Written by Amani Gardner
Edited by Amani Gardner, Craig Beall and Katherine Pye
Estimated read time: 2 minutes
Our bodies use a sugar (glucose) as fuel, but it’s not quite as straightforward as burning it for energy. Inside our cells, glucose is transformed into ATP (adenosine triphosphate), a molecule that stores energy in its chemical bonds.
To release this energy, the bonds between ATP’s phosphate groups must be broken. You can think of these bonds like a piñata; they need to be broken to get the energy-rich goodness inside. Once most of these energy-rich bonds are used up, we’re left with AMP (adenosine monophosphate), a molecule that has just one phosphate left.
So, what is the role of AMP?
AMP acts as a fuel gauge for your cells, alerting them when energy levels are low. If glucose is limited, ATP gets used up (as not enough is being made to keep up with demand) and AMP levels rise.
This shift in AMP vs ATP activates a special energy sensor called AMPK (AMP-activated protein kinase), which signals to the cell that energy stores are depleted. In this way, AMPK acts like the light on your car dashboard alerting you when you’re low on fuel.
The activation of AMPK triggers several changes in the body that restore the energy balance:
Burning stored fat
Encouraging cells to take in glucose from the blood
Stopping processes that use up energy unnecessarily e.g. storing fat or making new proteins
Increasing appetite through action in the hypothalamus of the brain