{"id":4324,"date":"2019-06-17T17:58:03","date_gmt":"2019-06-17T17:58:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ccconline.org\/acchumanbio\/chapter\/3-1-case-study-chemistry-and-your-life-3\/"},"modified":"2023-11-30T17:48:23","modified_gmt":"2023-11-30T17:48:23","slug":"3-1-case-study-chemistry-and-your-life-3","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ccconline.org\/acchumanbio\/chapter\/3-1-case-study-chemistry-and-your-life-3\/","title":{"raw":"3.1 Case Study: Chemistry and Your Life","rendered":"3.1 Case Study: Chemistry and Your Life"},"content":{"raw":"

Case Study: Diet Dilemma<\/h1>\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_248\" align=\"alignright\" width=\"300\"]\"Image Figure 3.1.1 Diabetes requires careful monitoring and adjustment of blood sugar.<\/em>[\/caption]\r\n\r\nJoseph is a college student who has watched his father suffer from complications of type 2 diabetes<\/a> for the past few years. For people with type 2 diabetes, the hormone insulin does not transmit its signal sufficiently. Insulin normally removes sugar from the bloodstream and brings it into the body\u2019s cells. Diabetes prevents blood sugar levels from being properly regulated, and this can cause damage to the cells.\r\n\r\nDiabetes can be treated with insulin injections, as shown above, as well as with dietary modifications, but complications can still occur. Joseph\u2019s father has some nerve damage (or neuropathy<\/a>) in his feet which makes his feet numb. He didn\u2019t notice when he developed minor injuries to his feet which caused some serious infections.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_249\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"300\"]\"A Figure 3.1.2 A healthy diet and exercise can prevent Type 2 Diabetes.<\/em>[\/caption]\r\n\r\nJoseph is obese and knows that his weight \u2014 along with a family history of diabetes \u2014 increases his risk of getting the disease himself. He wants to avoid the health issues that his father suffered, so he begins walking every day for exercise and starts to lose\u00a0 weight. Joseph also wants to improve his diet in order to lose more<\/em>\u00a0weight, lower his risk of diabetes, and improve his general health, but he is overwhelmed with all of the different dietary advice he reads online and hears from his friends and family.\r\n\r\nJoseph\u2019s father tells him to limit refined carbohydrates, such as white bread and rice, because that is what\u00a0he\u00a0<\/em>does to help keep his blood sugar at an acceptable level, but Joseph\u2019s friend tells him that eating a diet high in carbohydrates and low in fat is a good way to lose weight. Joseph reads online that \u201ceating clean\u201d by eating whole, unprocessed foods and avoiding food with \u201cchemicals\u201d can help with weight loss. One piece of advice that everyone<\/em>\u00a0seems to agree on is that drinking enough water is good for overall health.\r\n\r\nAll this dietary advice may sound confusing, but you can better understand health conditions, such as diabetes, and the role of diet and nutrition by understanding chemistry. Chemistry is much more than chemical reactions in test tubes in a lab \u2014 it is the atoms, molecules, and reactions that make us who we are and keep us alive and functioning properly. Our diets are one of the main ways our bodies take in raw materials that are needed for the important chemical reactions that take place inside of us.\r\n
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Chapter Overview: Chemistry\u00a0<\/span><\/h1>\r\n<\/header>\r\n
\r\n\r\nAs you read this chapter, you will learn more about how chemistry relates to our lives, health, and the foods we eat. Specifically, you will learn about:\r\n