Interesting -The Carbohydrate Hypothesis of Obesity: a Critical Examination page 16

[Owly]

Holy crap people, how do you think the energy gets into your food? Please, please go read the link I posted above to get an understanding of how energy is stored in the chemical bonds in particular molecules.

[ciep]

js290 loves socratic questions.

This I've noticed! Unfortunately, not everyone is looking for a socratic debate, some are just asking questions and looking for direct answers. That won't stop js290 though!

[ciep]

Sorry Owly, "energy" has always been a tricky concept for me to fully grasp. I understand that energy is stored in chemical bonds and released when the bonds are broken, but that still doesn't do much for me in really "getting" what energy is or how it is used/transfered/whatever in the body. Physics and chemistry are hobbies of mine, not my expertise. I think I can make sense of the link you posted, but it's going to have to wait until tomorrow when I'm awake.

Thanks for posting though, I hope it ends up being as informative as it appears.

[Owly]

Sorry Owly, "energy" has always been a tricky concept for me to fully grasp. I understand that energy is stored in chemical bonds and released when the bonds are broken, but that still doesn't do much for me in really "getting" what energy is or how it is used/transfered/whatever in the body. Physics and chemistry are hobbies of mine, not my expertise. I think I can make sense of the link you posted, but it's going to have to wait until tomorrow when I'm awake.

Thanks for posting though, I hope it ends up being as informative as it appears.

Basically the body stores energy in those chemical bonds and then later breaks those bonds to release the energy again. So it's kind of stored inside the molecule (that's not exactly how it works, but it's an okay metaphor).

[js290]

Here's a good primer on how the human metabolism functions:

Human Metabolism, Energy, Nutrients ** | Learn Science at Scitable

That's a good link. Talks a lot about ATP and the TCA/Krebs cycle. Which fuel provides more ATP for the TCA cycle? Ah yes... Fatty Acid Oxidation

The oxidation of fatty acids yields significantly more energy per carbon atom than does the oxidation of carbohydrates. The net result of the oxidation of one mole of oleic acid (an 18-carbon fatty acid) will be 146 moles of ATP (2 mole equivalents are used during the activation of the fatty acid), as compared with 114 moles from an equivalent number of glucose carbon atoms.

Seems like an obvious metabolic advantage for physical activity involving the aerobic cycle.

No need to count calories, people way smarter than any of us already had this figured out years ago...

Rubner's observations proved that, for a resting animal, heat production was equivalent to heat elimination, confirming that the law of conservation of energy, implied in Lavoisier's early experiments, was applicable to living organisms as well. Therefore, what makes life possible is the transformation of the potential chemical energy of fuel molecules through a series of reactions within a cell, enabled by oxygen, into other forms of chemical energy, motion energy, kinetic energy, and thermal energy.

Here's what people should be concerned about...

Different signals dictate how cells can adapt to each situation, such as hormones, which may exert powerful effects by switching key enzyme activities in a matter of seconds, or how they may modulate gene expression profile, changing the whole cell metabolic profile. We must therefore understand all metabolic pathways as integrated events controlling energy regulation and conversion

Insulin and leptin are hormones, right?

[js290]

^^^ Btw, js290, sorry for putting words in your mouth. If I misunderstood your position just correct me. In fairness, your style is kinda cryptic sometimes, and I didn't have time to watch all the videos.

You and Finnegans Wake got this under control.

[magicmerl]

I'm sorry js, but we can't take you seriously until you first explain the metabolic pathway(s) by which energy is converted to fat within the body.

Try to keep up.

[Owly]

Dude, if you don't even understand how energy is stored in the body through the basics of metabolism, you've lost pretty much all credibility in my eyes when you make your claims about how metabolism works. You saw ATP in there, seized on it, and ran with it, spamming the same link you always use when it's clear you don't grasp the underlying fundamentals.

You in fact just quoted the basic explanation that answered your question about how we store energy--it's stored in potential chemical energy form. I answered your series of questions and now you're acting like you're some genius for reading the article and seeing that hormones control the system. Bravo, you have some basic reading comprehension.

Whether it's fatty acid oxydation or glycolysis, the body still stores the energy in the chemical bonds in the molecules that are formed in those cycles. That is also how it stores energy. You asked how we store energy, and I provided you with an answer. We can't turn energy into matter, but we can store energy in molecules via endothermic reactions. That energy can be measured in calories. Whether or not you think CICO is bunk, energy is still part of the process. If your body could not store energy, you'd be in serious trouble. Metabolism is essentially the process of breaking down food for energy and then either storing it or using it.

The reality is that you cannot store more energy than you consume, and your body will find ways to store excess energy. That's how the metabolic system works. You measure energy in calories. Therefore, calories are relevant.

Now, your system might be messed up. Your leptin signalling might be busted, leading you to eat more than you need. Your insulin might be messed up, creating issues with blood glucose regulation. But calories are still involved.

[js290]

I'm sorry js, but we can't take you seriously until you first explain the metabolic pathway(s) by which energy is converted to fat within the body.

Try to keep up.

Fatty Acid, Triglyceride, Phospholipid Synthesis and Metabolism

[Owly]

Fatty Acid, Triglyceride, Phospholipid Synthesis and Metabolism

If you actually understood the link you shared, then you would grasp that when people talk about storing energy, they're not talking about turning energy magically into matter.