Please wait while the transcript is being prepared...
0:00
Hello. My name's Susan
Fairweather-Tait.
I'm a professor of
human nutrition
in the Norwich Medical School
at the University of
East Anglia in the UK.
I'm going to be talking
to you about phosphorus.
0:13
Phosphorus is a
structural component
of the nucleic
acids, DNA and RNA,
and it's involved in the storage
and transmission of
genetic material.
It's an essential component
of phospholipids,
and many sugars, proteins,
and enzymes in the body
are phosphorylated.
It is also an
integral component of
adenosine triphosphate, ATP.
This is the body's
key energy source,
and many intracellular
signalling processes
depend on phosphorus-containing
compounds.
You can see phosphorus
is used quite widely.
About 85% of total body
phosphorus is in hard tissues,
where it has a structural
and chemical role.
Then the remaining 15% is in
the blood and soft tissues,
where it has metabolic
and regulatory roles.
0:58
The major dietary
contributors to
phosphorus intake are foods
that are high in protein.
These include milk and
milk products, meat,
poultry, and fish, grain
products, and legumes.
The total intake of phosphorus
is about 1-1.8 g/day.
1:18
Absorption of phosphorus in
the small intestine
is unregulated.
It has a wide range,
something from 55-80%.
The primary pathway is
non-saturable, passive transport.
The transcellular pathway
is characterised by
active intestinal
phosphate transport
that occurs primarily
through the action of
the sodium-dependent
phosphate transporter.
Once absorbed, phosphorus enters
