Aerobic respiration is the process of burning simple sugars for energy in cells with oxygen, while anaerobic fermentation is the process of creating energy without oxygen. Fermentation is used to make alcohol and occurs in the decay of plant and animal matter. Aerobic fermentation occurs when cells require more energy than can be produced by an oxygen reaction, causing muscle fatigue and eventual failure. Understanding energy production in cells is useful for athletes to maintain a level of aerobic activity and recover from anaerobic activity.
The term “aerobic” means in the presence of oxygen; for example, it is used in aerobic exercise to show that the body is using oxygen to burn sugar for energy. This process of burning simple sugars for energy in cells is called aerobic respiration. Human and plant cells can create energy without the presence of oxygen, a process called aerobic fermentation. This term is perhaps misnamed, because fermentation is normally an anaerobic process or produced without oxygen.
Humans have used fermentation for thousands of years to make alcohol from various plants and grains. The process uses a reaction between yeast and plant sugars to produce alcohol and a gaseous byproduct, usually carbon dioxide. The decay of plant and animal matter in marshes, swamps and waste dumps is also a process of anaerobic fermentation, producing carbon dioxide, methane and other gases.
In humans and animals, energy is created by a complex reaction in cells that uses oxygen, sugar glucose, and various trace chemicals in the body. Carbon dioxide is formed from this reaction and is removed from the body by exhaling it from the lungs during respiration. Normal cellular processes are aerobic and the term used for the process is aerobic respiration. A key chemical used to supply cells with energy is called adenosine triphosphate (ATP), which results from the glucose-oxygen reaction.
Aerobic fermentation occurs when cells require more energy than can be produced by an oxygen reaction. Some of the cellular reaction still occurs and some ATP is formed. Less efficient than the oxygen process, aerobic fermentation creates acids in cells that cause muscle fatigue and eventual failure. It also uses glucose less efficiently, which is why high-energy activity with a long period of aerobic fermentation will cause rapid energy loss.
The muscle soreness and loss of energy experienced by humans during periods of high-energy activity are a direct result of the aerobic fermentation process. Lactic acid builds up in the muscles and, if not removed, eventually causes muscle cramps and pain. The body eventually removes this excess acid after the need for energy stops, which is why humans and animals continue to breathe heavily after high-energy activity.
Understanding energy production in cells is useful for athletes and other energy-consuming processes, because the best use of glucose and other sugars in energy production is to maintain a level of aerobic activity. Low levels of anaerobic energy production can increase performance, but continuing will result in lower energy production. Allowing the body to recover and eliminate lactic acid from the muscles can provide an ongoing energy benefit.
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