What is metabolism? 5 mechanisms you should know.

 

What is metabolism?

 

“How to boost your metabolism.”

 

 “Increase metabolism – made easy.“

 

On fitness sites, in lifestyle magazines, or at the doctor’s: the term “metabolism” inevitably comes up.

 

My impression: Most people have a gut feeling about what it means.

 

But few realize that there’s more to it than just burning calories.

 

When you understand metabolism, you can make better decisions that will get you where you want to go faster – looking good in a swimsuit.

 

If you don’t know the 5 most important metabolic processes, you risk making mistakes in your diet and going backward. You’ll also have a harder time seeing through flimsy marketing promises of “magic” supplements.

 

This short but essential article takes just under  3 minutes to read.

 

 

What is metabolism – You should know these 5 mechanisms

Metabolism or metabolisms affects all foods you eat and drink. All of this is metabolized in your body.

 

This means that chemical reactions take place inside you that convert the individual substances in such a way that your body can use them.

 

The product can be hormones, muscles, immune cells, or simply energy.

 

Short:

 

Metabolism means feeling. Think. Bring performance. Life.

 

There are 5 different metabolic processes that you should know:

 

1. sugar metabolism,
2. protein metabolism,
3. lipid metabolism,
4. enzymes and
5. hormones.

 

Let’s go through them one by one for a moment.

 

 

What is Metabolism #1 – Sugar Metabolism

When you eat carbohydrate-rich foods like bread or potatoes, your digestive enzymes come into play.

 

They break down the large starch molecules into small sugar molecules (glucose).

 

These are small enough to pass through the intestines into the blood and the glycogen stores of your liver and muscles.

 

When you work out, your body demands fuel – and your liver delivers. It converts the glycogen into small glucose molecules and sends them into the blood.

 

The energy (“blood sugar”) reaches the muscle via the circulatory system and can be used for rapid energy conversion.

 

What happens when you eat more carbohydrates than you can use or store in your liver and muscles?

 

The liver then converts the sugar into fat and sends these molecules (“triglycerides”) into the blood. The “excess” fat is deposited during bad times – for example, on the hips, stomach, or buttocks.

 

 

What is Metabolism #2 – Protein Metabolism

What happens when you eat a steak (or a vegetarian protein source)?

 

It is very similar to sugar: For your body to access the protein components, the individual amino acids, it has to break them down. Here, too, enzymes are involved.

 

The amino acids enter the bloodstream and the liver via the intestine.

 

Your liver knows which protein structures your body needs at the moment: new enzymes, hormones, immune bodies, or a piece of scalp hair.

 

Then she builds it out of it.

 

Suppose there are no more amino acids, for example. In that case, because you are starving or simply not eating enough protein, the liver cannibalizes the protein molecules from your muscles and converts them into what is currently needed.

 

In such cases, sugar is often burned to keep you moving and your cells fueled.

 

 

What is Metabolism #3 – Fat Metabolism

Let’s say you eat a piece of fatty sea fish. What happens then?

 

Metabolism is again in the intestines. This is where the conversion occurs: The fatty acids are converted into small globules to get into the blood. Those are the prominent triglycerides.

 

There are countless different saturated or unsaturated fatty acids that your body uses as a building material for different purposes: For nerves, the brain, cell walls, or hormones.

 

Superfluous triglycerides end up in your depots – on your hips, stomach, and bottom.

 

 

What is Metabolism #4 – Enzymes

Enzymes are tiny proteins, the “hard workers” for your metabolism.

 

They facilitate or enable all chemical processes in digestion or the cell.

 

If you didn’t have enzymes, you wouldn’t be alive.

 

For enzymes to live, you need sources of protein, vitamins, and minerals.

 

 

What is Metabolism #5 – Hormones

Hormones are the messengers of your organs.

 

You produce them in your brain, the adrenal glands, and – depending on the equipment – ​​the testicles or ovaries.

 

They also use the blood and are sent to the respective organ to “tell” it what needs to be done. 

 

• bicep curl. 
• burn sugar. 
• build muscle. 
• produce heat. 
• To smile. 
• procreate.

 

Hormones can increase your metabolism – but also slow it down.

 

As you age, your body produces fewer hormones.

 

This would also “slow down” your metabolism, but you can take countermeasures: proper strength training, a balanced diet, and relaxation can work wonders.

 

 

What is metabolism – Conclusion

There is more to the term “metabolism” than just burning calories. Your metabolism means life. Metabolism is:

 

• everything you eat and drink
• where it is transported
• how it is converted in your body.

 

It is about energy production ( protein, fat, and sugar metabolism ) and muscle and cell building and degradation (protein and fat metabolism). 

 

It’s all about the transmission of information (hormones) and small unskilled workers (enzymes) that make chemical conversion processes in your body possible in the first place.