introduction to metabolism | Biology basics|

Introduction to metabolism | Biology|
You may have heard that you have a fast metabolism or a slow metabolism

But what exactly is your metabolism?

Metabolism is the sum of all chemical reactions within the cells of living things.
Take a look at this summary of all of the chemical reactions taking place in a human.
The chemical reactions of metabolism are organized into pathways in which one chemical is transformed through a series of steps into another chemical, with the help of enzymes.
An example of a pathway is cellular respiration in which glucose and oxygen are transformed into carbon dioxide water and ATP which is used for energy

You can break metabolism down into three main categories.

The chemical reactions used for the conversion of food to energy
The conversion of food into building blocks used to make items like proteins
The chemical reactions needed for the elimination of waste

Enzymes are crucial to metabolism Enzymes help speed up chemical reactions The molecules upon which enzymes may act are called substrates and the enzyme converts the substrates into different molecules known as products.
Almost all chemical reactions in the cell need enzymes in order to occur at rates fast enough to sustain life
There are over 5000 chemical reactions that occur in plants,animals, and microbes that are controlled by enzymes.

Most of the structures that make up animals, plants and microbes are made from three basic classes of molecule: amino acids, carbohydrates and lipids
Many chemical reactions focus on making these molecules during the construction of cells and tissues, or by breaking them down and using them as a source of energy during digestion and cellular respiration.

These chemicals can also be joined together to make DNA and proteins.

So there you go metabolism the sum of chemical reactions that take place in living things.
Take a journey to the cell
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QS274gwv_Sc