Chapter 6: "The Sugar Fat Connection"
He describes sugars as "the hidden parents of the fats that can kill us"...no arguments from me on that
Refined SUGARS & syrups:
- simple sugars; glucose, fructose and galactose
- double sugars; sucrose, maltose (in beer), lactose (in milk)
- dextrins, dextrans and syrups; sugarcane, sugar beets, sorghum, maple (honey and maple syrup are included).
Our body digests and absorbs all these rapidly and quickly turns them into saturated fatty acids
STARCHES:
These are glucose molecules bonded together. Enzymes break the bonds gradually turning starches into glucose, so digested more slowly. Refined starches more likely to turn to fat than whole grains.
He makes a note that Protein-Starch mixes are more difficult to digest than protein or starch by itself. Incomplete or poorly digested is the core of bloating and gas.
He makes clear that when we eat fruit year round we tend to build up fat year round.
Carbohydrates & Health Problems:
He makes a case that sedentary lives rich even in complex carbs and fruit leads to early death from CVD, diabetes mellitus (T2) and of course stay away completely from simple sugars.
EXCESS GLUCOSE:
Bodies deal in 2 ways:
- stores as fat
- spills excess into urine
Healing & Fatty Acids:
- killers: long chain FAs from refined sugars lead to stroke, CVD, T2, clogged arteries.
- body can add double bonds and make them unsaturated which can oxidise and damage arteries if diet has no antioxidants. Processed foods often remove antioxidants.
Both SAT and body made unSAT can serve as energy sources, but neither is essential.
Sugars Turn Sour & Vinegar Becomes Fat:
How does our body concert sugar molecules into fats and cholesterol?
When our cell furnaces (mitochondria) break down 6-carbon glucose molecules to produce energy, a step involves creation of 2-carbon acetates (vinegar). These acetates are building blocks for both cholesterol and SAFs. If acetates are produced faster than can be burned burned by our body into carbon dioxide, water, and energy, they pressure enzymes in our cells to hook
them end to end to make SAFs and cholesterol.
So our body can turn excess sugar to fat, but not excess fat back into sugar. It must burn the fat off by activity.
All of our organs can use fat as energy, BUT our brain demands Glucose, glutamic acid or KETONES to function. It cannot use fat.
If no glucose is present in our diet or ketones from a ketogenic diet, our body must make glucose. Since our body cannot turn fat into glucose it must make glucose by converting protein to the brain fuel glucose.
Refined Carbohydrates & Disease:
Author provides an explanation of HyPerGlycemia (high BG) and hyPOglycemia (low BG). And the function of Adrenal glands kicking in with HyPO to mobilise body stores of glycogen and stimulate synthesis of glucose from PROTEINS.
MORE PROBLEMS:
SAFs decrease oxygen to our tissues (hypoxia) choking them by making red blood cells stick together (glication of platelets). Refined sugars can cause significant tissue hypoxia.
Sugars inhibit functions of immune system and increase diseases cause by poor immune function such as colds and flu etc.
Sugars also support development of food allergies including asthma, colitis, joint pain, muscle pain
Sugars increase body's production of adrenaline by 4 times, putting us in permanent state of fight or flight. This stress reaction increase production of cholesterol and cortisone.
Sugars thus play a big role in causing fatty degeneration and degenerative diseases by contributing to the fat and cholesterol our body must carry; by depleting our body's stores of vitamins and minerals; by interfering with essential fatty acid, adrenal gland, and immune system functions; and by their lack of bulk and fiber.
An interesting chapter
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