Enzymes

Key Attributes: digestion, food absorption, cell reaction stimulators

Excerpt:

Enzymes are specialized living proteins fundamental to every process in your body. They facilitate chemical reactions  and are essential for proper organ function. Even conversion of food to energy and cell fuel is not possible without digestive enzymes. Beneficial bacteria work in combination with digestive enzymes to increase nutrient absorption from food as well as facilitate processing of waste. But enzymes are needed for production of energy and cell function. Enzyme deficiency is a serious problem. Even low enzyme levels can accelerate disease. Foods today do not have proper enzyme levels. Heat destroys enzymes. Any cooked food likely has low to no enzymes. Cooking decreases other nutrients but destroys enzymes. Watch this introductory video:

Discussion:

Enzymes are critical to your biochemistry and increasing focus on diets and supplements with excellent enzymatic and related co-factors is here to stay. A living organism controls its cellular activity through enzymes.

An enzyme is a protein molecule that is a biological catalyst with three characteristics:

• First, the basic function of an enzyme is to increase the rate of a reaction. Most cellular reactions occur about a million times faster than they would in the absence of an enzyme.
• Second, most enzymes act specifically with only one reactant (called a substrate) to produce products.
• The third and most remarkable characteristic is that enzymes are regulated from a state of low activity to high activity and vice versa. Gradually, you will appreciate that the individuality of a living cell is due in large part to the unique set of some 3,000 enzymes that it is genetically programmed to produce. If even one enzyme is missing or defective, the results can be disastrous

An important function of enzymes is in the digestive systems of animals. Enzymes such as amylases and proteases break down large molecules (starch or proteins, respectively) into smaller ones, so they can be absorbed by the intestines. Starch molecules, for example, are too large to be absorbed from the intestine, but enzymes hydrolyse the starch chains into smaller molecules such as maltose and eventually glucose, which can then be absorbed. Different enzymes digest different food substances.

They are indispensable for signal transduction and cell regulation, often via kinases and phosphatases. They also generate movement, with myosin hydrolysing ATP to generate muscle contraction and also moving cargo around the cell as part of the cytoskeleton.Other ATPases in the cell membrane are ion pumps involved in active transport. Enzymes are also involved in more exotic functions, such as luciferase generating light in fireflies.

Viruses can also contain enzymes for infecting cells, such as the HIV integrase and reverse transcriptase, or for viral release from cells, like the influenza virusneuraminidase.

Digestive enzymes are enzymes that break down food into usable material. The major different types of digestive enzymes are:

• amylase – breaks down carbohydrates, starches, and sugars which are prevalent in potatoes, fruits, vegetables, and many snack foods

• lactase – breaks down lactose (milk sugars)
• diastase – digests vegetable starch
• sucrase – digests complex sugars and starches
• maltase – digests disaccharides to monosaccharides (malt sugars)
• invertase – breaks down sucrose (table sugar)
• glucoamylase – breaks down starch to glucose
• alpha-glactosidase – facilitates digestion of beans, legumes, seeds,
roots, soy products, and underground stems

• protease – breaks down proteins found in meats, nuts, eggs, and cheese

• pepsin – breaks down proteins into peptides
• peptidase – breaks down small peptide proteins to amino acids
• trypsin – derived from animal pancreas, breaks down proteins
• alpha – chymotrypsin, an animal-derived enzyme, breaks down proteins
• bromelain – derived from pineapple, breaks down a broad spectrum of proteins, has anti-inflammatory properties, effective over very wide pH range
• papain – derived from raw papaya, broad range of substrates and pH, works well breaking down small and large proteins

• lipase – breaks down fats found in most dairy products, nuts, oils, and meat

• cellulase – breaks down cellulose, plant fiber; not found in humans

• others

• betaine HCL – increases the hydrochloric acid content of the upper digestive system; activates the protein digesting enzyme pepsin in the stomach (does not influence plant- or fungal-derived enzymes)
• CereCalase™ – a unique cellulase complex from National Enzyme Company that maximizes fiber and cereal digestion and absorption of essential minerals; an exclusive blend of synergistic phytase, hemicellulase, and beta-glucanase
• endoprotease – cleaves peptide bonds from the interior of peptide chains
• exoprotease – cleaves off amino acids from the ends of peptide chains
• extract of ox bile – an animal-derived enzyme, stimulates the intestine to move
• fructooligosaccharides (FOS) – helps support the growth of friendly intestinal microbes, also inhibits the growth of harmful species
• L-glutamic acid – activates the protein digesting enzyme pepsin in the stomach
• lysozyme – an animal-derived enzyme, and a component of every lung cell; lysozyme is very important in the control of infections, attacks invading bacterial and viruses
• papayotin – from papaya
• pancreatin – an animal-derived enzyme, breaks down protein and fats
• pancrelipase – an animal-derived enzyme, breaks down protein, fats, and carbohydrates
• pectinase – breaks down the pectin in fruit
• phytase – digests phytic acid, allows minerals such as calcium, zinc,
copper, manganese, etc. to be more available by the body, but does not break down any food proteins
• xylanase – breaks down xylan sugars, works well with grains such as corn

Other general terms for enzymes referring to their general action instead of specific action include:

• Endopeptidase: Enzymes that cleave proteins only on the inside
• Exopeptidase: Enzymes that cleave proteins only on the outside (terminal) part
  • Aminopeptidase: Exopeptidase that cleaves at the amino terminating end
  • Carboxypeptidase: Exopeptidase that cleaves at the carboxy terminating end