Hey Biology buffs! Welcome to the wild world of hormones and homeostasis! Let's dive into how our body is like a master juggler, keeping things like our blood sugar in check! 🤹‍♀️

Blood glucose is the sugar delivered by your blood to all your cells. Imagine it as the fuel that makes your cellular engines vroom! 🚗

Key Points

• Blood glucose concentrations: Kept within tight limits (around 5 mmol/L).
• Volume: There’s only about 5 grams of glucose in the blood. That's like a teaspoon! 🥄

Insulin 💉

• Source: Beta cells (β cells) in the islets of Langerhans in the pancreas.
• Trigger: Activated when blood glucose rises above the set point.
• Action: Helps cells soak up glucose like a sponge! 🧽 Particularly in skeletal muscle and the liver.
• Effect: Reduces blood glucose by converting it to glycogen, which is like a storage unit for glucose.

Real-world example

When you eat a candy bar 🍫, your blood glucose spikes. Insulin is like the responsible adult that says, “Woah there! Let's put some of this sugar away for later!”

• Source: Alpha cells (α cells) in the islets of Langerhans in the pancreas.
• Trigger: Released when blood glucose dips below the set point.
• Action: Encourages the liver to break down glycogen into glucose.
• Effect: Increases blood glucose levels.

Real-world example

If you skip breakfast and go for a jog 🏃‍♀️, your blood sugar could drop. Glucagon is the lifeguard that blows the whistle and says, “Release the sugar! We need more energy here!”