7.1: Integration of Macronutrient Metabolism and Alcohol Metabolic Pathways

Kansas State University: Human Nutrition · LibreTexts

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    If you were to draw all the macronutrient and alcohol metabolic pathways covered in chapter 6, hopefully it would look something like the figure below.

    The following color scheme is used in this figure:

    • Carbohydrate pathways are orange
    • Triglyceride/fatty acid pathways are purple
    • Protein/amino acid pathways are green
    • Nonclassified pathways are gray
    A diagram illustrating metabolic pathways, including glucose, pyruvate, and various amino acids, with color-coded arrows indicating processes.
    Figure \(\PageIndex{1}\): Integrated macronutrient and alcohol metabolism

    To simplify, we are going to remove the glycerol and cholesterol pathways so that we can focus on integrating the other pathways in macronutrient and alcohol metabolism.

    Diagram illustrating metabolic pathways, including glycolysis, citric acid cycle, and various biochemical processes with labeled arrows.
    Figure \(\PageIndex{2}\): Removal of glycerol and cholesterol pathways1

    Thus, we are left with the following simplified figure:

    A diagram illustrating metabolic pathways, featuring various compounds and their connections, with labeled arrows in multiple colors.
    Figure \(\PageIndex{3}\): Simplified integrated macronutrient and alcohol metabolism1

    Notice that acetyl-CoA is the central metabolite in integrated metabolism that connects many different pathways. For example, carbohydrates can be broken down to acetyl-CoA that can then be used to synthesize fats and ultimately triglycerides.

    ADAPT \(\PageIndex{1}\)

    References

    1. en.Wikipedia.org/wiki/File:CellRespiration.svg

    This page titled 7.1: Integration of Macronutrient Metabolism and Alcohol Metabolic Pathways was last modified on Thu, 29 Jan 2026 17:45:24 GMT and is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Brian Lindshield via source content that was edited to the style and standards of the LibreTexts platform.