How2Day: Enzymes in Wheatgrass

Wheatgrass has many documented health benefits. Hapa/Stockbyte/Getty Images
Wheatgrass is touted as a complete food with many health benefits. According to the website Green Pastures, wheatgrass is a balanced source of minerals and an excellent source of vitamins A and C, and the B vitamins. It is high in protein and contains the eight essential amino acids. Wheat grass is also a good source of live enzymes that help digest and metabolize foods. Enzymes are proteins that in the human body speed up biochemical reactions.

Amylase changes complex sugars into simple sugars. It helps convert starches, glycogen and dextrin to glucose, maltose and limit-dextrins. In the body, amylase is produced by the pancreas and the salivary glands.

Lipase break down lipids, or fats, particularly triglycerides, during the digestive process. This enzyme converts lipids into monoglycerides and free fatty acids that are easier to incorporate in liquids. It is produced in the pancreas and, to a lesser extent, in the salivary glands.

This is an antioxidant enzyme that reduces harmful free radicals of oxygen into oxygen and hydrogen peroxide. It has also been shown to help prevent free radical damage, which is associated with aging, senility, and ischemic tissue damage.

Protease splits proteins into their components, called "peptides." Protease inhibitors are used to treat HIV, by blocking the reproduction of part of the HIV virus; the modified virus cannot infect new cells.

Dr. Gloria Gilbère in her article, "The Science Behind Wheatgrass Juice and Health" wrote: "A biologist at the University of California at San Diego, Dr. Yasuo Hotta, scientifically verified that a compound found in young grasses (P4D1) has the ability to stimulate the production and natural repair of human reproductive sperm cells and DNA."

Catalase is an enzyme that supports the reaction by which hydrogen peroxide is broken down into water and oxygen, preventing body tissues from being damaged by peroxide, a byproduct of many metabolic reactions.

Cytochrome Oxidase is an enzyme found in mitochondria (cell structures that produces energy); it is important in cell respiration.

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