Facilitated diffusion (carrier-mediated transport using glucose transporters, or GLUTs) is the main process that permits absorption of glucose into most body cells from the blood.

Quick Scoop

When exam questions ask “what process permits absorption of glucose into cells?”, they usually want the name of the membrane transport mechanism , not digestion details.

  • Glucose is a polar, water‑soluble molecule, so it cannot simply slip through the lipid bilayer.
  • Instead, it uses specific protein carriers in the cell membrane.

The key process: facilitated diffusion

Glucose enters most cells by facilitated diffusion through glucose transporter proteins (GLUTs).

  • It is a type of passive transport: glucose moves down its concentration gradient (from higher to lower concentration).
  • It needs membrane proteins (GLUT1, GLUT2, GLUT3, GLUT4, etc.), but it does not directly use ATP.

A classic example is GLUT4 in muscle and fat cells, which is moved to the cell surface in response to insulin, allowing more glucose to enter after a meal.

Don’t mix it up with these

Depending on how the question is worded, these related processes sometimes appear as options:

  • Secondary active transport via SGLT1/SGLT2: used in intestine and kidney to absorb glucose from the lumen, coupled to sodium, but not the main way ordinary body cells take glucose from the blood.
  • Simple diffusion: wrong for glucose because it is too polar to cross the lipid bilayer unaided.
  • Primary active transport: no ATP-driven “pump” for glucose into typical cells; ATP is used to maintain ion gradients, not to directly pump glucose.

So, for the question “what process permits absorption of glucose into cells?” , the best single answer is:

Facilitated diffusion via glucose transporters (GLUT proteins).

TL;DR: Glucose gets into most body cells from the blood by facilitated diffusion through GLUT transporters, a carrier‑mediated but passive process.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.