"One of the most common complaints one hears about from friends
and family these days is not having enough energy. Energy drinks, bars
and supplements, not to mention the ubiquitous presence of coffee shops on
almost every corner in every city are a testament to these complaints and they
are also BIG business. Of course, when it comes to so-called “energy
drinks” and caffeine we’re not talking about generating real lasting energy so
much as we are talking about adding a jolt to the system in the form of a
stimulant that provides the short-lived illusion of energy. That said,
one thing virtually all these products has in common is that they can
dramatically spike your blood sugar levels.
So…that’s a good thing, right?
Well…
Anyone who takes a
conventional course in nutrition, medical school, nursing school or any
chiropractic or naturopathic school today will likely be taught that their
brain, tissues and organs greatly depend upon sufficient blood sugar to fuel
energy, maintain their day to day energy supply and fuel all their metabolic
processes. We are taught that “blood sugar” is important—critical,
even–and that it must be sustained and regularly managed for optimal health.
Unfortunately, this is only a conditional truth at best and one that conceals a
rather mammoth sin of omission that is overlooked by nearly everyone. The
fact is that we are all one of two things: we are either a “sugar burner”
or we are a “fat burner”. Perhaps since fat is (erroneously) assumed to
be inherently evil, nothing about its potentially vital role in all aspects of
health or primary energy production is ever discussed. We are encouraged
to avoid it at any cost and not ask any questions.
Blood sugar management is big
business, too. VERY big business.
We are taught that complex
carbohydrates—up to 11 servings a day of grains, beans, rice, potatoes, pasta,
etc should form the very basis of our daily food supply, with only honorable
mention given to (what they insist should be) LEAN meats and fish, lots of
fruits and veggies and next to no fat of any kind (other than perhaps a dollop
of olive oil). Alongside the lonely morsels of fat at the top of the food
pyramid lie the sugary snacks…to all be eaten sparingly. We are also
taught to “eat a large breakfast” and many nutritionists admonish us to eat a
small snack every couple of hours between meals “to keep that blood sugar up”.
So is the need for “blood
sugar” for our energy real and valid…or is it just like its initials would
suggest: “B.S.”?
As with many things the
answer is “it depends”. But what if the basic essentiality of blood sugar
for our brains, organs and day to day energy was really a myth? In fact,
what if that dependence on “blood sugar” for our day to day energy actually did
more harm than good? What if there was an alternative? Not only
this, what if that alternative were the very fuel we were actually designed to
depend upon nearly all the time from the very beginning and that very fuel were
the one you actually had the hardest time using… all because you are too busy
fueling yourself with sugar?
Come closer…and fasten your
seat belt. You are about to undergo a bit of a paradigm shift.
As with many things, certain
things can be conditionally true, within a certain context. Case in
point: IF you are metabolically adapted to depending on sugar as your
primary source of fuel (and all non-fiber carbohydrates are sugar once they hit
your bloodstream) then you must of necessity continue to refuel yourself with
foods that keep these blood sugar levels elevated so there is no interruption
in the energy supply. Many people experience these interruptions of
steady blood sugar supply as mood swings, brain fog, fatigue, irritability,
jitteriness, problems thinking, and cravings for anything that will boost those
sugar levels back up. For some people this is experienced as more of an
extreme urgency than others. Either way, the dependence on sugar as a
primary source of fuel is more or less the same in those adapted to it with a
variable manifestation of consequences
So what does this mean?
If we are to look at the
macronutrients in our diet (carbohydrates, protein and fat) strictly from the
standpoint of the energy they provide our “metabolic fire”, then carbohydrates
in this context can be viewed as a form of metabolic “kindling”. Brown
rice, beans and whole grains could effectively be viewed as “twigs” on our
metabolic fire. White rice, cereal, potatoes, pasta and bread would be
“paper” on the fire and substances like alcoholic beverages would readily
constitute “gasoline” on that metabolic fire.
Now I’m from a very cold
place called Minnesota originally so wood stove analogies work well for me.
If you have ever had to heat your living space with a wood stove you know
that the fire in it has to be fed. If all you had to feed that fire was
kindling (twigs, paper and gasoline) you could certainly do it. The
problem is that you would be able to think of or do little else but stay
perched in front of that stove, loading it up with handfuls of twigs and wadded
up paper all day long just to keep it going. The flames would flare and
die down relatively quickly and you’d need to add more fuel with fairly
constant regularity. God forbid you should need to take a bathroom break
or run an errand. By the time you returned to the stove the fire would be
nearly out and you might need to resort to some gasoline to shock it back to
life again, just so the process could continue. Good luck sleeping, too.
Even if you could attach an alarm to the stove to awaken you when the
fire got too low you would be awakened well before you were fully rested in
order to feed the hungry flames (hmmmm…there’s an analogy here). In
essence you would be enslaved to that wood stove and your preoccupation with it
would of necessity be relatively constant. The flames would rise and fall
like a roller coaster ride. Much as I love a good wood stove fire, though
(or carnival ride) that would be anything but my idea of a good time.
What if instead you were to
place a nice big “fat” log on the fire? All of a sudden you would…have a
life! –What a concept!! You could leave the house and run errands.
Heck–you could even get a good night’s sleep! By morning if the
fire was burning low all you’d need to do is grab another big log and toss it
in. You wouldn’t need to think too much about it most of the time and
your fuel wouldn’t take up too much space, either.
Sugar is best described
metabolically as “rocket fuel”. It burns best anaerobically (in
conditions of low oxygen—as while sprinting or extreme exertion). Far
from being a steady, lasting or reliable fuel, sugar burns very hot and very
fast. How badly do you need rocket fuel in your car to go most of where
your car takes you day to day? Do you really want to have your engine
burn that hot all the time? Don’t racing cars need a lot more maintenance
in part because of that? Increased metabolic heat also makes for a very
hungry engine.
Sugar’s presence additionally
attracts what is termed “free radical activity” which leads to unhealthy
oxidation (damage) of tissues. Sugar also undergoes a process known as
“glycation” in the body where molecules of sugar combine with proteins and fats
there and cause them to become sticky, misshapen and start to malfunction.
This in turn leads to even more free radical damage and basically fuels
the degenerative aging process. The brain and nervous system are
particularly susceptible to all this as they don’t respond much to insulin and
are therefore more likely to be bombarded with all the dangerous stickiness.
In diabetics and alcoholics this can result in accelerated forms of
neuropathy, organ damage and degenerative brain conditions.
In others,
glycated tangles of amyloid proteins eventually lead to a diagnosis of
Alzheimers…technically a form of “brain neuropathy”. Advanced
glycosylation end-products (A.G.E.’s) lead to mutations in DNA and help
potentiate cancerous processes which blood sugar additionally feeds the growth
of. In short, it ain’t pretty.
Most people feed themselves
as if there were no alternative to running their metabolic fires other than
kindling. Food advertising consistently supports this. Told to eat
“low fat”, many people instead eat diets high in addictive sugar and starch in
order to feed (and feed) themselves. Those that don’t care about “low
fat” eating often eat large amounts of sugar and starch along with dietary fat,
which has its own brand of consequences. Dietary fat in the presence of
carbohydrates (sugar and starch) behaves very differently than dietary fat in
the absence of carbohydrates. The dietary fat in the presence of sugar
and starch is far more likely to be stored as excess and also to become damaged
through peroxidation, as the body looks to preferentially burning off the sugar
to get the excesses out of the bloodstream quickly and as sugar combines with the
fat to damage it and make its presence more problematic than it otherwise would
be.
And as long as insulin is present (in other words, as long as dietary
sugar and starch keep coming in) it becomes impossible to burn fat at the same
time. Weight gain is the most common consequence, but there is more to
this. You can be skinny and athletic and also suffer serious consequences
from a dependence on sugar burning.
Depending on blood sugar for
your primary source of fuel means you will be hungry more often and that you
may experience regular cravings. It also means you must eat regularly or
else suffer energy and mental and physical performance loss. Consider the
animals that are natural (what I term) “carbovores” (herbivores and ungulates).
What do you see them doing ALL day? Their faces are on the ground
and in the bushes continually. Eating for them is constant. I, for
one have far better things to do with my time!
It additionally means the
quality of your moods and thinking are often hugely dependent upon that steady
supply of fuel. You might also require caffeine to boost your kindling
supply first thing in the morning if that supply gets too low, or you may crave
alcohol in the evenings. If you manage this balancing act poorly by regularly
eating high glycemic foods then over time the swings can become greater, along
with more symptoms typically associated with blood sugar lows: fatigue,
anxiety, irritability, explosive anger, jitters and more cravings."
Boxing Day refresher - the analogy of fires works so well in the cold light of day!
