Your morning coffee
Caffeine is cleared by the liver enzyme CYP1A2, at a speed set partly by your genes.
Start with something familiar
Each everyday thing below opens a short route through the molecules it meets.
A slice of bread
Starch becomes glucose, and glucose becomes the ATP that every cell spends.
A statin tablet
One enzyme in the liver slows, and the liver takes more LDL cholesterol out of the blood.
A glass of wine
Ethanol becomes acetaldehyde, and a common ALDH2 variant explains why some faces flush.
An egg
Cholesterol from food meets the cholesterol the liver makes, and people balance the two differently.
A sugar-free drink
Some sweeteners pass through the body unchanged; others are split into familiar molecules.
The map of your metabolism
The central chemistry of a human cell on one chart. Point at a pathway to name it; select it to open its chapter.
Point at a pathway to see its name. Double arrows mark reversible steps; dotted arrows mark the steps that run backwards when the liver makes glucose.
- Sugars
- Fats and cholesterol
- Energy
- Amino acids
- Folate and B12
- Alcohol
- Where a medicine acts
12 pages
Medicines
The most prescribed medicines in the United States and England, and what they change inside you.
12 pages
Food additives
The additives found in the most food products, plus sweeteners and emulsifiers.
12 pages
Foods
What common foods are made of, and what studies not paid for by the food industry show.