Metabolism: Carbohydrates, Fats, Proteins, and Hormonal Regulation

Vocabulary flashcards covering carbohydrate and fat metabolism, protein breakdown, ketone formation, and hormonal regulation based on the lecture transcript.

Glycogenolysis

The breakdown of stored glycogen in the liver to release glucose into the bloodstream for energy.

Gluconeogenesis

The liver process that synthesizes glucose from non-carbohydrate molecules such as glycerol, lactate, and amino acids.

Lipolysis

The metabolic process of breaking down a triglyceride into one glycerol molecule and three fatty acids.

Carnitine

A vitamin-like substance obtained from meat that assists in transporting fatty acids across the membrane into the mitochondria.

Beta oxidation

The mitochondrial process that breaks down fatty acids by removing two carbons at a time to form acetyl CoA.

Palmitic acid

A $16$-carbon fatty acid that can produce $106\,\text{ATP}$ through complete breakdown.

Ketones

Alternative fuel molecules produced from acetyl CoA when glucose is unavailable, such as during starvation or a very low-carbohydrate diet.

Ketogenic diet

A high-fat, moderate-to-low-protein, and very-low-carbohydrate diet originally developed to decrease seizures in children with epilepsy.

Ketosis

A physiological metabolic state characterized by elevated ketone bodies in the blood at a certain level.

Ketoacidosis

A dangerous state occurring in the absence of insulin where high concentrations of ketones significantly lower blood pH, making the blood acidic.

Deamination

The process of removing nitrogen from an amino acid with the help of vitamin $B_6$, leaving behind a carbon skeleton that can be metabolized for energy.

Glucogenic amino acids

Amino acids whose carbon skeletons can be converted into glucose.

Ketogenic amino acids

Amino acids whose carbon skeletons can be converted into ketones.

Adaptive thermogenesis

A process in which extra metabolic energy is released as heat rather than being stored or conserved as ATP.

Ephedrine

A diet pill ingredient used in the 1980s and 1990s and banned in the early 2000s that accelerated weight loss by drastically raising metabolic rate and heat production.

Catabolic hormones

A class of hormones that break down stored energy, including glucagon, cortisol, and epinephrine (adrenaline).

Thyroid hormones

Hormones that regulate basal metabolic rate and modulate the responses of insulin, glucagon, cortisol, and epinephrine.