How does your body convert food into energy?
How does your body convert food into energy?
Cellular respiration releases stored energy in glucose molecules and converts it into a form of energy that can be used by cells.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Transcript
Your busy, active life takes a lot of energy!
Where does that energy come from?
It comes from the glucose in foods that you eat! Energy is stored in the chemical bonds of the glucose molecules.
Once glucose is digested and transported to your cells, a process called cellular respiration releases the stored energy and converts it to energy that your cells can use. Cellular respiration consists of three metabolic processes: glycolysis, the Krebs cycle, and oxidative phosphorylation.
When the glucose molecules first reach your cells, several enzymes initiate the breaking of bonds. This action liberates the energy that was holding the glucose molecules together!
That energy is captured by other molecules in the mitochondria.
Here, all the oxygen that you consume helps convert the energy to the molecule adenosine triphosphate, or ATP. Carbon dioxide and water are produced as waste products. In the cell, ATP helps power metabolic processes, fueling all of the activities of your life.
And the carbon dioxide and water are expelled from your body.
Where does that energy come from?
It comes from the glucose in foods that you eat! Energy is stored in the chemical bonds of the glucose molecules.
Once glucose is digested and transported to your cells, a process called cellular respiration releases the stored energy and converts it to energy that your cells can use. Cellular respiration consists of three metabolic processes: glycolysis, the Krebs cycle, and oxidative phosphorylation.
When the glucose molecules first reach your cells, several enzymes initiate the breaking of bonds. This action liberates the energy that was holding the glucose molecules together!
That energy is captured by other molecules in the mitochondria.
Here, all the oxygen that you consume helps convert the energy to the molecule adenosine triphosphate, or ATP. Carbon dioxide and water are produced as waste products. In the cell, ATP helps power metabolic processes, fueling all of the activities of your life.
And the carbon dioxide and water are expelled from your body.