Humans and animals create energy by consuming food and then breaking it down in the stomach through metabolic processes. Metabolism is the sum of all the chemical reactions that take place in each cell of a living organism to maintain life. All organisms that have cells go through the metabolic processes of breaking down something that is consumed, and turning it into energy. Plants do this by a process called photosynthesis, in which plants take in sunlight and then convert it into energy for the plant to use. The process is very important because this is the way that organisms make energy so that they may stay alive.
Currently, scientists are working on determining whether characteristics in human metabolic processes could lead to certain diseases. The chemists have done this through fitness testing with oxygen consumption. The way they are doing this is by testing a patient's oxygen consumption and their heart rate during intense workouts. This is the way that chemist can measure a patient's normal metabolic rate. Scientist are also studying patient's BMR of Basal Metabolic Rate. BMR is minimum amount of energy required to keep your body functioning. Scientist have linked their research to weightless while resting and to diabetic studies.
The rate of human's metabolism can be linked to his or her diet. The Metabolic Clinical Research Unit (MCRU) has created the Metabolic Research Kitchen to prepare controlled meals for their study subjects. This is how scientist can track what their patients eat and drink so that their data is more concrete. The scientist also created an experiment where the test subject may pick what food they want to eat. Scientist are hoping to discover how they made these choices, and what influences their decision. This research will show eating habits that could be a vital source of information in the scientist's studies.Works Cited:
https://www.unm.edu/~lkravitz/Article%20folder/metabolismcontroversy.html
https://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/clinical-trials/metabolic-clinical-research-unit-volunteers/research-areas
Photos:
http://thelancet.com/journals/laneur/article/PIIS1474-4422(10)70224-6/fulltext
Videos:
https://youtu.be/fR3NxCR9z2U
https://youtu.be/kb146Y1igTQ
This topic is very interesting because I have never thought that there is a possibility that our metabolism can lead to certain disease. I find this information very shocking because I thought that metabolism will only benefit us since it help our body to break down the food and provide energy for our body. What is the minimum amount of energy required to keep the body functioning (Basal Metabolic Rate)?
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