I wanted to explore a question that interested my peers, so I asked some of our classmates what interested them about lactic acid. A major interest I was given was: what really is lactic acid? Rumors say that it causes us to be in pain after a hard workout, but we never were really told what lactic acid is. As I thought about it more, I really didn’t know myself what lactic acid was, or how it was formed. Therefore, I am using this post to explain.
The production of lactic acid and one of its "friends," lactate, is actually a pretty confusing process. Lactic acid, to our surprise, is an energy producing system in our bodies. This system, in the end produces, lactate, a source of our bodies energy. The process to form lactate begins with glycolysis. During this process, our carbohydrates get broken down (happens in the liver). This process forms pyruvic acid and hydrogen atoms. The lactate ion is formed from the pyruic acid. The lactate and hydrogen atoms enter the blood stream. Because hydrogen atoms go into our blood stream, the PH level in our muscles goes to 6.5 from 7.1. We then enter the “Lactic Threshold” stage. This is the hurting stage. Because hydrogen atoms are now in our blood stream, and have been pulled out of our muscles, there is more acid in our muscles. This causes our muscles to contract, and the higher acidic level annoys our nerve endings, causing pain, cramping and nausea. So we know that the hydrogen atoms that are formed are evil, but the lactate is reabsorbed into the muscles and liver, and is then broken down into glycogen and glucose, which then gets broken down into energy. This energy is then either used or stored in our muscles.
So, with this research, we learned that lactic acid is good. It produces lactate which is used for energy. The only bad things are the hydrogen atoms. These however, do not cause soreness the next day. They may cause soreness for a small bout of time after a work out, but don’t blame them for the soreness the next day. What causes soreness the next day??? Well, you have to wait for my next post. I already read some material on the causes on next day soreness. So stay tuned for my next post, because it gets even more interesting…and there is a lot more chemistry involved!
So how does Chemistry tie into this posting? Well, obviously, the whole process explained above is chemical reactions happening in our body. Pyruvic acid reacts to form lactate and hydrogen atoms. The whole process of carbohydrate breakdown is a chemical process happening within our own body. Also, lactic acid is one of the best examples of optical isomerism, where a carbon atom is bonded by four different groups. Also, Lactic acid is an acid. From previous knowledge, we know that acids form hydrogen atoms, thus explaining why lactic acid forms hydrogen atoms in our system. As you probably see, there is some biology involved with this process too. Energy, ATP, and carbohydrates are all terminology we learned back in freshmen biology. So, we can say that all this information is a bio-chem study. And, the topic of term two…….bio-chemistry!!!
MLA CITATIONS!!!
Holly, Cory. “Lactic Acid.” Alive Publishing group. 2006. 28 January 2008
<http://www.alive.com/218a1a2.php?subject_bread_cramb=402>.
“Lactic Acid.” Sports Coach. 2008. 28 January 2008 <http://www.brianmac.co.uk/lactic.htm>
"Acids." Gondar Design. 1997. 28 January 2008
<http://www.purchon.com/chemistry/acids.htm#other>
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4 comments:
Great article. I think you chose a good question becuase everyone in our class is an athelete, so this information pertains to all of us. Is there anything that we can do to alleviate the soreness caused by hydrogen atoms?
Amanda, I thought your post was really interesting. Who knew that chemistry was involved in so many things! I especially liked how well you explained the whole lactic acid process; you made a really complex process accessible. I can’t wait for your next post so I can learn the real reason for soreness!
Hey Amanda,
Your post was really educational. Like most people I thought an excess of lactic acid caused the pain in your muscles. I have a question though. Is it the process of the hydrogen leaving the muscles that causes the increase in acidity in the muscles? And what causes the hydrogens to leave? Looking forward to the answer :)
Jen
I'm glad I now know that I can't blame hydrogen atoms for soreness haha. Thanks for doing this topic now! I can try to explain it to Mrs. Lambert when I am too sore to run when tennis season starts. I might need a little more help with all the chemistry involved. It might be that I read it later at night so I don't understand it very well, or just that I need you to explain it to me, but thank you! I will definitely keep reading your post :)
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