GLUCOSE
Product No. P0721
Glucose (C6H12O6) is a simple monosaccharide sugar containing six carbon atoms that provides energy to all of the cells in the body. The cells take in glucose from the blood and break it down for energy (some, like brain cells and red blood cells, rely solely on glucose for fuel).
Glucose is one of the main products of photosynthesis and starts respiration. In respiration, through a series of enzyme-catalysed reactions, glucose is oxidised to eventually form carbon dioxide and water, yielding energy, mostly in the form of ATP.
The natural form (D-glucose) is also referred to as dextrose, especially in the food industry.
The older name dextrose arose because a solution of D-glucose rotates polarised light towards the right. In the same vein D-fructose was called levulose, because a solution of levulose rotates polarised light to the left.
The glucose in the blood comes from the food that you eat. When ingested, glucose gets absorbed from the intestines and distributed by the bloodstream to all of the cells in the body. The body tries to keep a constant supply of glucose for the cells by maintaining a constant glucose concentration in the blood - otherwise, the cells would have more than enough glucose right after a meal and be starved of it between meals and overnight.
When the body has an oversupply of glucose, it stores the excess in the liver and muscles by making glycogen, long chains of glucose. When glucose is in short supply, the body mobilises glucose from stored glycogen and/or stimulates you to eat food. The key is to maintain a constant blood-glucose level. To do this, the body relies on two hormones produced in the pancreas that have opposite actions: insulin and glucagon.
According to recent research, glucose has been shown to boost performance of the brain, particularly adeptness at tasks involving memory and attention.
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