The food that you intake is usually very rich in carbohydrate. Much of these carbohydrates in the food get converted to monosaccharide glucose with in a few hours. This converted glucose forms the principal carbohydrate in the blood.

The blood glucose is used up by most of the body cells for carrying out the cellular activities. Most of the body cells need glucose as a fuel for executing the cellular reactions.  Some others convert the absorbed glucose to some other form which is used up for other activities. And the remaining amount gets converted in to glycogen and is stored in the body for later use.

The glucose uptake by cells is controlled by a hormone called insulin. This hormone is hence responsible for maintaining the blood glucose level. Insulin is secreted by the beta cells of islets of Langerhans in the pancreas. This hormone is released to the blood stream by the beta cells through a store/release mechanism. The amount of insulin released in turn depends on the rising blood glucose level.

Higher insulin level results in the boosted anabolic activities such as cell growth and duplication, fat storage and protein synthesis.

On the other hand, insufficient insulin leads to persistent high glucose levels in blood, poor protein synthesis and other metabolic malfunctioning.

• Types of Diabetes
• Diabetes Treatments
• What is Diabetes?
• Type 2 Diabetes or Adult Onset Diabetes