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1) (8 pts) Suppose you decided to try a new fad diet which requires that you fea

ID: 269117 • Letter: 1

Question

1) (8 pts) Suppose you decided to try a new fad diet which requires that you feas t on only seal and whale blubber. A) How would the lack of carbohydrates in this B) It is likely that your and why? C) diet affect your ability to metabolize fats? breath will smell unusual on this diet? If so, what will it smell like agley makes you promise to consume a ose of odd-chain fatty acids. Does Dr. Bagley know best on this matter? Explairn ow many ATP molecules can be obtained from the complete oxidation of cis-A" When hearing about your new diet, Dr. B 2) (10 pts) many uced Phosphory lation are both functioning in your calculation of how many ATP are produced.) ecenoic acid (19:1) to carbon dioxide and water? (i.e. Assume the citric acid cycle and Hint: Remember to include the complete oxidation of any citric acid cycle intermediates that accumulate as this fatty acid is metabolized in your analysis.

Explanation / Answer

(1) Blubber is an adipose tissue, a thick layer of fat, found under the skin of marine mammals. It covers the entire body in whales and seals. The energy stored is in the form of fats (mostly lipids), with little or no carbohydrate.

A) Oxidation of fats is influenced by and associated with metabolism of carbohydrates. Fats can only be oxidized in the presence of carbohydrates. This association between fats and carbohydrates has been expressed as “fats burn in the flame of carbohydrates”.

Acetyl coenzyme A (acetyl co A) represents fat component as the main source is fatty acid oxidation. During tricarboxylic (TCA) or Kreb’s cycle, acetyl co A is completely oxidized in the presence of oxaloacetate. Pyruvate, the end product of glycolysis and the initial component of TCA cycle is used up for anaplerotic reactions to compensate for oxaloacetate concentration. Hence, without pyruvate, which is a carbohydrate, TCA-cycle components cannot be replenished. Therefore, with a diet containing only fats, the acetyl co A formed from fatty acid degradation will not get oxidized and gets built up. In this way, lack of carbohydrate in the diet affect the ability to metabolize fats.

B) A low-carb diet is called keto-diet. During this, the body uses ketones in the liver to produce energy. These ketones are produced by the breaking down of fats. During ketosis, the breath often smells like the chemical acetone. This gives a bad and unpleasant odor to your breath.

C) Odd chain fatty acids contain an odd number of carbon atoms in its structure. Eg. propionic acid. Oxidation of odd-chain fatty acids produces propionyl co A, which can be converted to succinyl co A, which is an intermediate component of TCA cycle. In this way, TCA cycle gets replenished. Hence, Dr. Bagley is correct in this matter.