Preksha Dhyana Human Body Part 2

Author(s): Jethalal S Zaveri
Publisher: Jain Vishva Bharati

Page 50

catabolised like glucose; the fatty acids can be oxidized for energy (except in nerve-tissue which uses only glucose for energy), or can be stored after resynthesization by the fat-cells of the adipose tissue. Fat is also a vital constituent of tissue and cells.
Though the fat deposits scattered through the body often seem all too permanent, actually they are in a dynamic state, with a breakdown, re-synthesis and exchange with the plasma fat. It has been found that as much as half of the total fatreserve changes position each day, and even in the most obese person, the fat is not the same fat that was stored two or three weeks before.
The liver plays a key role in fat metabolism. It synthesizes fatty acids from carbohydrates, and saturates, unsaturates and oxidizes them by a specialized process. When carbohydrate metabolism is abnormally low, as in starvation or diabetes, increased amounts of fatty acids are utilised for
energy
The role of cholesterol is still cloaked in controversy. It is absorbed from the intestine; but even when kept on a cholesterol-free diet, the body synthesizes its own cholesterol. It is a constituent of bile-salts and is used in the formation of several hormones including cortisone and progesterone.
Insulin is the main regulator of fatty acid mobilization facilitating their transport into the cells. Several other hormones-epinephrine, adrenal cortical hormones, growth hormone, and the thyroid hormone-increase fat-mobilization. Sympathetic innervation of the adipose tissue has a similar effect. The levels of blood-glucose and fatty acids are inversely related. When the glucose is high, the fatty acid level is low and vice versa.
Water Metabolism
We produce a great deal of metabolic water. Water is formed in the oxidation of glucose, proteins and lipids. A total of about 375 millilitres of water is produced in the human body
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