So bodies are pretty complicated things, I gather. Our cells are constantly being replaced, and we all know we need a balanced diet so that we give our body all of its necessary supplies not only with large building blocks like fats and amino acids but also vitamins, minerals and other trace elements that are used in the process.
This had me wondering how this stuff is stored and catalogued so to speak. Is there a part of the body meant for storing and releasing all of this stuff or does it float around the bloodstream on some kind of carrier?
When your body goes to make new parts, how does it get its shopping list to the necessary site? Say it’s going to make new nerve fibers or hair or organ lining or whatever and needs X amino acids, Y lipids, a whole bunch of trace minerals and metals etc. Is there some mechanism that puts out a call for this stuff? Are there cells with ports for the materials needed and the materials float around in the bloodstream until they bump into a receptor with capacity for it?
Thanks in advance, I’m sure grade school science covered some of this but it might not have been on top of my properties then lol
In: Biology
>Is there some mechanism that puts out a call for this stuff?
Yes. What cells don’t have and can’t make, they put out an order for in the form of hormones. Hormones travel through the blood and reach storage sites, which release the requested nutrient into the blood, and that way it reaches the initial cells.
Different nutrients are stored in different places. Some aren’t stored at all, with any excess just being excreted if not used up quickly. There are lots of exceptions and variations, but this is the general idea.
E: cells also have many biochemical tricks up their sleeve to convert major nutrients to other useful things. For the most part, sugars, protein (amino acids) and fats can all be interconverted. In this way, they can make do with what they have and balance their available resources before requesting more externally.
Latest Answers