Enzymes influence the body's metabolic processes through the digestion of food. Enzymes break down food molecules into nutrients to burn fat for energy or to be used in the growth of new cells. The vast number of chemical reactions occurring in the body every second would not occur without enzymes spurring them on. By their mere presence, enzymes can accelerate the breakdown of molecules that would run very slowly -- if at all -- without them.
Enzymes Defined
Enzymes are special types of molecules in all living cells, and they serve as catalysts to accelerate biochemical reactions. Some of the body's most powerful enzymes exist in the digestive tract, where they convert proteins into amino acids, fats into glycerol and fatty acids, and starch into simple sugars. Each enzyme in an organism has its own pH requirement. If the pH changes, it may inhibit an enzyme's ability to generate chemical reactions. Some enzymes require the acidic environment of the stomach to work, and others require conditions that are less so, such as the intestines.
The Mouth
According to the National Digestive Diseases Information Clearinghouse, saliva contains an enzyme that starts digesting starches into smaller molecules.in the mouth. Saliva enzymes break starch and sugar into simpler molecules, as do juices from the pancreas and the lining of the small intestine. The saliva and pancreatic enzymes break the starch into molecules called "maltose," which is converted by the small intestine lining into glucose molecules for absorption into the blood.
The Stomach
Acid in the stomach partners with an enzyme to digest protein. A thick layer of mucus coats the stomach "mucosa" to help prevent the digestive acid from dissolving the tissue of the stomach itself. According to the NDDIC, "In most people, the stomach mucosa is able to resist the juice, although food and other tissues of the body cannot." Protein molecules of such foods as meat, eggs, and beans are so large that they must be digested by enzymes before they can be absorbed for use in building and repairing body tissues.
The Small Intestine
An enzyme in the juice of the stomach initiates the digestion of protein, and the pancreatic and intestine-lining juices complete the breakdown of large protein molecules into amino acids. These small molecules can be absorbed through the small intestine into the blood and carried throughout the body to build the walls and other parts of cells. According to the NDDIC, the small intestine's mucosa contains numerous folds covered with tiny finger-like projections called villi. These structures are part of the surface through which nutrients are absorbed.
Results
Enzymes are highly efficient catalysts. One molecule of the enzyme catalase, abundant in red blood cells and the liver, can spark the breakdown of 5 million molecules of hydrogen peroxide to water and oxygen in one minute. "Enzymes are delicate dynamos," according to Emily Kane, MD, who has researched and written extensively on enzymes. "Delicate because they are destroyed by temperatures over 118 degrees -- some by as little as 105 degrees, which means that they may not survive even light steaming. Dynamos because they are powerful biochemical catalysts. They speed burning or building reactions in the body according to need."
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