Function Of Insulin
Explaining the Function of Insulin
The function of insulin is to take the food and glucose from our food into the cells, in the blood. This is the way that the glucose becomes a source of energy. When the levels of glucose in the blood rise, beta cells found in the pancreas are responsible for releasing insulin. The pancreas is the human organ located directly behind the stomach.
If you didn’t have insulin in your body, your cells could not take the glucose from the blood. In turn, this would lead to a crisis situation for the glucose in our body. If you have a deficit of insulin in your body, the metabolizing of glucose cannot be properly done. In this case, the glucose will start building up in your bloodstream, instead of being transported into the cells of the body. This happens in two situations:
When the body’s cells become resistant to insulin’s action. No one knows exactly why cells become resistant to the effects of insulin, but there is no function of insulin in this case.
If there is a deficit in the production of glucose in the body, by the cells that normally produce glucose, in the pancreas.
Either of these conditions can lead to the disease known as diabetes mellitus.
When you have more glucose in your body than it needs at the time, it is stored so that it can be used in the future. It is stored in the form of fat cells, and the function of insulin in this case is to help store glucose for future needs. Whenever there might be a shortage of glucose for your body to use, the body will utilize the glucose in fat cells to make up the difference in what the body needs. When levels of blood glucose fall, alpha cells within the pancreas release glucagon. If your glucose levels are high, there will be no glucagon secreted by these alpha cells.
Glucagon has its greatest effect on your liver, but it also affects other cells in your body. When your glucose levels are low, your liver will release the glucose it has stored into the bloodstream, to keep the level of glucose in your blood at a normal level. Then, glucagon’s main job is to help the liver to begin releasing stored glucose into the blood, from its cells.
The pancreas is a tapered, elongated organ within your body. You can see it in MRI’s behind your stomach, across the abdomen’s back. The right side is referred to as the head, and it is located in the duodenum, which is the first section of the small intestine. The left, tapered side of your pancreas is called its body, and it ends close to the spleen, where the tail is located.
The pancreas is a vital organ in producing insulin so that the body can regulate the amount of glucose available, and so that your body can properly use the glucose stored within it, for energy. Insulin is the hormone that helps the pancreas control glucose in this way.