eli5: How does the body store power
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Your body uses three main fuels for storing energy: ATP, glucose, glycogen, and fat. For short term energy storage, on the order of seconds, ATP is what is used. ATP is often called the energy currency of the cell, as everything your body does ultimately is powered by ATP.
Glucose is the main sugar molecule used by cells of all types to burn for energy. When your blood sugar levels are low, your liver cells produce glucose and secrete it into your blood stream for your brain neurons to take up and use as energy.
Glycogen comes next, and is used by muscles cells for short-medium storage of energy. Glycogen store last several seconds, I believe as much as 30 seconds. Glycogen is what makes dark meat dark in color, and why it tends to be a bit sweeter than white meat.
Finally,for really long term storage, your body uses fats, called triacylglycerides. These TAGs get stored in fat cells, and your body uses these as energy when food is scarce and you are burning more calories than you are consuming.
Glucose, glycogen, and TAGs are all converted into ATP before they can be actually used as energy, because again ATP is the energy currency of your cells.
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