Title: The muscles in glucose regulation
Course: Non-Communicable Diseases, Emergency Care and Mental Health Part 1 - Ethiopia (Full)

The muscles in glucose regulation

There are different sorts of muscles in the body and they have different functions. Skeletal muscles are the ones used for movement, for example in your arms and legs. The involuntary muscles are the ones over which we have no conscious control, for example the muscles in the walls of the stomach and intestines that move food through the digestive tract.

Like the liver, skeletal muscles store glucose as glycogen and are able to use glucose as a fuel. Insulin stimulates muscles to take up glucose. When the muscles are active (for example, while exercising), the absorbed glucose is used to fuel muscular activity.