What is insulin?
Insulin is a protein hormone that is produced by special cells located in the pancreas (beta cells). It has many metabolic effects, but the most important effect is to turn on transport pathways in cells that carry glucose from outside the cell to inside the cell, where it can be oxidized as fuel.
A. Insulin is a hormone produced by our bodies, specifically our pancreas. Among it’s many functions, insulin also helps with the movement of glucose from the blood into body cells where glucose is used as a source of energy or stored as a future fuel source. Without insulin, body cells can “starve”, even though there may be plenty of glucose in the bloodstream.
Insulin is a hormone produced by our bodies, specifically our pancreas. Among its many functions, insulin helps with the movement of glucose from the blood into body cells where glucose is used as a source of energy or stored as a fuel source. Without insulin, body cells can “starve”, even though there may be plenty of glucose ion the bloodstream.
Location of the PancreasInsulin is a hormone. And like many hormones, insulin is a protein. Insulin is secreted by groups of cells within the pancreas called islet cells. The pancreas is an organ that sits behind the stomach and has many functions in addition to insulin production. The pancreas also produces digestive enzymes and other hormones (detailed on another page). Carbohydrates (or sugars) are absorbed from the intestines into the bloodstream after a meal. Insulin is then secreted by the pancreas in response to this detected increase in blood sugar. Most cells of the body have insulin receptors which bind the insulin which is in the circulation. When a cell has insulin attached to its surface, the cell activates other receptors designed to absorb glucose (sugar) from the blood stream into the inside of the cell. Pancreatic Islet Cells secrete insulinWithout insulin, you can eat lots of food and actually be in a state of starvation since many of our cells cannot access the calor
