Vitamin vs. Enzyme, Essential Oil vs. Essential Fatty Acid

Posted: September 24, 2007

Industry expert Tony O'Lenick compares and contrasts vitamins and enzymes and then compares and contrasts the difference between an essential oil and an essential fatty acid.

What is the Difference between a vitamin and an enzyme?

Enzymes are proteins that catalyze (i.e. accelerate) chemical reactions. In enzymatic reactions, the molecules at the beginning of the process are called substrates, and the enzyme converts them into different molecules, the products.

Vitamins are organic molecules that function in a wide variety of capacities within the body. The most prominent function is as cofactors for enzymatic reactions. The distinguishing feature of the vitamins is that they generally cannot be synthesized by mammalian cells and, therefore, must be supplied in the diet.

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