Do enzymes need vitamins and minerals?

Food enzyme nutrition is the art and science of using nutrition to maintain homeostasis and health in the body. It works with the body's innate intelligence to bring the body to optimal health using whole foods that contain protein, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins, minerals, and enzymes, rather than trying to manipulate it by using chemical compounds that produce side effects.

Food enzymes are a natural and important component in our food supply, yet they are systematically removed to extend shelf-life. While shelf-life is necessary in our modern society, enzymes must be replaced, just as vitamins and minerals are. For example, when milk is pasteurized it depletes the vitamin A and D content as well as enzymes. The vitamins are added back in, but the enzymes are not. Enzymes are the construction workers of the body. Protein, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins, and minerals are simply the building materials.

Optimal health can only be attained when each person is viewed as biochemically unique. Individuals cannot and should not be categorized or labeled to fit into a particular pharmaceutical paradigm. What is good for the general public is not necessarily good for the individual. Before recommendations are made for an individual, specific biochemical and mechanical needs must be objectively ascertained and not subjectively surmised.

We use proven and time-honored standards to nutritionally support the body. We recognize that the best sources of nutrients are not concentrated chemical compounds but whole foods with contents that act synergistically when properly digested and assimilated.

Researchers are still seeking to fully understand the structural and functional details of enzymes, yet these complex organic molecules are essential to most biological reactions. Enzymes catalyze, or speed up, chemical reactions. The biological processes that sustain an organism depend on numerous chemical reactions, and enzymes ensure that these reactions occur quickly enough to sustain life. Many enzymes, in turn, are dependent on vitamin-derived substances known as coenzymes.

Activating Reactions

A certain amount of energy, known as activation energy, is needed to initiate any chemical reaction. The fundamental purpose of enzymes is to facilitate reactions by lowering this activation energy. Enzymes accomplish this by binding to reactant molecules and allowing them to interact in a more energy-efficient manner. Reactant molecules bind to enzymes at an intricately structured location known as an active site, and the molecule involved in this binding process is called the substrate. Coenzymes, some of which are vitamins and some of which are synthesized directly from vitamins, activate enzymes by helping the enzyme to bind to its substrate.

Enzyme Assistants

Coenzymes activate enzymes primarily by assisting in the transfer of specific particles or compounds involved in the chemical reaction. For example, some coenzymes facilitate enzymatic reactions by carrying electrons and hydrogen ions from one atom to another, while others are involved in transporting entire atoms or larger molecules. Explained another way, an enzyme might not be a perfect fit for the intended substrate unless the active site is modified by the addition of a coenzyme.

The Vitamins That Enzymes Need

The term "vitamin" refers to 13 organic compounds that are essential to human health. In most cases, vitamins must be supplied through diet because the body cannot synthesize them. Vitamins fall into two general categories: water-soluble and fat-soluble. Water-soluble vitamins are found mainly in watery or starchy foods such as grains and vegetables, while fat-soluble vitamins are found mainly in fatty foods such as butter, seafood and organ meats. Only water-soluble vitamins function as coenzymes.

Coenzyme Deficiency

Vitamin deficiencies can lead to serious health disorders because important biological processes break down when a lack of coenzymes prevents enzymes from catalyzing essential chemical reactions. Two well-known coenzyme vitamins are thiamin and niacin. Thiamin compounds serve as coenzymes for a variety of reactions involving cellular energy production, protein synthesis and brain function. Thiamin deficiency causes a disorder known as beriberi, with symptoms such as irritability, weakness and even heart failure. Niacin is needed for numerous reactions related to energy production and fatty-acid synthesis. Deficiency causes pellagra, which leads to dementia, skin problems, weight loss and eventually death.

Vitamins are essential compounds that must be acquired through the diet because the body can't synthesize them. One of the reasons vitamins are needed is because they play an indirect role in catalysis, in which enzymes speed up chemical reactions. However, most vitamins can't help enzymes on their own. In order to participate in catalytic reactions, most vitamins have to change into coenzymes that are small "co-pilot" molecules that pair up with enzymes. These coenzymes are extremely useful because they stay the same after catalysis, so they're recycled and reused multiple times.

Converting Vitamins to Coenzymes

Most vitamins have to be converted into coenzymes before they can pair up with enzymes. These changes add small functional groups like phosphates to the vitamin structure, or they involve reduction-oxidation, or redox, reactions where electrons are either added or removed. For example, Vitamin B2 has to grab and bind to a phosphate group, PO3-, to form the coenzyme FMN. Folate is a vitamin that goes through a redox reaction and reduces two of its bonds by gaining electrons and it gets four hydrogens to form the coenzyme THF.

Coenzyme Reaction Mechanisms

Coenzymes help enzymes by transferring electrons in redox reactions, or adding functional groups to substrates, which are converted into the final product by the enzyme. The functional groups that coenzymes add to the substrate are relatively small: the coenzyme PLP adds an amine group, -NH2, for example. Coenzymes also perform redox reactions. They either take electrons from the substrate or give electrons to it. These reactions are reversible and depend on the concentrations of both oxidized and reduced forms of the coenzyme. The more oxidized coenzymes are, the more reduction there will be, and vice versa.

Coenzymes And Metabolism

Coenzymes carry out fairly simple chemical reactions, but these reactions have a major impact on metabolic functions. Vitamin K prevents blood clotting by speeding up the synthesis of gamma-carboxyglutamate, a molecule that binds to free-floating calcium ions. There is a lot less calcium buildup in the arteries, and a lower risk of heart disease. Energy is also stored in coenzymes during cellular respiration, during which cells obtain energy from breaking down food. This energy is released later on by oxidizing the stored coenzymes.

Recycling Coenzymes

One of the primary characteristics of a coenzyme is that it isn't permanently changed by catalysis. Any changes in the coenzyme's structure are reversed before it's recycled. Coenzymes that participate in redox reactions, like FAD and NAD+, are converted back to their previous form by losing electrons. Not all coenzymes are changed back this quickly, especially coenzymes that transfer functional groups. For example, THF binds to a CH2 group and is converted to DHF after the reaction is finished. DHF is reduced to THF and the enzyme is reused.

Do enzymes need minerals?

Do enzymes work with vitamins and minerals?

Which nutrient is needed for enzymes?

How do vitamins and minerals affect enzymes?