis but his experience with dairy is worth sharing. Practically speaking, dairy consumption had the biggest role in his wife's death.