Have You Met Iggy?

Hey there! The doc calls me Iggy, and I’m a peptide hormone that lives in your pancreas, also known as insulin!

My number one job is to help out the cells in your body take in glucose, which is a sugar found in the foods you eat every day.

Why is my job important? Well, without glucose, our bodies would be without its main source of energy. It’d be like being tired all the time. Your body breaks down the nutrients in the food you eat and the increased levels of glucose from the food tells your pancreas to start making lots of me!

Now, this is where it gets good! My fellow insulin and I leave the pancreas and are released into the bloodstream, where we guide the glucose into the cells throughout your body, giving your body the energy it needs.

It’s important for your body to keep an equal balance of glucose and insulin levels. However, there are some cases where a person’s insulin level is lower than it should be (known as Hyperglycemia) or higher than it should be (known as Hypoglycemia). Diabetes is the most common cause of these ups and downs, and so people with diabetes will be given a shot of insulin to help out these levels.

Stick around for lots of posts and videos starring yours truly and all things in your body that involve me!