title: Another look at: fuel + O2 --> CO2 + H2O. Developing a water-oriented perspective.
abstract: Water plays many vital roles which must be maintained despite constant threat of water stress from the environment. Mechanisms to maintain these roles over the long-term involve intermediates of many metabolic pathways, such as glycerol, sucrose, free amino acids and their derivatives. In addition to viewing metabolic products as intermediates along energy-related pathways, nutrition researchers and epidemiologists should consider them as determinants of intracellular fluid maintenance. Satiety processes, oxidative-fuel selection, hormonal control, and intracellular-signaling processes can all be interpreted in terms of water-oriented metabolism. Water intake and hydration status can vary considerably, and may be inadequate for a sizeable proportion of Western adults. Due to the metabolic adaptations required to compensate for perpetually inadequate water, chronic sub-optimal water intakes may be highly relevant to chronic disease etiology. Preliminary evidence links water-oriented metabolism to obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, hypertension and cancer. Development of a water-oriented perspective may reveal an important new area of research in human nutrition and epidemiology.
authors.affiliation: University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, USA.
authors.forename: J D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Stookey
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000596:Amino Acids / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D050260:Carbohydrate Metabolism; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000503:physiopathology; D002908:Chronic Disease; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000503:physiopathology; D008660:Metabolism; D008954:Models, Biological; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000503:physiopathology; D009765:Obesity / Q000503:physiopathology; D010100:Oxygen / Q000378:metabolism*; D014867:Water / Q000378:metabolism*; D014882:Water-Electrolyte Balance
chemical_list: D000596:Amino Acids; D014867:Water; D010100:Oxygen