text: Triglycerides are built from three fatty acids, esterified onto each of three hydroxy groups of glycerol, which is derived from glycerol 3-phosphate. In mammals, glycerol 3-phosphate is usually synthesized through glycolysis, a metabolic pathway that degrades glucose into fructose 1,6-bisphosphate and then into two molecules of dihydroxyacetone phosphate, which beget glycerol 3-phosphate and glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate. When an organism is deficient in glucose, from (for example) fasting or a low carbohydrate intake, glycerol 3-phosphate is generated by glyceroneogenesis instead. As well as synthesizing lipids for use in other metabolic processes, glyceroneogenesis regulates lipid levels in the cytosol.