The food we eat. Plants are autotrophs (create their own energy) and produce their own energy by photosynthesis which uses carbon dioxide and water to create glucose. We eat plants and attain energy from them.
Answer:
D. Comes from the food we eat.
“How does the body produce glucose?”
The body "retrieves" glucose rather than "producing" it. via the meals you consume. Carbohydrates are the MAIN (NOT the "ONLY") source of glucose in our diet. In essence, all meals that most people consume too much of are simply made of lengthy chains of sugars, or carbohydrates. Cakes, breads, tubers (potatoes, etc.), ALL grain goods, beans, rice, maize, a variety of vegetables (lima beans, peas, and many others), as well as sweets and candies (sugar is the most fundamental form of glucose), and so on.
All carbohydrates are quickly converted by our digestive systems into glucose; the process is rather quick and straightforward, taking only a few seconds for sugars and a few minutes for most breads and other foods. Corn and potatoes take a little bit longer, but we're still talking minutes here.
If you eat no carbohydrates (which is difficult to achieve, but you can absolutely substantially reduce your carb intake), your body will make glucose from the proteins and fats you consume. Your body will extract what it needs from proteins and fats through a process known as "gluconeogenesis," which is the "production of new sugar." The process is far more complicated and takes longer (an hour or three, depending on what you consume).
Glucose is the energy source that our cells utilize to "run" our bodies. Here is a brief introduction to carb chemistry.
Glucose is the kind of sugar that we refer to as "blood sugar." Glucose is ONE of MANY different forms of sugars. BUT it's the most fundamental. The simplest kind of carbohydrate is a monosaccharide.
Carbohydrate, often known as moistened carbon, is a chemical compound. Six carbon (C) and six water (H2O) molecules make up glucose, as shown in the table below. The formula is C6H12O6, where 6xC=C6 and 6xH2O=H12O6. EVERY carbohydrate is a variant on the carbon and water motif (Carbon, plus Hydrogen and Oxygen).
Monosaccharide is slang for "one sugar"... Because it cannot be "broken down" any more, glucose is the simplest sugar, along with fructose (fruit sugar) and galactose, which have the same formula but distinct bonds keeping the atoms together in a slightly different shape (milk sugar). These sugars are readily converted to glucose because they have the same fundamental chemical components as glucose. Thereafter, the...
Disaccharides. Or just say double sugars. These are produced from the union of two monosaccharides (which they do readily). Sucrose, maltose, and lactose make up the majority of the disaccharides; other, less prevalent types include lactulose, trehalose, and cellobiose. ALL disaccharides have the chemical formula C12H22O11 - which is the molecules of two monosaccharides, MINUS one water molecule: 2(C6H12O6) = C12H24O12, less H2O = C12H22O11.
It just becomes a lot more challenging from there... But in brief, all carbs are easily converted into glucose and can "chain together" to build lengthy chains and/or rings of these CHO groups (also known as carbonyl and hydroxyl groups, depending on the bonds and structure). The polysaccharides, sometimes known as "many sugars," are derived from the disaccharides and can grow to be highly complex, but they are still just collections of the same C, H, and O atoms.
Carbohydrates are present in ALL PLANTS, especially after they have been "processed" to make bread, pasta, french fries, rolls, rice teriyaki, and other foods. In the end, all they are is extended chains of sugar molecules.
SO… carbohydrate is essentially sugar – even the slightly more complex versions (like corns, potatoes, rice and so on). ALL grain-based products are carbohydrates. These are all quickly “converted” to glucose by our digestive systems.
This is how the body "gets" glucose, then. Whether you refer to it as "production" or just "absorption," it CANNOT produce glucose out of thin air. To "create" glucose, we need to ingest the chemical building blocks.
If there is more glucose than what is required for current cellular activity, it is stored as glycogen, which is a denser form of the same molecules (meaning more of it can be stored in a smaller space) and which can be quickly converted back to glucose and used by the cell. The bloodstream delivers the glucose to active cells (ALL cells need it, from skin cells to heart cells). The liver and the long muscles store glycogen. Anytime blood glucose levels fall, the liver just secretes more into the circulation until the reserves are depleted. When the muscles it is stored in are working, long muscle stores are utilised. Any further extra glucose is then stored as fat. Over the course of evolution, these fat reserves were used up during famines, enabling the creature to survive.
Simple. Your body retrieves glucose from the carbohydrates in your food that you eat.
Thanks,
Eddie
