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learn How Metabolism Works

Whenever you eat a piece of pie, or drink your favorite soda, your body works extra hard in processing the nutrients you just ate. Once your body digests the food, it becomes the fuel or energy your body needs. This process is called metabolism.

Medically, metabolism is composed of several chemical reactions that take place in your body’s cells. When these reactions occur, it converts nutrients into the energy your body needs to move, think, grow and function normally.

Certain proteins in your body control these chemical reactions and each of these reactions of metabolism is coordinated with specific body functions. Your body regulates all the metabolic reactions that occur daily. Metabolism is an important, yet complicated and constant process that it important for all living things. It starts as soon as you’re born and ends instantly when you die.

Two Important Process Involved In Metabolism Not only humans need metabolism; it occurs even in plants and animals. For instance, plants take energy directly from sunlight and use this energy to build sugars. When animals or people eat these same plants, they absorb the sugar and break it down to become energy. The energy is then distributed throughout the body’s cells. The cells can either use this energy instantly or store it within body tissues for future use. Metabolism involves a balance of two processes that occur at the same time – the storing of energy for tissue development and the breaking down of sugars to generate energy for your body.

The two metabolic processes are known as anabolism and catabolism. It is important to balance these procedures to ensure the energy is distributed properly. Constructive metabolism, also known as anabolism, is a process that stores the energy to build tissues. It helps in developing new body cells, maintaining tissues and storing of energy for later use. On the other hand, destructive metabolism or catabolism is the process that converts nutrients into energy for your body’s daily fuel needs. During this process, the energy is released into your body for heat, movement, muscle contraction and other normal body activities.

Metabolism is one of the most complicated chemical processes that occur in the bodies of living things. Because of its complexity, many people describe the metabolic process as something that influences and determines how your body loses or gains weight. Several factors, such as diet, physical activities and genes determine your metabolic rate. For this reason, metabolism varies from one person to the next. Meaning, while one person loses weight easily, others find it difficult to keep them off.

Latest News About Metabolism:

Yahoo! News: Weight Loss News
Bedwetting, being overweight linked to sleep apnea (Reuters)
Reuters - Children who are overweight and wet the bed at night may have obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), researchers report.
Kids With Type 1 Diabetes Often Overweight (HealthDay)
HealthDay - THURSDAY, July 2 (HealthDay News) -- Children with type 1 diabetes are more likely to be overweight than those without the disease, increasing their risk of serious health complications, researchers say.
Obesity Rates Continue to Climb in U.S. (HealthDay)
HealthDay - WEDNESDAY, July 1 (HealthDay News) -- The rates of adult obesity in the United States increased in 23 states during the past year and did not decrease in any state.
Obesity rates rising, Mississippi's still fattest (AP)

Obesity during early adulthood raises the chances that a person will be diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, according to a study released Tuesday.(AFP/File)AP - Mississippi's still king of cellulite, but an ominous tide is rolling toward the Medicare doctors in neighboring Alabama: obese baby boomers.


American adults getting fatter (Reuters)
Reuters - Obesity rates continued to climb in the past year with 23 U.S. states reporting adults in their states are fatter now than they were a year ago, two advocacy groups said on Wednesday.
State-by-state list of obesity rates, rankings (AP)
AP - State-by-state list of obesity rates, rankings
Obese Get Higher Doses of Radiation for X-Rays (HealthDay)
HealthDay - TUESDAY, June 30 (HealthDay News) -- People who are overweight and obese are usually given higher-than-normal doses of radiation in order to obtain usable X-ray images, even though the long-term effects are unknown, new research contends.
Aquarium hopes obese kids flip for athletic seals (AP)

A Northern Fur Seal stretches his mouth on the trainer's command at the New England Aquarium in Boston on Friday, June 26, 2009. A new program titled 'Move It!' featured in a new exhibit at the aquarium, aims to entice an increasingly obese generation of kids to get moving. (AP Photo/Eric J. Shelton)AP - Yes, he's obsessed with grooming, and he occasionally barks at you, but in most ways Isaac is not your typical fitness instructor. He weighs in at 350, eats 16 pounds of food at a time and he's only 9 years old. And he's a seal.


Obese Poor Shut Out From Weight-Loss Surgeries (HealthDay)
HealthDay - THURSDAY, June 25 (HealthDay News) -- Despite having one of the highest rates of obesity in America, the poor are less likely to undergo weight loss surgery than obese people who are better off financially, new research shows.
Weight-loss surgery cuts cancer rate in obese women (AFP)

Shadows of patients at a weight reduction clinic. Weight-loss surgery that curbs food intake by stitching up parts of the stomach or small intestine reduces the risk of cancer in obese women by more than 40 percent, according to a study.(AFP/File/Frederic J. Brown)AFP - Weight-loss surgery that curbs food intake by stitching up parts of the stomach or small intestine reduces the risk of cancer in obese women by more than 40 percent, according to a study released Thursday.


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