energy!

the word 'metabolism' makes people think about weight loss, thyroid, diabetes, and nutrition.  and these are inextricably linked to metabolism - they are all results of our metabolic process.

metabolism is the chemical process of converting food into energy.  it allows organisms to grow, reproduce, maintain structure and respond to their environment.  there are two steps in metabolism, catabolism and anabolism.  these two processes work in tandem to balance the building up and breaking down of body tissues and energy stores for optimal body function.

when food is eaten, catabolism breaks down the organic material to produce energy.  proteins, fats, and carbohydrates are digested into their respective subunits (or monomers) and are then processed by the cell to produce energy (acetly-coa).  when the cell no longer needs energy, it is converted to fatty acids which are stored in adipose tissue.

next, anabolism uses the energy liberated from catabolism to form more complex structures.  it is divided into three steps: first, the production of the precursors, such as amino acids and nucleotides; second, their activation into reactive forms using energy from ATP; and third, their assembly into complex molecules such as proteins and nucleic acids.  in brief, anabolism uses ATP to build complex molecules and stores the rest of the energy for later use.

in summary, metabolism is extremely important to our overall health.  it is essential to every living organism and for humans it is an important component of weight management and thus disease prevention.

so we must ask ourselves...