Liver, muscle, adipose, brain and red cells, each described two hours after a meal and a day into a fast: the fed and fasted comparison for NS230 Unit 9. Searches like "ns 230 unit 9 assignment example", "ns230 unit 9 sample" and "ns230 unit 9 example" land here.
What a finished NS230 Unit 9 fed and fasted comparison looks like
A two-column table occupies the center of the paper, with a row for each tissue and a header row giving the hormonal setting: insulin high and glucagon low on the fed side, the ratio reversed on the fasted side. In the fed column the liver takes up glucose, builds glycogen and exports surplus as VLDL; muscle fills its own glycogen; adipose clears triglyceride through lipoprotein lipase. In the fasted column, liver glycogen is largely spent by the twenty-four hour mark, so the liver makes glucose from lactate, glycerol and alanine and begins producing ketone bodies; adipose releases fatty acids through hormone-sensitive lipase; muscle burns fat and exports amino acids. Brain and red cells run on glucose in both columns, which is why the fasted liver works so hard. Prose paragraphs beneath read each row across.
How a NS230 Unit 9 example is structured
Samples open by fixing the two moments precisely, roughly two hours after a mixed meal and roughly twenty-four hours without food, and by saying why those points were chosen rather than a vague 'after eating' and 'while fasting'. The hormonal header row comes next, since every cell below depends on it. The table follows, with each tissue in the same row order on both sides so differences can be read straight across. Beneath it, one paragraph per tissue explains the switch, naming the enzyme or transporter that changes state. A final section, brief and clearly marked, looks further out: what shifts after several days, when the brain draws a large share of its energy from ketone bodies and protein breakdown slows. That section is labeled as a third state rather than folded into the second. References include the course text and a physiology source.
Two moments named with a clock
Two hours after eating and a full day without food are fixed at the top, so every later sentence belongs clearly to one moment or the other.
The ratio before the tissues
A header row states the insulin-to-glucagon setting for each column, and every tissue cell below it reads as a consequence of that setting.
Rows read straight across
Each tissue sits in the same row on both sides, so the liver's shift from storing glucose to making it can be read in a single glance.
Glucose-dependent tissues in both columns
Brain and red blood cells appear on both sides with the same need, which explains why the fasted liver's gluconeogenesis matters so much.
A third state, labeled as such
What changes after several days, ketone use by the brain and protein sparing, is kept in its own marked section instead of seeping into the one-day column.
Where marks go in NS230 Unit 9
The signature loss in this unit is blurring, a paragraph in which the liver is making glycogen and releasing glucose in consecutive sentences with no marker that the state has changed. Tables that list different tissues on each side, or drop the brain from one column, lose the comparison the layout exists for. Timing errors come next: liver glycogen said to last several days, or the brain said to run on fatty acids, which it cannot use directly. Ketone bodies attributed to muscle or adipose instead of the liver draw accuracy comments. Missing hormonal context costs marks in most sections, because the switch between columns is explained by the insulin-to-glucagon ratio and a table without it describes outcomes with no cause. Merging a one-day fast with a week-long one is marked down too.
Get a NS230 Unit 9 example written to your instructions
Tell us the two time points your Unit 9 prompt sets, or whether it leaves the choice open, and add the rubric. The comparison is written in facing columns for those moments, tissue by tissue, with the hormonal row in place, and arrives in 24-48h. Nothing is owed for the first one.
NS230 Unit 9 questions, answered
Why compare at twenty-four hours rather than overnight?
Either works if your prompt allows it, but a day without food makes the contrast sharper. By then liver glycogen is largely used, gluconeogenesis carries most of the glucose supply and ketone production has started to rise. An overnight fast sits between states, which makes a clean two-column comparison harder. Whatever point you choose, state it and keep every cell consistent with it.
Does the brain really need glucose during a fast?
In the first day, yes, almost entirely, because fatty acids do not cross into brain tissue in useful amounts. Over several days the brain takes a growing share of its energy from ketone bodies made by the liver, which lowers the demand for glucose and spares muscle protein. Keep that later shift in a separate section so it does not blur your one-day column.
Should the comparison include exercise?
Not unless the prompt asks. Exercise adds a third set of signals, epinephrine and local muscle signals, on top of either state, and folding it into a fed-fasted comparison makes both columns harder to read. If your prompt does include it, give it its own row or a separate short section, clearly labeled, rather than mixing it into the tissue cells.