Energy Metabolism from Organic Materials

Organic materials like sugars and proteins are needed for the body to complete the anabolic process.

If trying to lose weight, knowledge of your metabolism is important.

Energy from organic compounds is harnessed to help create the energy needed for the anabolic process. It is the oxidation of these organic compounds that yields energy. Organic compounds are carbon-based, but contain additional elements. Sugars, proteins, and fats are all organic compounds.

One specific carbon compound class is carbohydrates (often just called carbs). This compound consists of water and carbon molecules. We’ve all heard about carbohydrates, and anyone who reads food labels will notice that they are measured in grams. Carbohydrates include starch, wood fiber, sugar, and glycogen. Chemical energy in animals is stored as glycogen, and this material is like starch.

Another type of organic compound is lipids. These are also known as fats and oils. Lipids include carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen molecules.

There is a third type of organic compound that is used to release energy in the human body, and that is protein. Proteins start out as simple amino acids, and anabolism creates proteins by making connections between amino acids and binding them together. In addition to carbon, amino acids also have nitrogen molecules. There are only twenty distinct and different amino acids used by mammals to make a wide variety of the proteins needed. There are two basic types of proteins made by the your body structural proteins and chemical proteins. Structural proteins are created by anabolism to build organism structures, and chemical proteins are created to be used in chemical reactions required by your body.

Proteins, carbohydrates, and lipids are all nutrients needed by the body. A nutrient provides nourishment and helps to promote necessary repairs and tissue growth. These organic compounds can be used by your body as energy, but first, the compounds must be changed into a substance called adenisone triphosphate or ATP. Normally, the first step to an organic compound being turned into energy for anabolism is called catabolism. In this process, the complex molecules are broken down into smaller building units needed by your body, such as glycose. Once the molecules are broken down and turned into ATP using various processes, the chemical bonds between certain molecules of the ATP are considered high energy. These bonds are broken down during anabolism thereby providing the energy to perform the building up process, which takes smaller units and makes more complex or bigger units. Both catabolism and anabolism are vital parts of your metabolism. These processes use different pathways and have different chemical reaction rates, but they represent the continuous level of tearing down and building back up that your body goes through every day. If you are trying to lose weight, understanding the basic process of how your metabolism works is important. If organic compounds taken into your body in the form of lipids, proteins, and carbohydrates create more energy during catabolism than your body expends and anabolism demands for the building process in any given day, you will gain weight. The opposite is also true. If more energy is expended than you take in, you will lose weight.

The information supplied in this article is not to be considered as medical advice and is for educational purposes only.