Fuel metabolism overview

The overviews at the start of each chapter as well as the summaries at the beginning of each section have been retained because of my strong conviction that the details of biochemistry are easier to comprehend if they are integrated into a physiologic understanding of the functioning of the human body. Therefore, the book has retained the first chapter summarizing fuel metabolism. 

In the following section, we will provide an overview of varions types of dietary components and examples of the pathways involved in ntilizing these components. We will describe the fuels in our diet, the compounds produced by their digestion, and the basic patterns of fuel metabolism in the tissues of our bodies. We will describe how these patterns change when we eat, when we fast for a short time, and when we starve for prolonged periods. Patients with medical problems that involve an inability to deal normally with fuels will be introduced. These patients will appear repeatedly throughout the book and will be joined by other patients as we delve deeper into biochemistry. 

The first section contains overview and introductory material, some historical background, summaries of the present state of knowledge, and other general topics applicable to all fossil fuel These include environmental consequences of fossil fuel combustion, polysulfide chemistry, microbial metabolism of sulfur compounds, and a review of methods for isolating sulfur compounds from petroleum. 

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