Why Is Glucose Oxidized?

Glucose is your body's primary source of energy, but it's just a fuel. The cells in your body run on a molecule called ATP (adenosine triphosphate), and the process of creating ATP requires glucose to be oxidized.

Background

• Through a process called cellular respiration, the energy locked within the chemical bonds of glucose is released. It is then harnessed by your body in order to produce ATP. Glucose is oxidized during this process.

Importance

• Many reactions occur during the cellular respiration process. While all of these reactions are important, oxidation is the principle reaction that drives the production of ATP.

Definition

• A substance is oxidized when, in the process of interacting with another substance, it loses one or more of its electrons.

Effects

• As the electrons from certain molecules get passed on from one molecule to the next in the final phase of cellular respiration, the process generates energy that your body's cells use to manufacture 34 molecules of ATP for every molecule of glucose metabolized.

Benefits

• Your body is not able to produce similar quantities of ATP in the absence of the chain of oxidation that takes place during the final phase of cellular respiration.