Metabolic Process : How Metabolism Works In Human Body ?

Metabolism, is the collection of all the biochemical processes that take place in our cells and organisms. Metabolism comes from the Greek 'metabolismos'. This means conversion or change.

The metabolism has several functions:

- Turning nutrients into energy and building materials
- The building materials and energy use as a source for all other biological processes
- Process and excrete waste
- Create and use reservations

During the metabolism, the ingested nutrients are broken down into smaller building blocks. If nutrients are broken down, this provides the necessary energy for the functioning of our cells, the building blocks of our tissues and organs. It therefore provides the necessary energy for our body to function.

How metabolism works?

Within our metabolism there are several metabolic routes: catabolism, the degradation route of the substances in which the energy is released and anabolism, the route for the building of substances. Our metabolism contains hundreds of enzymes. These are necessary for all processes in our body. In addition to enzymes, there are also transport proteins. These transport the substances in and out of the cells. Our tissues contain three other ingredients: sugars (carbohydrates), proteins and fats (lipids). Then there are the vitamins, minerals and nucleic acids as auxiliaries. These components have their own specific metabolic pathway:

Cholesterol metabolism

Cholesterol is a part of our body. 70% is made by the liver. 30% comes from our food. With cholesterol you have LDL and HDL particles, or the bad and the good cholesterol. LDL carries cholesterol through the blood vessels to our tissue. HDL carries cholesterol from the tissues to the liver. A balance between the two is important. Too much bad cholesterol can cause constrictions in the veins.

Our total metabolism is divided into three different parts: Basal Rest Metabolism (BRM), 60 to 70% of daily energy consumption. Diet-induced thermogenesis, 10% of daily energy consumption and activity-dependent consumption, 20 to 30% of energy consumption. A balance in our metabolism is important. A disruption can lead to obesity or illnesses such as diabetes. A varied diet in combination with an active lifestyle can prevent this.

Carbohydrate metabolism

During the metabolism the carbohydrates are converted into glucose. This is absorbed into the blood and thanks to insulin in our muscle cells. There it is used as an energy supplier or stored as a reserve, glycogen. Glycogen is converted back to glucose when we need it. This is normally in balance.

Fat metabolism

The different types of fat in our body are converted into fatty acids.

Protein metabolism

Here the proteins are broken down and converted into amino acids. An excess of amino acids is then converted into fat or glycogen.