NASM NUTRITION CERTIFICATION
2026 EXAMINERS QUESTIONS AND
ANSWERS SURE A+
✔✔Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis (NEAT) - ✔✔energy expended for everything
we do that is not sleeping, eating or exercising.
✔✔Lipogenesis - ✔✔The biological process of combining free fatty acids with glycerol to
form triglycerides.
✔✔Lipolysis - ✔✔The biological process of breaking stored triglycerides into free fatty
acids and glycerol.
✔✔Glycogenolysis - ✔✔The process of breaking down the glycogen molecule into its
individual glucose units for entry into the energy pathways.
✔✔Gluconeogenesis - ✔✔A metabolic pathway that results in the generation of glucose
from non-carbohydrate carbon substrates such as lactate, glycerol and glucogenic
amino acids.
,✔✔Leptin - ✔✔A hormone produced by adipose (fat) cells that acts as a satiety factor in
regulating appetite.
✔✔Ghrelin - ✔✔A hunger-arousing hormone secreted by an empty stomach.
✔✔CCK (cholecystokinin) - ✔✔hormone released in the gastrointestinal system and is
responsible for stimulating the digestion of fat and protein.
✔✔NPY (neuropeptide Y) - ✔✔neurotransmitter found in several brain areas, most
notably the hypothalamus, that stimulates eating behavior and reduces metabolism,
promoting positive energy balance and weight gain.
✔✔Insulin - ✔✔hormone produced by the pancreas that is released when blood glucose
levels are high, promoting the uptake of glucose for fuel or storage as glycogen. Insulin
helps keeps blood-sugar levels from getting too high, also referred to as hyperglycemia.
✔✔Glucagon - ✔✔hormone that is released when blood sugars decrease below a
certain threshold. It stimulates the breakdown of stored glucose (glycogen) in the liver,
releasing additional glucose into the bloodstream for fuel.
✔✔ATP-PC system - ✔✔energy system producing ATP during high intensity, short
duration exercise. Phosphocreatine decomposes and releases large amount of energy
used to construct ATP. provides energy for muscle contraction for up to 10 seconds.
✔✔Anaerobic Glycolytic System - ✔✔Glucose is used for fuel and is either blood
glucose or muscle glycogen, broken down in to pyruvic acid, when there is insufficient
oxygen it then is transformed into lactic acid. Energy up to 2 minutes.
✔✔Aerobic Energy System - ✔✔virtually unlimited capacity for making ATP, uses carbs,
fat, protein for fuel. Slow to produce ATP. Lasts anywhere from 2 minutes to a few
hours.
✔✔Acid-Base Balance - ✔✔The process of achieving, or the state of, equilibrium
between acidic and alkaline molecules.
✔✔Cell Signaling - ✔✔Process of communication between cells by biological
messengers to govern cellular function.
✔✔Organic Molecules - ✔✔Chemical structures containing only carbon, hydrogen,
oxygen, and/or nitrogen.
✔✔Amino Acids - ✔✔The organic building blocks of proteins containing both a carboxyl
and an amino group.
,✔✔Essential Amino Acids (EAA) - ✔✔Amino acids that are necessary for bodily
functions but cannot be synthesized by the body and, therefore, must be obtained in the
diet.
Phenylalanine
Valine
Threonine
Tryptophan
Isoleucine
Methionine
Histidine
Arginine*
Lysine
Leucine
✔✔Branched Chain Amino Acid - ✔✔The three essential amino acids (leucine,
isoleucine, and valine) which are abundant in skeletal muscle tissue and named for their
branch-like structure.
✔✔conditionally essential amino acids - ✔✔amino acids that are normally considered
nonessential but become essential under certain circumstances when the body's need
for them exceeds the ability to produce them.
✔✔nonessential amino acids - ✔✔amino acids that the body can synthesize & normally
do not need to be obtained in the diet.
✔✔protein synthesis - ✔✔Process of joining amino acids with peptide bonds to form
proteins.
✔✔dehydration synthesis - ✔✔The joining of two large molecules by removing one
hydrogen from one molecule and a hydroxyl group (OH) from another molecule and
then binding the two larger molecules together on the newly freed bonds.
✔✔Peptide Bond - ✔✔The bond between two amino acids, occurring between the
carboxyl group of one and the amino group of the other.
✔✔Hydrolysis - ✔✔Breakdown of one large molecule into two smaller molecules via the
donation of one hydrogen and one hydroxyl group from water to the smaller molecules,
respectively.
✔✔Dipeptide - ✔✔Two amino acids bonded together
✔✔tripeptide - ✔✔3 amino acids
✔✔oligopeptide - ✔✔4-9 amino acids
, ✔✔Polypeptide - ✔✔chain of 10 or more amino acids
✔✔Denaturation - ✔✔changing the shape of a protein but not its primary structure.
Denaturation occurs in response to many factors such as temperature, pH, and
enzymes, all of which are at work during protein digestion and absorption.
For most protein-dense foods, this process begins with cooking the food.
✔✔Gastrin - ✔✔A hormone released when food is ingested to stimulate release of
digestive fluids.
✔✔Pepsinogen - ✔✔A proenzyme secreted by the stomach as a precursor to pepsin.
✔✔Pepsin - ✔✔An enzyme in the stomach that begins breaking peptide bonds.
✔✔Duodenum - ✔✔It is the first section of the small intestine where some digestion
occurs, and it is located immediately after the stomach and leads into the jejunum.
✔✔Secretin - ✔✔A hormone that stimulates the liver and pancreas to produce bile and
bicarbonate; inhibits gastrin release.
✔✔Cholecystokinin - ✔✔A hormone secreted by the duodenum that causes release of
enzymes and bile.
✔✔protease enzymes - ✔✔Enzymes in the small intestine that break long peptide
chains into shorter peptide chains.
✔✔Peptidase - ✔✔An enzyme that breaks down small peptides.
✔✔Aminopeptidases - ✔✔Enzymes that cleave individual amino acids from a peptide
chain so they may be absorbed.
✔✔Hepatic Portral Vein - ✔✔The vein that transports blood from the spleen, stomach,
pancreas, and the intestinal tract to the liver.
✔✔Collagen - ✔✔A protein formed of a triple-helix structure with great tensile strength,
found primarily in skin, muscles/connective tissue, and bones.
✔✔Tensile Strength - ✔✔Ability of a material to resist breaking under tension.
✔✔Elastin - ✔✔A protein with high elasticity, found mainly in the skin.
2026 EXAMINERS QUESTIONS AND
ANSWERS SURE A+
✔✔Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis (NEAT) - ✔✔energy expended for everything
we do that is not sleeping, eating or exercising.
✔✔Lipogenesis - ✔✔The biological process of combining free fatty acids with glycerol to
form triglycerides.
✔✔Lipolysis - ✔✔The biological process of breaking stored triglycerides into free fatty
acids and glycerol.
✔✔Glycogenolysis - ✔✔The process of breaking down the glycogen molecule into its
individual glucose units for entry into the energy pathways.
✔✔Gluconeogenesis - ✔✔A metabolic pathway that results in the generation of glucose
from non-carbohydrate carbon substrates such as lactate, glycerol and glucogenic
amino acids.
,✔✔Leptin - ✔✔A hormone produced by adipose (fat) cells that acts as a satiety factor in
regulating appetite.
✔✔Ghrelin - ✔✔A hunger-arousing hormone secreted by an empty stomach.
✔✔CCK (cholecystokinin) - ✔✔hormone released in the gastrointestinal system and is
responsible for stimulating the digestion of fat and protein.
✔✔NPY (neuropeptide Y) - ✔✔neurotransmitter found in several brain areas, most
notably the hypothalamus, that stimulates eating behavior and reduces metabolism,
promoting positive energy balance and weight gain.
✔✔Insulin - ✔✔hormone produced by the pancreas that is released when blood glucose
levels are high, promoting the uptake of glucose for fuel or storage as glycogen. Insulin
helps keeps blood-sugar levels from getting too high, also referred to as hyperglycemia.
✔✔Glucagon - ✔✔hormone that is released when blood sugars decrease below a
certain threshold. It stimulates the breakdown of stored glucose (glycogen) in the liver,
releasing additional glucose into the bloodstream for fuel.
✔✔ATP-PC system - ✔✔energy system producing ATP during high intensity, short
duration exercise. Phosphocreatine decomposes and releases large amount of energy
used to construct ATP. provides energy for muscle contraction for up to 10 seconds.
✔✔Anaerobic Glycolytic System - ✔✔Glucose is used for fuel and is either blood
glucose or muscle glycogen, broken down in to pyruvic acid, when there is insufficient
oxygen it then is transformed into lactic acid. Energy up to 2 minutes.
✔✔Aerobic Energy System - ✔✔virtually unlimited capacity for making ATP, uses carbs,
fat, protein for fuel. Slow to produce ATP. Lasts anywhere from 2 minutes to a few
hours.
✔✔Acid-Base Balance - ✔✔The process of achieving, or the state of, equilibrium
between acidic and alkaline molecules.
✔✔Cell Signaling - ✔✔Process of communication between cells by biological
messengers to govern cellular function.
✔✔Organic Molecules - ✔✔Chemical structures containing only carbon, hydrogen,
oxygen, and/or nitrogen.
✔✔Amino Acids - ✔✔The organic building blocks of proteins containing both a carboxyl
and an amino group.
,✔✔Essential Amino Acids (EAA) - ✔✔Amino acids that are necessary for bodily
functions but cannot be synthesized by the body and, therefore, must be obtained in the
diet.
Phenylalanine
Valine
Threonine
Tryptophan
Isoleucine
Methionine
Histidine
Arginine*
Lysine
Leucine
✔✔Branched Chain Amino Acid - ✔✔The three essential amino acids (leucine,
isoleucine, and valine) which are abundant in skeletal muscle tissue and named for their
branch-like structure.
✔✔conditionally essential amino acids - ✔✔amino acids that are normally considered
nonessential but become essential under certain circumstances when the body's need
for them exceeds the ability to produce them.
✔✔nonessential amino acids - ✔✔amino acids that the body can synthesize & normally
do not need to be obtained in the diet.
✔✔protein synthesis - ✔✔Process of joining amino acids with peptide bonds to form
proteins.
✔✔dehydration synthesis - ✔✔The joining of two large molecules by removing one
hydrogen from one molecule and a hydroxyl group (OH) from another molecule and
then binding the two larger molecules together on the newly freed bonds.
✔✔Peptide Bond - ✔✔The bond between two amino acids, occurring between the
carboxyl group of one and the amino group of the other.
✔✔Hydrolysis - ✔✔Breakdown of one large molecule into two smaller molecules via the
donation of one hydrogen and one hydroxyl group from water to the smaller molecules,
respectively.
✔✔Dipeptide - ✔✔Two amino acids bonded together
✔✔tripeptide - ✔✔3 amino acids
✔✔oligopeptide - ✔✔4-9 amino acids
, ✔✔Polypeptide - ✔✔chain of 10 or more amino acids
✔✔Denaturation - ✔✔changing the shape of a protein but not its primary structure.
Denaturation occurs in response to many factors such as temperature, pH, and
enzymes, all of which are at work during protein digestion and absorption.
For most protein-dense foods, this process begins with cooking the food.
✔✔Gastrin - ✔✔A hormone released when food is ingested to stimulate release of
digestive fluids.
✔✔Pepsinogen - ✔✔A proenzyme secreted by the stomach as a precursor to pepsin.
✔✔Pepsin - ✔✔An enzyme in the stomach that begins breaking peptide bonds.
✔✔Duodenum - ✔✔It is the first section of the small intestine where some digestion
occurs, and it is located immediately after the stomach and leads into the jejunum.
✔✔Secretin - ✔✔A hormone that stimulates the liver and pancreas to produce bile and
bicarbonate; inhibits gastrin release.
✔✔Cholecystokinin - ✔✔A hormone secreted by the duodenum that causes release of
enzymes and bile.
✔✔protease enzymes - ✔✔Enzymes in the small intestine that break long peptide
chains into shorter peptide chains.
✔✔Peptidase - ✔✔An enzyme that breaks down small peptides.
✔✔Aminopeptidases - ✔✔Enzymes that cleave individual amino acids from a peptide
chain so they may be absorbed.
✔✔Hepatic Portral Vein - ✔✔The vein that transports blood from the spleen, stomach,
pancreas, and the intestinal tract to the liver.
✔✔Collagen - ✔✔A protein formed of a triple-helix structure with great tensile strength,
found primarily in skin, muscles/connective tissue, and bones.
✔✔Tensile Strength - ✔✔Ability of a material to resist breaking under tension.
✔✔Elastin - ✔✔A protein with high elasticity, found mainly in the skin.
