Liquid Vitamins Contain Enzymes Because?
Copyright 2005 Kristy Haugen
The more advanced liquid vitamin supplements today are starting
to incorporate enzymes in their ingredients. Why do vitamin
supplements need to supplement enzymes? This is a very good
question. In order to answer this question, we need to
familiarize ourselves with enzymes.
An enzyme is a protein that catalyzes, or speeds up, a chemical
reaction. Enzymes are essential to sustain life. Most chemical
reactions in our body would occur too slowly, or would lead to
different products without the assistance of enzymes. In fact,
it is estimated that digestion of one meal would take 50 years
without the help of enzymes. The reason enzymes are able to
speed up reactions is because they lower the energy of
activation required to begin the reaction. This is the barrier
that keeps many reactions from happening.
Enzymes have a specific pocket (the active site) that contains
an amino acid side chain. The amino acid side chain creates a
three dimensional surface. The active site of the enzyme binds
to the substrate (the molecule being acted upon by the enzyme),
forming an enzyme-substrate complex. This complex is converted
to enzyme-product; which further breaks down to the enzyme and
the product. It is important to understand that enzymes are
never changed during the reactions nor are they consumed.
Enzymes are simply catalysts in these reactions.
Enzymes are specific and very selective. They may catalyze only
one reaction, or one specific class of closely related
reactions. Some enzymes require the incorporation of a
non-protein molecule to become catalytically active, referred to
as cofactors (metal ions such as zinc, and iron) or organic
molecules known as coenzymes, which are derivatives of vitamins
(niacin and riboflavin). Lack of a particular vitamin or mineral
can impair the action of its corresponding enzyme and lead to
disease. This is an important reason to take a good daily
vitamin supplement.
It is important to realize also that enzyme activity can be
activated, regulated, and inhibited. This is done to ensure that
the rate of the product formation responds to the needs of the
cell. This is a way of our body keeping us in check, a natural
balance. Inhibition of enzymes is typically seen in medications,
such as cholesterol, blood pressure, and antibiotics.
For most enzymes operating in the human body, the optimal
temperature is 37 degrees Celsius or 98 degrees Fahrenheit. At
higher temperatures, enzymes become denatured, meaning their
three dimensional structure is destroyed and the enzyme becomes
nonfunctional. If the enzyme only becomes partially denatured,
it can sometimes regain its activity upon being cooled.
For each enzyme, there is also an optimal pH above and below
which enzymatic activity declines. Many human enzymes have a
maximal activity at pH around 7.2, which is the pH of most body
fluids. However, there are exceptions such as, pepsin. This
enzyme is most effective in the highly acidic conditions of the
stomach, pH 2. The pancreatic enzymes work optimally in the
alkaline conditions of the small intestine, pH 8.5.
Enzymes have a plethora of responsibilities in our bodies;
digestion, metabolism of carbohydrates, and much more. Making
sure we have all the ingredients to run like a well oiled
machine is vital to our health. Advancements in health science
recognize the need for enzyme supplementation and have taken the
first step. Now you need to take the next, by making sure you
feed your body the fuel it needs.