Effects of Insulin

Insulin injection is very common in our daily life. It is also the main way to treat many diseases in medicine. But do you know what exactly the effects of insulin are? When using this insulin to treat diseases such as diabetes, does it have a negative effect on people's health?

We may not fully understand the role of sugar metabolism. It’s just that many people only know that insulin can lower blood sugar in the body, but this effect is only a superficial phenomenon. In fact, insulin has five major effects on the regulation of sugar metabolism in the human body. You don't know.

Promote the entry of glucose into cells; promote glucose phosphorylation; promote glucose oxidative decomposition; promote glucose synthesis into glycogen; resist glucose anisotropy. Glucose can only be used after entering cells. It is now believed that only glucose can pass freely through the liver cell membrane, while glucose must rely on sugar transporters on the cell membrane to enter all other cells, especially muscles and fat that account for more than 65% of the human body. Insulin can increase the number and transport speed of sugar transporters. When blood sugar is high, patients often feel general fatigue due to lack of energy for muscle contraction.

Under the action of insulin, the main destination of blood sugar after a meal is to be stored as glycogen after a series of reactions, becoming a glucose reserve that can be quickly mobilized. The process of converting non-sugar substances such as amino acids, glycerol, fatty acids, lactic acid, etc. into glycogen is called gluconeogenesis. The generated glycogen can be broken down into glucose when needed and enter the blood circulation to replenish blood sugar. Insulin has an inhibitory effect on the activity of key enzymes in the gluconeogenesis process, which is why some diabetic patients still have high blood sugar levels even if they do not eat staple foods.

Insulin has many functions. For example, it can play a significant role in protein metabolism in people's bodies. Insulin can also promote protein synthesis, thereby inhibiting the breakdown of body tissue protein. It plays a protective role for people's health. However, insulin injections must be performed with the knowledge of a doctor.