How does an enzyme speed up chemical reactions in the body?

Question

I need this for my assignment i'm in yr 11, please help! i don't really understand.

Answer 1

Enzymes are substances that make life possible. They are needed for every chemical reaction that takes place in the human body. No mineral, vitamin or hormone can do any work without enzymes. They are the manual workers that build our bodies from proteins, carbohydrates, and fats.

Researches believe that our enzyme energy has a limit and we must help to maintain them as much as possible in order to have a longer life.

There are three classes of enzymes: metabolic enzymes, which run our bodies; digestive enzymes, which digest our food; and food enzymes from raw foods, which start food digestion. Our bodies- all organs and tissues-are run by metabolic enzymes.

These enzyme workers take proteins, fats, carbohydrates, starches and sugars, etc and structure them into healthy bodies, keeping everything working well.

Digestive enzymes have only three main jobs: digesting protein, carbohydrate, and fat. Proteases are enzymes that digest protein; amylases digest carbohydrate, and lipases digest fat.

“The Food Enzyme Concept” by Dr. Edward Howell is a different approach of looking at disease. It defends the idea that when ingested, the enzymes in raw food, or supplementary enzymes result in a significant degree of digestion, lowering the drain on the organisms own enzyme potential. Dr. Edward Howell defends that by eating raw food the work of the enzymes is less and the result is a healthy body. By eating raw food less stomach acid is secreted.

He remarks that most people spend their enzyme bank account and seldom make a deposit. It would be wiser to conserve enzymes and get enzymes reinforcements from the outside, since various experiments have taught us that enzymes are precious commodities.

He believes that by cutting down on the amount of food we can contribute to a higher enzyme potential, less food means fewer digestive enzymes are required. This keeps death away as well as arming the body against disease.

Enzymes convert the food we eat into chemical structures that can pass through the cell membranes of the cells lining the digestive tract into the bloodstream.

He defends that all uncooked foods contain an abundance of food enzymes, which correspond to the nutritional highlights of the food.

He says that nature has enclosed all raw foods with the correct and balanced amounts of food enzymes either for human consumption or eventual decomposition outside the human body.

The enzyme diet defended by Dr Edward Howell is defined by a regimen in which food is taken in its raw state, in its unprocessed form, in possession of its full quota of enzymes.

The digestive enzymes of civilized humans are infinitely stronger and more concentrated in enzyme activity than any other enzyme combination found in nature.

The organism values its enzymes highly and will make no more than are needed for the job. The body will make less concentrated digestive enzymes, if some of the food is digested by enzymes present in it.

In humans, the upper portion of the stomach is in fact a food-enzyme stomach. This part secretes no enzymes. In fact, the digestion of the protein, carbohydrate, and fat in raw food begins in the mouth the very moment the plant cell walls are ruptured, releasing the food enzymes during the act of mastification.

After swallowing, digestion continues in the food-enzyme section of the stomach for one-half to one hour, or until the rising tide of acidity reaches a point where it is inhibited. Then the stomach enzyme pepsin takes over.

If harmful bacteria are swallowed with the food they may attack it during this time of enforced illness. The salivary enzyme works on the carbohydrate, but the protein and fat must wait.

Dr. Howell believes that mankind’s change in the diet from mostly uncooked to cooked foods has probably resulted in changes in the structure of our gastrointestinal tract beyond the stomach specifically, the appendix and cecum play an active role in digestion in many herbivorous animals but have atrophied in humans.

He explains that when there are no food enzymes in the food eaten, to predigest it the pancreas must work to give out more internal enzymes to do the job. Metabolic enzymes do the work.

The pancreas must send out messages to all parts of the body looking for enzymes it can reprocess into digestive enzymes. When it finds them it has to change metabolic enzymes into digestive enzymes this means extra work and the enlargement of the pancreas.

This enlargement may not harm the pancreas, but when it confiscates metabolic enzymes it punishes the whole body by depriving it of the mechanics of every organ and cells needs to carry on their processes and functions.

He says that high calorie foods have far more of the three main digestive enzymes, but unfortunately these foods are eaten cooked and hence without enzymes.

In his opinion bananas, avocados, grapes, mangoes, olives from the tree, fresh raw dates, fresh raw figs, raw honey, raw butter, unpasteurized milk, germinated, inhibitor-fee raw cereal grains and seeds and germinated, inhibitor-fee raw tree nuts are endowed with both calories and enzymes.

Dr. Howell concludes that the best way to help the body keeping a high enzyme content is to follow a diet rich in raw foods based on fruits, nuts, seeds and vegetables. This can prevent many diseases and the body will have a long life of health and well-being.

Answer 2

Enzymes are proteins that help reactions take place by either cleaving a bond or creating one. They are also a type of catalyst. Most scientists would say that these reactions could and would take place without an enzyme but at a far slower rate. And there is usually an equilibrium involved meaning that if there is too little substrate and alot end-prouct, sometimes the enzyme will work in reverse. Most of the time they bring two substrates in close proximity and may or may not have a site for actually creating the bond. They sometimes require a co-enzyme such as a vitamin to work properly. They are never changed by the oveall reaction, but sometime can appear in an excited intermediate form.

Answer 3

Enzymes are proteins. Proteins are made up of amino acids. One of the side groups of the amino acids is called the "reactive site". This means that it can "react" with another molecule. In the case of a catalytic enzyme, the enzyme has amino acid side groups that can match chemically with the reactants in the reaction. The reactants, in order to react, must come into contact with each other. Usually, it takes a great deal of energy to get these molecules to move fast enough to bump into each other so they can react. When the enzyme is present, the enzyme "gathers up" the reactants by bonding with them. This brings the reactants into close enough proximity so they can react at lower temperatures. This is necessary in the human body, as most of the chemical reactions that take place in the body could not proceed at normal body temperature without the enzyme's assistance. We say that the enzyme "reduces the activation energy" of the reaction. Once the reaction takes place, the enzyme breaks away from the product and goes out and picks up more reactants. The enzyme never becomes part of the product and is not used up in the reaction.

BIOCHEMISTRY TEACHER

Answer 4

Enzymes are proteins
Proteins are made up of amino acids.
One of the side groups of the amino acids is called the "reactive site". This means that it can "react" with another molecule.
In the case of a catalytic enzyme, the enzyme has amino acid side groups that can match chemically with the reactants in the reaction.
The reactants, in order to react, must come into contact with each other. Usually, it takes a great deal of energy to get these molecules to move fast enough to bump into each other so they can react. When the enzyme is present, the enzyme "gathers up" the reactants by bonding with them.
This brings the reactants into close enough proximity so they can react at lower temperatures.
This is necessary in the human body, as most of the chemical reactions that take place in the body could not proceed at normal body temperature without the enzyme's assistance.

We say that the enzyme "reduces the activation energy" of the reaction. Once the reaction takes place, the enzyme breaks away from the product and goes out and picks up more reactants.

The enzyme never becomes part of the product and is not used up in the reaction.

Answer 5

An enzyme acts as a catalyst for chemical reactions. The enzyme typically has landing sites for the particles that need to be seperated, then when the process is over the compound is broken down into the base elements, and it is done faster than normal, all thanks to the enzyme.

Answer 6

IN VERY SIMPLE TERMS ENZYMES R BIOLOGICAL CATALYSTS . THEY LOWER DOWN THE ACTIVATION ENERGY OF THE REACTION THAT IS THE WORK WHICH REQUIRED MORE ENERGY TO BE CARRIED OUT CAN NOW BE CARRIED IN LOWER ENERGY. THUS OUR BODY CAN PRODUCE ENERGY EASILY

Answer 7

coz they work as a catalyst