ATP stands for adenosine 5’ triphosphate and is the end product of the cell’s process in making energy. It is the most important “energy molecule” in the body. Without it, our cellular processes would cease to function. In this role, ATP creates chemical energy within cells for all of metabolism. Produced by both photosynthesis in plants and cellular respiration in animals, ATP provides the chemical energy for other cell processes including biosynthetic reactions, motility and cell division.
ATP consists of adenosine—itself composed of an adenine ring and a ribose sugar—and three phosphate groups to make adenosine 5’ triphosphate. As ATP is a unstable molecule it is far from equilibrium and contains potential energy, making it capable of doing work. When it is hydrolyzed it turns into ADP which, during the cellular respiration process, recycles itself to make ATP again.
To keep the cell with adequate amounts of energy, the ATP concentrations are a thousand-fold higher than the concentration of ADP. The overall process of oxidizing glucose to carbon dioxide is known as cellular respiration and can produce up to 36 molecules of ATP from a single molecule of glucose.
ATP is vital to our body’s function and when ATP is low we feel tired, have poor muscle function, feel depressed and just don’t function properly. Being low on ATP is a lot like being low on gasoline in your car. It sputters out or doesn’t work at all. Replacing the components involved in ATP or replacing ATP itself can bring back the energy levels to near or above normal. There is no better source of energy than ATP itself. Cells thrive on the energy produced by ATP and there is good evidence to suggest it helps improve maximize energy in low energy syndromes, when an individual is overweight and in cases where the nerve function needs improvement.
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