Question

Explain how consuming an acid neutralizing antacid might affect protein digestion. Apply the concept of activation energy to support your explanation.

Answer 1

reduced release of gastric juices that provides activation energy for enzymes to carry out digestion of proteins.

Step-by-step explanation:

Antacids are agents usually taken for reducing the acidity of stomach by neutralizing it . Due to this the pH of the stomach becomes very low. All enzymes which require a specific pH to digest enzyme are unable to perform in such environment as they are not able to activate themselves in lieu to reduced activation energy. Thus, the protein could not be digested effectively in an environment having antacid.

Answer 2

In the stomach, the enzyme pepsin has the function to break proteins into smaller units-polypeptides. Pepsin is synthesized and secreted in an inactive form- pepsinogen. Activation energy (the minimum amount of energy that is required to activate an enzyme) is achieved in the acidic medium (pH from 1 to 3). So, the activation of pepsin (conversion of pepsinogen to pepsin) is possible thanks to the cells in the stomach lining which produce hydrochloric acid (HCl), causing the stomach contents to have a low pH.

Antacids neutralize the acid made by the stomach, affecting the digestion.