How Do We Get Energy From the Foods We Eat?

Energy is required to build molecules into larger macromolecules (like proteins) and to turn macromolecules into organelles and cells, which then turn into tissues, organs, and organ systems, and finally into an organism. Proper nutrition provides the necessary nutrients to make the energy that supports life’s vital processes. Your body builds new macromolecules from the nutrients in food.

Energy is stored in a nutrient’s chemical bonds. Energy comes from sunlight, which plants capture and, via photosynthesis, use to transform carbon dioxide in the air into the molecule glucose. When the glucose bonds are broken, energy is released. Bacteria, plants, and animals (including humans) harvest the energy in glucose via a biological process called cellular respiration. In this process, oxygen is required and the chemical energy of glucose is gradually released in a series of chemical reactions. Some of this energy is trapped in the molecule adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and some is lost as heat. ATP can be used when needed to drive chemical reactions in cells that require an input of energy. Cellular respiration requires oxygen (aerobic), which is provided as a byproduct of photosynthesis. The other byproducts of cellular respiration are carbon dioxide (CO2) and water, which plants use to conduct photosynthesis again. Thus, carbon is constantly cycling between plants and animals.

Plants harvest energy from the sun and capture it in the molecule glucose. Humans harvest the energy in glucose and capture it into the molecule ATP.