Note the full question was: “In Dr. Jensen’s Guide to Body Chemistry & Nutrition, I read ‘…enzymes are proteins, which, like other food proteins, are partly broken down by pepsin in the acidic environment of our stomachs. Once they are partly broken down, their value for assisting in digestion or any other activity is gone, and their only value to us is nutritional – not bad, but not especially important.’ If this is true, then what is the importance of BAC containing thousands of enzymes — if they are all simply broken down into nutrients like other proteins during the digestive process?”
Let me provide a simple answer. Dr. Jensen was quite right; any food enzymes broken down by pepsin, and especially when the stomach pH level is too acidic (in America, 1.8, 1.7 and even 1.5 are the new norm, while a healthy stomach pH should be 2.0), will often not assist in the digestion of food.
But as also observed by Jensen, the broken or separated enzymes in BAC will contribute to cellular nutrition as micro-proteins/amino acids, and for those people with a healthy stomach pH of 2, the enzymes will also assist with the digestion process.
But that is not why one takes BAC… remember we consume BAC to “awaken the genius within”.
Viewing the enzymes of BAC as one sees “supplementation of digestive enzymes to ease digestion” is the allopathic view… it would only “patch” a weak digestive system as opposed to the holistic way, which is to “heal the weak digestion at the source”… the way of BAC.
For poor digestion of food, BAC’s contribution is to “awaken the genius within,” which it achieves by efficiently nourishing the cells that make up the hypothalamus / pituitary axis. When awakened, this critical axis will stimulate the entire endocrine system including the principal gland of digestion, the pancreas, which in response synthesizes digestive enzymes and delivers alkalizing juices for proper pH. This stimulation also reinforces the intrinsic factor, and with adequate intestinal pH, you will benefit from more efficient re-absorption and synthesis of nutrients like vitamin K, vitamin B12, and proper bacterial balance.