List Of Vitamins And Minerals And Relevance To Enzymes

The body's digestive system is a regulated system of chemicals and functions that converts the food and drinks you ingest into energy. Enzymes play an important role in the process, serving as the catalyst that accelerates chemical reactions within the body. According to the website Discoveries in Medicine, these reactions can regulate metabolism, convert sugars into energy, and break food down into essential nutrients, among other functions. In addition to safeguarding the body and supporting overall health, vitamins and minerals can also affect enzyme production.

Magnesium

Magnesium assists the body in metabolizing calcium, regulating electrolytes and managing the function of more than 300 enzymes, according to the website Enzyme Stuff. Simply relying on food for your magnesium intake is problematic. In "The Case for Magnesium: The Personal History of an Element," Dr. Carolyn Dean writes that magnesium is stripped from most foods during processing. Dean cited a case where she worked with a patient suffering from painful menstruation and constipation, among other problems. She writes that magnesium supplementation, as well as dietary changes to fresh vegetables containing magnesium, helped the patient overcome her ailments. As a nutrient, Dean states that magnesium activates enzymes that digest and absorb proteins, fats and carbohydrates.

Zinc

Nearly 100 enzymes are reliant on zinc to function properly, according to the Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University. Zinc is a natural antioxidant, fighting free radicals that can damage cells throughout the body. Linus Pauling Institute researchers doctors Mark Levy and Tammy Bray coauthored a piece studying zinc's antioxidant effect on the brain. They found that zinc not only provides brain cells a barrier against free radical attack, but it protects the enzymes responsible for carrying out brain functions. The duo cite a study showing the loss of zinc from a particular enzyme can potentially lead to the onset of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Additionally, zinc deficiency can affect the body's immune system. A study led by Wayne State University researcher Ananda Prasad found that zinc-dependent enzymes related to the immune system would outright fail when starved of zinc. The resulting biological issues of the deficiency include cell death, the inability to fight off free radicals and development problems related to new T and B cell growth.

Copper

Cuproenzymes are a class of enzymes in the body specifically dependent on copper for life. This group affects a diverse group bodily functions. According to the Linus Pauling Institute, lysyl oxidase creates the marriage between collagen and elastin to create connective tissues. Ferroxidases I and II oxidizes iron to be included in red blood cells. The central nervous system, and hair, skin and eye pigmentation are also affected.

Biotin

Biotin is one of the vitamins in the B-complex. Also known as vitamin B-12, biotin is essential to the life of carboxylases, which are enzymes found only in mammals. According to the Linus Pauling Institute, the five enzymes in this family help the body digest and absorb fatty acids, amino acids, cholesterol and glucose.

Vitamin C

Humans are one of the few species that cannot convert vitamin C to glucose naturally, the result of a missing enzyme in the human body. As a result, vitamin C is water soluble and is eliminated from the body quickly. Vitamin C has a significant effect on the body during its time in the body, according to the Exercise Prescription website. Ascorbic acid, the biological compound at the base of the vitamin, triggers the development of some specialized cuproenzymes that are critical in the development of norepinephrine and serotonin.