Question

1. This question gives an overview of how a starving body metabolizes energy. Include any additional calculations below or on attached sheets. Clearly label all work.

Assume the following:

• The metabolic rate is constant at 1800 Kcal/day and at least 15% of this must be derived from glucose
• The starving person initially has 13kg of pure fat, 4.5kg of mobilizable protein in muscle, and 0.5kg of pure glycogen (these values are reasonable for a 70kg adult male)
• No energy is lost in the process of gluconeogenesis (which is an oversimplification)
• Glycerol does not contribute substantially to the substrate used for gluconeogenesis and acetyl CoA from fat cannot be converted to glucose
• Body uses stores of glycogen first then begins to metabolize other sources

Create a single plot showing the changes in levels of (1) body glycogen, (2) adipose tissue mass, and (3) muscle mass for an individual fasting for 90 days. Explain any additional assumptions that you make. This is a thinking question, so do your best to show the actual amplitude and time course of the changes

Answer 1