Eli5 What is glucagon and how does it work?

Question

Eli5 What is glucagon and how does it work?

In: 1

Answer 1

Glucagon is *kindof* the opposite of insulin.

Insulin is a signal that blood glucose is too high, and that tissues should absorb more glucose to burn, to store as glycogen, or to convert to fat.

Glucagon is a signal that blood glucose is too low. It’s a signal to burn more fat and less glucose and to take glycogen that is stored in the liver and convert it back to glucose to increase blood glucose.

I say “kindof” because if you eat a high protein meal, the pancreas will release both insulin (to increase protein absorption) and glucagon (to keep the insulin from reducing blood glucose).