Metabolism Working for You?

Let's start with a general understanding of how metabolism works.  According to Charles E. Ophardt (Elmhurst College), in "Overview of Carbohydrate Metabolism,"  glucose (blood sugar, which comes from other sugars and other carbohydrate foods) is "controlled by three hormones: insulin, glucagon, and epinephrine."  The first hormone, insuline, serves to transfer the sugar from the blood stream into cells, particularly liver and muscle, where it is converted into glycogen for storage.  When sugar levels are low, then the body secretes the other two hormones, equinephrine and glucogon, to convert the glycogen back into glucose.  Ophardt provides a lovely diagram for how this energy is then either used or put back into storage (for later use).

 

For a larger image, see: http://www.elmhurst.edu/~chm/vchembook/images/590metabolism.gif

It is (apparently) important for a constant and steady provision of glucose to various parts of the body (including the brain, which does not itself store glycogen); I suppose that this is somewhat  like gas to an automobile engine: you have to keep the pedal steady to maintain a particular speed.  For more details on this process, see "Introductory Metabolism Module" (Histology and Physiology 101; University of South Australia) and/or "Carbohydrate Metabolism" (General, Organic and Biochemistry, James K. Hardy, University of Akron).

We all need sugars to survive.  The trouble for those with type 2 diabetes is the regulation of that sugar.

Personal Opinion Based on Experience--Anecdotal

This topic is a touchy one for me, a topic closely tied to years of confusion, frustration, and ultimately, anger.  I read somewhere that my generation of women, the generation of yo-yo dieters, has suffered tremendously from poor dieting advice and the pressures of advertising and news media to conform to a particular size in an particular way.  Since I was 12, when my doctor found that I was "two pounds over the normal weight" for my size and age, I have been placed on or placed myself on diets.  Two pounds.  More recently, I had a doctor suggest that I go on the South Beach Diet (the latest fad) or else consider stapling my stomach (another recent trend in medicine).  There will be other blog entries on how fatness is a social (feminist, masculinist, experimentalist, whatever) issue; however, my point here is that many members of the medical profession (not all, but many) have misled both themselves and their patients.  The general impression that I have gotten from doctors over the years is that I should simply reduce either the amount of sugar (from chocolates to breads, dairy products, fruits, and starchy vegetables) and/or the amount of calories.   But I firmly believe that this is the central reason that I have become increasingly heavier and heavier.  My latest nutritionist and diabetes doctor (both of whom are excellent), when she found out how few calories I was ingesting each day (about 1300-1500, the latter on days of exercise), she exclaimed, "You're starving yourself!"  I knew it was true: my stomach kept me up at night with grumblings, and I was having a hard time thinking in my work--but I had been told to ignore these symptoms!

So, back to the topic: we all need sugars (and calories) to survive.  This is not the debate, I believe.  I believe the debate is quality of sugars, as well as a balance of types of sugars.  For example, according to Janet Jankowiak, MD, if you have diabetes (the inability to regulate sugars at a constant level), you "are more likely to have a heart attack or stroke at a younger age" and you may also "be at a greater risk for a decline in mental function--brain decay--or dementia" ("Too Much Sugar May Cause 'Brain Decay', Neurology, 2004).    According to Dr. Nicholas Bello, reporting on a Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine animal research project:

Dr. Bello and colleagues report that either continuous eating or binge eating a high fat, high sugar diet alters opioid receptor levels in an area of the brain that controls food intake. Opioids are a family of chemicals with actions similar to those of morphine; however, opioids exist naturally in the brain and have been linked to feelings of pleasure and euphoria. “These results are interesting because we saw changes in opioid receptor gene expression in a brain area that controls how much we eat during a meal”, said Bello. (ScienceDaily, Aug. 6, 2009)

So, the questions seem to be:

1. How much is too much?
2. How much is enough?
3. What kind(s) of sugars should be digested (and how much)?

Okay, so this is where the illusion of control becomes a vital issue. I don't want to tell you what to do, for several reasons.  I'm not a medical doctor, and I suspect that we all have damaged metabolisms of various degrees: what I find works for my body may not work for yours.  You are in charge!  Take charge!  You should find the answers for yourself--though not by yourself.  Consult a good diabetes specialist and nutritionist.  Do research of your own.  For example, I suggest you take a look at International Journal of Diabetes & Metabolism.