How Does PH Level Affect Enzyme Activity?

Understand pH balance in the body and how enzymes react.

Enzymes Speed Up Reactions

Everyone has a natural pH balance in the body. Enzymes are proteins that speed up chemical reactions in your body. For example, enzymes break down sugars for digestion. Without enzymes to speed up that process, your body would literally starve. Scientists say enzymes speed up, or catalyze, roughly 4,000 reactions in the body. Each enzyme has a different shape, so it is specific to a single reaction. A single enzyme can catalyze its specific reaction over and over again.

Changes in pH Disrupt Enzymes

A change in pH disrupts an enzyme's shape and structure. pH measure acidity--water is neutral and has a pH of 7. When the pH changes an enzyme's structure, the enzyme can't do its job. Changes in pH break the delicate bonds that maintain an enzyme's shape. An enzyme will unravel, or denature, and become useless in a different pH.

How Does pH Affect Enzyme Activity?

All enzymes are not created equal. Stomach enzymes work in a super acidic environment of pH 2. A little way down the digestive tract, intestine enzymes need a pH of 8. Put stomach enzymes in the intestine and you are in trouble.

Eat Enzymes, Stay Healthy

Raw fruits and vegetables are rich with enzymes. Eating high-enzyme food helps digestion and boosts nutrients in your body. Sprouted seeds, nuts and legumes are also rich in enzymes. Heating fruits and vegetables disrupts enzyme function. Eat raw foods and enjoy the benefits of a high-enzyme diet.