The Obesity Epidemic: What Caused It? How Can We Stop It?

by Zoe Harcombe

I can eat a banana and use the glucose available for energy immediately. I can eat a banana and not need the energy immediately; I can eat a banana and need some of it immediately and use up some energy converting the rest for storage for later on. The banana may be turned into glycogen and I may need this later on. Or the banana may be turned into glycogen and I don’t need it, so it can be turned into triglyceride. This may get stored as fat, or I may need fat for energy (if I have no glucose or glycogen available at some stage) and then the fat cycling in and out of fat cells can become available and I can burn this for fuel. There are virtually infinite combinations of pathways that a simple banana can take within the human body. At every stage, energy is being used up in storing or making available energy and the body has different needs and energy options continuously.