How the Body Uses Calories to Build Muscle

The process by which the human body utilizes calories to build muscle is a very complex one, and can be extraordinarily confusing to the layperson. This is because of the fact that, at its deepest layers, this subject requires that the reader understand physiological jargon and technical language that is beyond most individuals, with the exception of medical professionals and some scientists.

Luckily, however, the average individual doesn't really want to learn about the intricate chemical processes by which muscle is created in the body. Instead, what we really want to know is how the basic process works. In order to do this via most efficient means available, I will use an analogy.

Picture that the human body is an airplane. In order for it to function properly, there are many, many different circumstances that have to be exactly right. For instance, just as the plane needs proper wind conditions to fly, the human body cannot function properly unless its climate maintains the right temperature. Just as a plane's engine will not work without oil for lubrication, a human being will die without a sufficient quantity of water intake.

And, just as an airplane can not function properly without fuel, so the human body fails unless it receives enough of its own fuel, food. While a plane's fuel would be measured in gallons, or liters, we measure the fuel that the human body needs in the form of calories. A calorie is a unit of energy, which is technically referred to as a kilocalorie, but that is really neither here nor there. What is important to remember, though, is the fact that calories represent a form of stored energy just as gasoline does.

So, the plane burns its gasoline in order to produce energy to move, and the body burns its calories in order to do the same thing. But, not all fuels are equal. If you put the wrong kind of fuel into a plane, it either won't run, will slowly break down, or will explode. This follows in humans. If you don't eat the right kind of calories, your body will either cease to function at all or will slowly break down.