Nutrition, Metabolism, and Temperature Regulation

These flashcards cover key concepts related to nutrition, metabolism, and temperature regulation as taught in the course. Each card includes a term and its definition, providing a solid foundation for understanding the material.

Nutrition

The process by which the body obtains and uses certain components of food, including digestion, absorption, transportation, and cell metabolism.

Nutrients

Substances used by the body to produce energy, provide building blocks, or function in other chemical reactions.

Essential nutrients

Nutrients that must be ingested because they cannot be synthesized by the body.

Kilocalories

A measure of energy supplied by food and released through metabolism.

Carbohydrates

Organic compounds used as a primary energy source in the body, which are digestible into monosaccharides like glucose.

Lipids

Fats that provide energy, store excess energy in adipose tissue, and are structural components of cell membranes.

Proteins

Chains of amino acids that serve various functions, including structure, protection, regulation, and muscle contraction.

Vitamins

Organic molecules necessary for normal metabolic functions, which must be obtained through diet.

Minerals

Inorganic substances needed for normal metabolic functions, playing roles in various physiological processes.

Metabolism

The total of all chemical changes that occur in the body, consisting of catabolism and anabolism.

Glycolysis

The first step in carbohydrate metabolism where glucose is broken down into pyruvate, producing ATP and NADH.

Anaerobic respiration

Breakdown of glucose in the absence of oxygen, producing lactate and ATP.

Aerobic respiration

Breakdown of glucose in the presence of oxygen to produce carbon dioxide, water, and ATP.

Citric acid cycle

Also known as the Krebs cycle; a metabolic pathway that produces ATP, NADH, and FADH2 through the oxidation of acetyl-CoA.

Electron-transport chain

A series of reactions in the inner mitochondrial membrane that generates ATP using NADH and FADH2.

Chemiosmosis

The process in which ATP is produced during electron transport by the movement of protons down a concentration gradient.

Glycogenesis

The formation of glycogen from excess glucose.

Glycogenolysis

The breakdown of glycogen into glucose.

Metabolic rate

The total amount of energy produced and used by the body per unit of time.

Body temperature regulation

The balance between heat gain and loss in the body, regulated by the hypothalamus.

Absorptive state

The period after eating when nutrients are absorbed and utilized for energy.

Postabsorptive state

The state that occurs after the absorptive state, during which stored nutrients are used for energy.

Set point

The predetermined level that the body regulates for maintaining temperature, which can be altered during conditions like fever.