1. You may have noticed that, gram for gram, potato chips have many more calories than does a baked potato. What produces this greater number of calories? By what metabolic pathway does the body derive energy for ATP synthesis from the additional calories in potato chips compared to a baked potato?

2. Your friend tells you that she is taking extra niacin to "burn calories." In light of what you know about niacin’s role in metabolism, is there any sense in that statement? Would taking excessive doses of niacin drive metabolism faster and faster? Explain.

3. You may have heard that competitive runners often "carbo-load" (eat extraordinary amounts of carbohydrates) before a race. How do the liver and skeletal muscles handle this carbohydrate load? Do all of these carbohydrate calories end up in the liver and muscles? What other fate might the excess glucose molecules have?

4. The arms and legs of a person who is starving eventually become very skinny. What happens to the muscle protein, and how does this aid the body during starvation? A starving person may also develop a protruding belly, due to edema. How does protein malnutrition lead to edema?

5. You decide to go on an extremely strict diet and cut out fat and oil entirely. Some time later, you notice that your night vision isn’t what it used to be. How might this symptom be related to your new diet?

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