Metabolism and Antiaging Medicine: Metabolic Control and Antiaging

Metabolism refers to the entire process in which a living organism takes in nutrients from the environment to form its biological components, and then excretes waste while producing energy. Metabolism can be broadly divided into material metabolism and energy metabolism. Material metabolism is divided into anabolism and catabolism. Anabolism refers to the process of absorbing nutrients into the body and converting them into biological components. On the other hand, catabolism refers to the process of breaking down biological components. Energy metabolism is divided into energy-absorbing reactions and energy-releasing reactions. The reaction that absorbs energy into the body during the conversion of nutrients into biological components is called an energy-absorbing reaction. The phenomenon of energy being produced when biological components are catabolized is called an energy-releasing reaction. The body excretes the biological components that have completed the energy-releasing reaction as waste (Fig. 40.1).