Enzymes Essay

Enzymes

Enzymes are the sparks that start the essential chemical reactions our bodies

need to live. They are necessary for digesting food, for stimulating the brain,

for providing cellular energy, and for repairing all tissues, organs, and cells.

There are three types of enzymes: metabolic enzymes, digestive enzymes, and food

enzymes. Metabolic enzymes catalyse, or spark, the reactions within the cells.

The body's organs, tissues and cells are run by metabolic enzymes. Without them

our bodies would not work. Among their chores are helping to turn phosphorus

into bone, attaching iron to our red blood cells, healing wounds, thinking, and

making a heart beat. Digestive enzymes break down foods, allowing their

nutrients to be absorbed into the bloodstream and used in body functions.

Digestive enzymes ensure that we get the greatest possible nutritional value

from foods. Food enzymes are enzymes supplied to us through the foods we eat.

Nature has placed them there to aid in our digestion of foods. This way, we do

not use as many of the body's "in-house" enzymes in the digestive

process. This is important to remember. A present theory is that humans are

given a limited supply of enzyme energy at birth, and that it is up to us to

replenish our supply of enzymes to ensure that their vital jobs get done. If we

don't replenish our supply, we run the risk of ill health. There is a that

theory mentions that the length of life is inversely proportional to the rate of

exhaustion of the enzyme potential of an organism. The increased use of food

enzymes promotes a decreased rate of exhaustion of the enzyme potential."

In other words, the more food enzymes you get, the longer, and healthier, you

live. As food enzymes are destroyed at temperatures above 118 F processed foods

contain few, if any enzymes, and that the typical diet is enzyme-deficient. When

we eat this type of diet, we could well be eating for a shorter and

less-than-healthy life. This shows the importance of eating raw fruits and

vegetables because they are "live foods"; that is, foods in which the

enzymes are active. The more enzymes you get, the healthier you are. And the

more raw foods you eat, the more enzymes you get. Enzymes carry out the role of

detoxification -- breaking down toxic substances so that they are excreted and

cannot build up to possibly cause harm. Although this is done by metabolic

enzymes, research shows that enzymes found in the foods that we eat, although

not food enzymes -- may help our bodies do this. Recently enzymes have been

found that can neutralise chemical warfare agents. The enzymes can be used to

rapidly decontaminate facilities, equipment, and vehicles. At present a project

is studying enzymes that catalyse the detoxification of organophosphate

insecticides. The project is showing that green barley extract may