Carbohydrate and lipid metabolism in obesity - Part 1
I hope that my previous publications are leaving significant knowledge in you, it is partly a product of the answers I seek to situations that arise, others are just the result of my curiosity and the desire to know a little more.
In this opportunity I want to share a publication in which I will talk to you about something very interesting and interesting. I will talk about something very interesting and is purely related to metabolism, specifically the one that corresponds to fats and carbohydrates, is a very common question in consultation especially when it comes to people with obesity, do not understand why fat accumulates in parts of the body, much less how this happens.
In this and the following publication I intend to share with you relevant information of these chemical processes (metabolism) that make a person fattening or not. So I invite you to read on, what I have to tell you will surely interest you.
Metabolism is a frequent word, we usually say and hear things like "it has a slow metabolism " and similar phrases, but What exactly is this process??
It is the set of chemical processes that occur in an organism to maintain life and growth. It includes processes such as digestion of food, absorption of nutrients, production of energy and elimination of wastes. Metabolism also plays an important role in weight control and hormone balance.
This is a concept with which I do not intend to complicate us with chemical processes, but it is important to keep in mind that it can happen that, even by genetic predisposition or as we advance in age, the metabolism becomes slower to process what we ingest. Especially when we refer to carbohydrates.
Now let's do an exercise of imagination in order to understand what happens with carbohydrates when we consume them, What does our body do with them?, but first, let's define what carbohydrates are and let's see some examples:
Carbohydrates are one of the three main groups of essential nutrients for the human body, along with proteins and fats. Carbohydrates are organic compounds that are mainly composed of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen. Their main function is to provide energy to the body.
But when there is an excess of this, either by increased consumption or by deficiencies in its use, by means of complex chemical processes the body ends up converting them into fats, which accumulate in different parts of the body.
There are different types of carbohydrates, but they can be classified into two main categories: simple and complex.
Simple carbohydrates: These are those that are quickly digested and easily absorbed in the intestine. Examples of simple carbohydrates include sucrose (common sugar), fructose (fruit sugar) and lactose (milk sugar).
Complex carbohydrates: Complex carbohydrates are those that take longer to digest and are absorbed slowly in the intestine. Examples of complex carbohydrates include foods such as whole wheat bread, whole wheat pasta, whole grains, potatoes, beans and lentils.
Now, let's understand what is the process that carbohydrates go through in our body:
Carbohydrate metabolism begins with the digestion of carbohydrates in the intestine. Complex carbohydrates are broken down into simple sugars, such as glucose, which then pass into the blood. Glucose is the main source of energy for the body and is transported to the cells through the bloodstream. *This is where insulin acts, which is responsible for facilitating the entry of glucose molecules into each of our body's cells.
Once inside the cells, glucose is metabolized by a process called cellular respiration, in which oxygen is used to produce energy in the form of ATP. Excess glucose is stored in the liver and muscles as glycogen for later use.
If the body needs more energy than is available in the blood, the liver can convert the glycogen into glucose and release it into the bloodstream for use by the cells.
The problem begins when much more glucose is consumed than the body needs at the moment and even the deposits are saturated, that is when the body begins to transform these molecules into lipids or fats. And these fats accumulate inside specialized cells called Adipocytes.
I will talk about the metabolism of lipids or fats in the next publication, since it is something that is also important to keep in mind especially when you want to lose weight or when it comes to prevent weight gain or prevent cardiovascular diseases, since fats are the ones that affect the most in this aspect.
So, the basic thing to keep in mind is that if we eat more than we deserve, our body, as a defense mechanism, has from the metabolic point of view many tools that allow us to save energy reserves so that when we do not eat food we can continue to function optimally.
All this is a product of that genetic inheritance of our ancestors who did not have food on the agenda as we do today and that is why we have these metabolic tools, which are those that were created and stored genetically for thousands of years.
The important part is to try to consume the necessary amount of food, that which allows us to supply all our daily requirements but does not imply that we have to give excesses to our body so that it assumes that "I have to save energy for days without eating ", since that is part of our primitive heritage, and it was something necessary in ancient times, but today, when we have food available at any time of the day, at least most of the time, it is not logical to commit so many excesses.
In the next publication I will tell you, in the same simple way to understand, how the body forms fats and also what it does when we do not consume glucose, the body makes use of our lipid reserves, it is something very interesting to tell the truth, I hope you continue to enjoy this content. If you have anything to add I invite you to leave it in the comments.
Consuming carbohydrate on a high level would cause a great increase in weight gain, eating in appropriate proprotion without going overboard with quantity will do the body a lot of good.
In the end it's all about balance, it's easy, you just have to study a little.
Your article just reminded me of Kreb's cycle i learnt back in school, a lot of times we underestimate the importance of ATP, in our contemporary society where food is in abundance saving for later is not really a way to go.
Great writeup bro, thanks for sharing
Kreb's cycle, what a topic, I really enjoyed it, not easy to understand at first, but then you understand it, and you see the real importance of oxygen in the electron chain, ATP, glucose, etc. Thank you
Haha, know right, it was quite fun and yet seemed so intricate from the beginning too, i really love your writeups, it's always fun passing through
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One main mistake that people usually do i. Diets is too cut the sweets and candies and continue to eat carbs… and they still dont understand why they dont get thinner lol
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Yes, a very common mistake, many people want to lose weight but do not quite understand basic things like this. And they don't lose weight.
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