Dieters and nutrition-minded people often focus upon how harmful glucose is. While you can make a case that there is too much sugar in the the average American's diet, it is easy to forget that glucose is essential for life. This six-carbon sugar is the chief fuel that keeps the body running.
Energy
Cellular respiration is the process of breaking down glucose into pyruvate. This occurs through three important biochemical pathways called glycolysis, the Krebs cycle and oxidative phosphorylation. In all of these pathways, glucose is broken down to form adenosine triphosphate, or ATP. ATP provides the energy necessary for many of the enzymes in the body to catalyze reactions.
Liver
The liver is the largest organ in your body. It performs many essential functions, such as making bile, which breaks down fats. The liver contains a complex group of enzymes called the P450 hepatic system that break down drugs. The University of Washington explains that the liver both makes cholesterol and removes it from circulation. The liver also makes some proteins, such as C reactive protein, or CRP which is an indicator of inflammation.
Gluconeogenesis
The liver also can perform a special function called gluconeogenesis. The body needs a regular supply of glucose to sustain life. If this glucose is not available because of starvation or anorexia, the liver starts making its own glucose from amino acids, lactate or glycerol. For example, if you are losing weight so fast that you are also losing muscle, gluconeogenesis is probably taking place because muscle proteins get converted to glucose.
Glycogen
If the body has too much glucose, insulin prompts the liver to convert this glucose to a starch called glycogen in a process called glycogenesis. The glycogen is stored in the liver. When blood sugar gets low, a process called glycogenolysis takes place, during which glycogen is converted first to glucose-1- phosphate. This glucose-1-phosphate is broken down just as if it were glucose.
References
- MedlinePlus; C Reactive Protein; February 2010
- Elmhurst College; Glycogenesis, Glycogenolysis, and Gluconeogenesis
- "American Family Physician"; Cytochrome P450: New Nomenclature and Clinical Implications; Melanie Johns Cupp, et al.; January 1998
- MedlinePlus: Liver Diseases
- University of Washington: Cholesterol, Lipoproteins and the Liver
