The Fate of Absorbed Nutrients

ª The body has two metabolic states.

ª During the absorptive state, food is present in the digestive tract and the body is using, and
storing, the nutrients leaving the digestive tract.
ª Glucose is stored in the liver and skeletal muscles, lipids are stored in fat tissue, and amino
acids are used in protein synthesis.
ª During the postabsorptive state, the digestive tract is empty and the body is using stored
reserves of energy to maintain metabolism.
ª Stored glucose is released from the liver and skeletal muscles to maintain brain function,
lipids are metabolized to provide energy for the rest of the body, and protein may be
metabolized to build glucose for respiration.

The body’s metabolic condition can be divided

into two states: the absorptive and
postabsorptive states.
In the absorptive state, food is still present in
the digestive tract, and nutrients are entering
and being moved by the circulatory system. In
the absorptive state, nutrients are being used,
but they are also being stored for later use.
Amino acids enter the liver with the blood in
the veins leaving the digestive system. The
liver absorbs some of these amino acids and
uses them to synthesize protein. Most of the
amino acids continue on to the body tissues to
be used in protein synthesis.
Glucose also enters the liver where some of it
is absorbed and converted to glycogen for
storage. The glucose that leaves the liver is
used by body tissues in respiration to produce
ATP or is stored as glycogen in skeletal
muscle.
Lipids enter the blood stream from the
lymphatic system. They are used by skeletal
muscles in the production of ATP or are stored
in adipose tissue.

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 In the postabsorptive state the digestive
system is empty and energy is supplied by the
breakdown of stores.
Adipose tissue releases stored lipids that are
broken into glycerol and fatty acids. The fatty
acids are metabolized to produce ATP in the
body’s tissues.
Skeletal muscles convert their stores of
glycogen into glucose that is used to make
ATP. The glycogen can also be broken down
into pyruvate and lactic acid that can be
converted into glucose by the liver. This
process is called gluconeogenesis. The
purpose of this glucose production is to supply
the brain, which must use glucose as its
energy source.
The liver uses its stores of glycogen to supply
the brain with glucose.

The liver is also able to deaminate amino acids

to produce keto acids that can be used in
gluconeogenesis. Deamination is the removal
of an amine group, which results in the
production of ammonia. The ammonia is
converted to urea that is removed from the
blood stream by the kidney.

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