Anatomy & Physiology › Section V · Metabolism and nutrition › Topic V.4

Metabolic states of the body

You eat a few times a day, but your brain needs glucose every minute. The body solves this by switching between a fed state that stores fuel and a fasting state that releases it, and, if food is absent for days, a starvation state that protects the brain and spares protein.

In this topic

  • Steady fuel from intermittent meals
  • Worked example: converting glucose units
  • The absorptive state
  • What insulin does in the fed state
  • The postabsorptive state
  • Worked example: how long liver glycogen could last
  • Starvation: protecting the brain
  • Linking states to disease
  • Common mistakes to avoid
  • Key takeaways

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