Food Intake vs. Metabolism: body weight control

In the following diagram, we organize several hormones and molecules (in general peptides) that play a central role in glucose control. The coming text dissert on each of them, and others. The most important to understand is that glucose is the main energy of the body and it must be refuelled from time to time, however this time to time is not always predictable, and how biological system must manage the energy already present until the next meal. Even in the meal time, it is necessary to "take it easy", it must be controlled how much to eat, and as well the absorption of the glucose. It is achieved through a network of interconnected hormones and vital molecules, some in the brain, some in strategic places such as the guts and pancreas. Body weight is a quite important parameter for the body: too much weight means too much energy to keep it, too less energy means not enough power in important situations. 

Schematic viewpoint of the hormones involved in the appetite control and metabolism. In red are important players, but are not hormones. The dashed arrows intend to show hormones that plays more then one control function on the diagram, the challenge is to build a complete diagram on this style, even in layers, that is, one hormone may control others such in gene expression, transcription networks; e.g. some researches show that leptin can control insulin⁽¹¹⁾. This diagram is mathematical modeling biased. The "fat" arrow between body weight and metabolism intends to say that the metabolism is a short-term dynamic process, from seconds to hours. whereas the body weight changes in a long-term scale, from days to months. Source: own elaboration.

See also

The big glucose model: the quest for unification