Enzymes and digestion. The benefits and harms of enzymes. Getting used to enzymes. Assignments for the All-Russian Olympiads in Biology Assignments for the All-Russian Olympiads in Biology

Ecology of health: Every day we consume a certain amount of nutritious and animal food in order to absorb from it only the smallest particles of minerals, vitamins, fiber, building blocks for the construction of proteins - amino acids, and energy. This is fundamentally important.

Every day we consume a certain amount of vegetable and animal food in order to absorb from it only the smallest particles of minerals, vitamins, fiber, building blocks for building proteins - amino acids, and energy. This is fundamentally important.

If we eat a piece of meat, then we must understand that before we take all the energy, vitamins, minerals and amino acids from it, we will have to process this piece, assimilate it, and bring it into a state that is accessible to our body for absorption. Enzymes perform this role in our body.

Enzymes (enzymes) - these are protein substances that play a very important role in various biochemical processes in the body. They are necessary for the digestion of food, stimulation of brain activity, processes of energy supply to cells, restoration of organs and tissues.

The most important function of enzymes is to accelerate and initiate biochemical reactions in the body, many, if not most, of which occur only in the presence of the corresponding enzymes. The function of each enzyme is unique, i.e. each enzyme activates only one biochemical process. In this regard, there are a huge number of enzymes in the body - more than 3000, which are divided into 7 groups.

Depending on what types of body reactions enzymes catalyze, enzymes perform different functions.

Most often they are divided into three main groups: food enzymes, digestive enzymes and metabolic enzymes.

Digestive enzymes are released in the gastrointestinal tract, destroy nutrients, promoting their absorption into the systemic bloodstream. There are three main categories of such enzymes: amylase, proteases, lipase. Amylase breaks down carbohydrates and is found in saliva, pancreatic secretions and intestinal contents. Different types of amylase break down different sugars. Proteases found in gastric juice, pancreatic secretions and intestinal contents help digest proteins. Lipase, found in gastric juice and pancreatic secretions, breaks down fats.

Metabolic enzymes catalyze biochemical processes inside cells. Each organ or tissue of the body has its own network of enzymes.

Food enzymes are (should be) contained in food products. Some types of food contain enzymes - these are the so-called “live food”. Unfortunately, enzymes are very sensitive to heat and are easily destroyed when heated. In order for the body to receive additional amounts of enzymes, you should either eat foods containing them in raw form.

Products of plant origin are rich in enzymes: avocados, papaya, pineapples, bananas, mangoes, sprouts.

“Live food” necessarily contains substances (enzymes) that will allow this food to decompose into the simple components of this food: proteins to amino acids, fats to fatty acids, complex sugars to simple sugars.

But if “living food” is processed thermally (cooked, fried, boiled) or preservatives are added to such food, then it turns into “dead food”. Our body is forced to “digest” this food using its digestive enzymes (enzymes), and for this the body will spend a lot of energy and nutrients for their synthesis (saliva, gastric juice, pancreatic enzymes, etc.).

If the body is able to produce the entire spectrum of digestive enzymes, then the digestion process proceeds normally. And if it cannot (a state of fermentopathy), then undigested substances enter the body and accumulate there (in the form of toxins and deposits).

If the body is no longer able to produce its own enzymes in the required quantities, i.e. An option is to take digestive enzymes of animal origin (most of these drugs are available in pharmacies). But at the same time, we must remember that our body identifies enzymes of animal origin as its own, and gradually stops producing them (why bother working if the secretion is coming in).

In this case, the ability to produce secretions independently, in the required volume and at the right time, is lost. The organ responsible for the production of secretions (enzyme, insulin, hormone, etc.) becomes functionally incapable.

Then, without the secretion coming from outside, the body will not be able to function properly. This is how a person can develop a dependence on the product they are taking. And he will be forced to take it constantly.

Some diseases associated with enzyme deficiency.

Dr. D. Galton)