What term describes the chemical action that converts food into energy?

The term that describes the chemical action that converts food into energy is metabolism. Metabolism encompasses all biochemical processes that occur within an organism to maintain life, including the breakdown of food into energy through various chemical reactions. This process involves both catabolic reactions, which break down nutrients to release energy, and anabolic reactions, which use that energy to construct important biomolecules.

Metabolism is essential for maintaining the body's energy balance, and it affects various functions such as growth, reproduction, and maintaining cellular structures. In the context of the body's use of food, metabolism is the overarching term that includes both the extraction of energy from food and the utilization of that energy to sustain biological processes.

In comparison, digestion specifically refers to the mechanical and chemical breakdown of food into smaller components before metabolism can occur. Absorption is the process by which the small molecules resulting from digestion are taken up into the bloodstream. Respiration, while related to energy production, typically refers to the biochemical process by which cells convert oxygen and glucose into carbon dioxide, water, and energy, but does not encompass the entire set of metabolic pathways involved in food conversion.