Category physiology

Carbohydrates and blood sugar
physiology

Carbohydrates and blood sugar

The main products deriving from the digestion and intestinal absorption of carbohydrates are glucose, galactose and fructose. These sugars reach the hepatic capillaries through the mesenteric vein and the portal vein, where they are retained in large quantities. It is precisely in the liver that galactose and fructose are converted into glucose, which in practice represents the only sugar present in the circulatory stream

Read More
physiology

Atheroma or Atherosclerotic plaque - How and why it is formed

Generality What is an atheroma? The atheroma, better known as atherosclerotic plaque, can be defined as a degeneration of the arterial walls due to the deposition of plaques formed essentially by fat and scar tissue. Complications An artery infused with lipid material and fibrotic tissue loses elasticity and resistance, is more susceptible to rupture and reduces its internal lumen, hindering blood flow
Read More
physiology

Cartilage

Cartilage: what it is and what it is used for Articular cartilage is an elastic tissue with remarkable resistance to pressure and traction (it is a specialized connective with a supporting function). It has a pearly white color and covers the ends of the joint bones, protecting them from friction. Its function is similar to that of a shock absorber bearing which with its action safeguards normal joint relationships and allows movement
Read More
physiology

ORAC: measurement of antioxidant power

Test Orac (Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity) The ORAC test is the method that is recently becoming the reference technique for measuring the antioxidant action of foods and supplements. The test is based on the ability of an antioxidant substance to inhibit the oxidative degradation of a fluorescent molecule caused by peroxyl radicals (ROO •).
Read More
physiology

Collagen: Functions and Skin Aging

Collagen functions Collagen is one of the most important proteins in vertebrates and represents one third of the total proteins of the human body, where it plays a fundamental role in the structure and functionality of organs and tissues, such as skin, cartilage, muscle tissue. Collagen certainly occupies the most important role among the structural proteins of our body
Read More
physiology

Antioxidant power: how to measure it?

In order to maintain a correct balance between free radicals and antioxidant systems, it is important to constantly provide the body with an adequate supply of molecules with antioxidant properties from the outside, to prevent the natural defenses against radicals, constituted by the antioxidant barrier, from running out
Read More
physiology

Free radicals and oxidative stress

All living species are continually exposed to reactive agents that attack organisms from the outside and from within. Over the last few decades, the focus of research has focused in particular on free radicals due to their involvement in the onset and development of numerous diseases. Free radicals are highly unstable chemical species due to the presence in their structure of one or more unpaired electrons
Read More
physiology

The heart

The heart is a hollow organ of muscular nature, located in the thoracic cavity in a central area called the mediastinum. Its dimensions are similar to those of a man's fist; its weight, in an adult individual, is around 250-300 grams. It has a roughly conical shape and its axis is directed forward and downward, so the right ventricle is located a little more forward than the left
Read More
physiology

Erythropoietin (EPO)

See also: EPO and altitude training erythropoietin Erythropoietin, known to most as EPO, is a glycoprotein hormone (consisting of 193 amino acids whose first 27 are lost at the time of secretion) that regulates the production of red blood cells (erythropoiesis). It is mainly synthesized by kidney cells and to a small extent by the liver which becomes the main producer only during fetal life
Read More
physiology

Stool characteristics

What are Feces? The faeces are the waste material of the organism that is eliminated by the rectum. Under normal conditions, the stools are 75% water and 25% solid, including bacteria, undigested fibers, fat, inorganic matter (calcium and phosphates), mucus, desquamated intestinal cells and some proteins
Read More
physiology

Water: an excellent drink

By Dr. Johnny Padulo Water is the quantitatively most important constituent of the body and it is known that without water it is possible to live only for a few days. In the adult, a loss of two liters of water leads to fatigue and inefficiency; a loss of four liters results in disability, a deficit of eight is lethal
Read More