metabolic processes
Body's chemical reactions
Metabolic processes are the chemical reactions occurring in living organisms that sustain life.
These processes convert food into energy, build and repair tissues, and eliminate waste products.
Metabolism divides broadly into catabolism, which breaks down molecules to release energy, and anabolism, which uses energy to construct cellular components.
Exercise increases metabolic processes throughout the body.
The term appears frequently in discussions of health, nutrition, and biological sciences.
- fermentationMicrobial sugar conversion
- cellular respirationCell-level fuel burning
- protein synthesisAssembling amino acid chains
- proteolysisEnzymatic protein breakdown
- beta-oxidationFatty acid breakdown pathway
ketogenesis · autophagy · deamination · energy · aerobic respiration · calories · blood sugar · insulin · glucose · ATP · mitochondria · breakdown · enzymes · hormones · biochemical · thyroid · conversion · cellular
- plant physiologyphotosynthesis, transpiration, germination, stomata, respiration
metabolic processessuspended animation
Halted vital functions, reversible
stasis · dormancy · quiescence · torpor · metabolic depression