Mini Lesson: Metabolism

Video Transcript

What is Metabolism?

We often talk about metabolism in terms of either energy production or storage, but metabolism refers to all the chemical reactions in the body, of which there are thousands happening simultaneously! This means that any molecule that is changed--whether it is broken down, re-built, built from scratch, or made into something new--has undergone at least one of these thousands of metabolic processes.

Each metabolic process is facilitated by a specific enzyme. These enzymes are protein structures that are specially designed to perform one specific function in the process of changing molecules in the body. In other words enzymes either break apart or build new molecules. One enzyme may be responsible for breaking the bond between two carbons in a molecule, but it can only break the bond between two specific carbons within a specific molecular structure. So the body can control the breakdown of these specific molecules by controlling how many of these enzymes are made by the body.

Enzyme Production

The enzymes in the body are made following the directions that are coded within deoxyribonucleic acid--our DNA. For these enzymes to complete their job in metabolism, a number of conditions have to be met. 

To start with, the cell must be properly signaled to create the enzyme. This signaling process is going to be different depending on the enzymes needed for the specific metabolic reaction, but it usually involves specific molecules, like hormones, that activate a certain part of the DNA. The appropriate section of DNA must be revealed and copied accurately so that the enzymes can be built properly. And of course, the production of the enzymes requires an adequate amount of the amino acids that are necessary to create this specific enzyme. After they are formed, these enzymes also rely on specific nutrients to complete their metabolic reactions. These nutrients are typically vitamins or minerals that must be available to complete the necessary change to that target molecule. 

This means that there are multiple steps in this process where something might go wrong and an individual metabolic reaction may not occur as effectively or as efficiently as it should, which can affect the many other metabolic reactions that come after it. 

Consequences of Metabolic Disruption

Now, I know it can be a little challenging to really grasp how one little protein molecule can really affect our health, so let's see if we can zoom out a bit and consider how an inefficient or ineffective enzyme can affect our overall health. Let's go back to energy production, since this is the area of metabolism that we tend to be most familiar with.

The process of glycolysis--to produce a small amount of energy--requires 10 different enzymes to break down the glucose molecule into the pyruvate that is later used to produce more energy. So if one or more of these 10 enzymes is not working properly, the cell will not be able to produce sufficient energy from glucose. And that's not even considering the dozens of other enzymes that are used to produce energy from either glucose, fatty acids, or amino acids. 

But not having enough energy or gaining weight are not the only possible consequences of metabolic dysfunction. Inefficient enzymes in the production of neurotransmitters may affect mood regulation or nerve sensation. Or inefficient detoxification or antioxidant enzymes can leave the body more susceptible to cellular damage and organ dysfunction. The longer the body struggles with this damage, the more likely it is to develop chronic disease. 

Metabolic Syndrome

You may have heard of metabolic syndrome, which is known to increase the risk of chronic diseases like diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Of course, metabolic syndrome is really just a name given to a combination of some of the most common symptoms that tell us that a person is experiencing metabolic dysfunction. Besides carrying too much fat in the waist area, other metabolic syndrome symptoms include high blood pressure, high blood sugar, or high blood cholesterol. But it's important to remember that these symptoms are not the beginning of dysfunction...these symptoms appear when the body is no longer capable of compensating for the metabolic dysfunction that has likely been happening for quite some time.

Truthfully, metabolic dysfunction is involved in any disease. To have any sort of lasting relief from disease, it's important to properly identify which metabolic processes are being affected, which aspect of enzyme production or function is being disrupted, and find a way to address it properly without causing other, more damaging effects on metabolism.