Insulin

Insulin is a hormone released by the beta cells of islets of Langerhans in the endocrine pancreas. Along with glucagon, it plays a key role in keeping normal sugar levels in the blood. When you eat too much carbs and your glucose level goes up, it lowers it by inducing the liver hepatocytes to convert the excess glucose into glycogen and molecules of triglyceride. The former is the body first energy reserve, while the latter are stored in adipose cells as the second fuel reserve.

Insulin is a protein polypeptide hormone, whose structural unit is a monomer, with a molecular weight of about 6,000. However, its molecular weight may increase to 12,000 or more due to the fact that the insulin molecule can combine different number of monomers, depending on varying conditions. Every monomer consists of 51 amino acids, which are organized into two peptide chains, A and B, joined together by two disulfide bridges.

When the pancreas does not produce enough insulin, then your sugar levels will shoot up and will remain in dangerous high levels. Insulin insufficiency is called diabetes. High levels of glucose is inflammatory and, in the long run, it damages the endothelial lining of arteries and arterioles. Thus, the function of insulin is essential for a normal energy metabolism and health.

Remember: sugar in the bloodstream is called glucose, which is monosaccharide. A monosaccharide is the simplest form of carbohydrates. Table sugar, on the other hand, is disaccharide, which is made up of glucose and fructose.