The symbol of Nitrogen is N. It is essential for plants and animals to survive. It is one of the building blocks of life. It makes 80% of our atmosphere. It is used to make amino acids in our body which in turn make proteins. It is also needed to make nucleic acids, which form DNA and RNA. Human or other species on earth require nitrogen in a ‘fixed’ reactive form. Do you know for what reactive nitrogen is used? It is necessary for the food production process. Till 1900 we had an access to use naturally occurring nitrogen for processing food like manure. But after the invention of an industrial process known as Haber-Bosch process, reactive nitrogen can be fixed, which will help to process food.
How we intake nitrogen in our body?
As, we know nitrogen makes up a large part of the Earth’s atmosphere. Human can’t utilise nitrogen through respiration, but can absorb through the consumption of plants or animals that have consumed nitrogen rich vegetation. The air we breathe is around 78% nitrogen, so it is obvious that it enters our body with every breath. This nitrogen helps in protein synthesis, amino acids that influence growth, hormones, brain functions and the immune system.
Is Nitrogen drink dangerous for health
Why our body needs Nitrogen?
As discussed above human needs amino acids and for that nitrogen is an important source which further help to synthesize human proteins. A metabolic process in our body depends upon enzymes, which contains various kinds of proteins. The nucleic acid DNA makes up your genes and RNA is involved in protein synthesis which needs nitrogen for it. We all know that without DNA we would not be alive. For proper digestion of food and growth human body needs nitrogen. It is extremely important in the development of the human foetus.
Cell replacement, tissue repair all requires nitrogen for the production of new cells. For making some other types of compounds that are not proteins, nitrogen is used like heme in haemoglobin which carries oxygen in red blood cells.
Therefore, we come to know that nitrogen plays a crucial role in our life. It helps in protein synthesis. Our body eliminates ammonia by converting it to urea, which kidneys excrete it in the form of urine. In this way nitrogen is returned back to the environment.
