Glucose Revolution by Jessie Inchauspe
Photosynthesis:
The process of turning carbon dioxide from the air and water from the soil, using the energy of the sun to make glucose
Glucose:
Plants make extra glucose during the day and pack it away into reserves for later use. They do this using enzymes that make chains of glucose a.k.a. starch and store them mostly in its roots
Glucose purpose once it enters a cell is to be turned into energy by mitochondria. Using glucose and oxygen, they give each cell power. They can burn only as much glucose as the cell needs so when we give them more glucose than they need, and we deliver glucose to the cells too quickly it creates an issue.
Tiny molecules called free radicals are released which damage anything they touch like randomly snapping and modifying our DNA, creating mutations that activate harmful genes and lead to development of cancer. When there are too many free radicals, our body is in oxidative stress which is a driver of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, cognitive decline and general ageing. Fructose increases oxidative stress more than glucose.
Over decades our cells become ravaged and mitochondria cannot convert glucose into energy efficiently. The cells starve and organs dysfunction. We can feel this when we eat but it's hard to get up in the morning and we feel no energy throughout the day.
Starch:
Starch is strong and the name comes from the Germanic word "stiff" or "rigid" but it's not inflexible and can be taken apart so when plants need glucose, they use an enzyme called alpha-amylase to free glucose to use
When we eat we break starch down into glucose using alpha-amylase and is broken down extremely quickly. The process happens in our gut.
Fibre:
Also chain of glucose that allows plants to grow tall without falling over and found in trunks, branches, flowers and leaves but also in roots and fruits.
There is no enzyme that can snap the bonds of fibre so when we eat it, it travels from our stomach to our small and large intestines as fibre. It helps with digestion, healthy bowel movements and keeping our microbiome healthy.
It helps to slow our body's absorption of glucose.
It reduces the action of alpha-amylase, slows down gastric emptying and creates a viscous mesh in the small intestine which makes it harder for glucose to make it through the bloodstream and flattens our glucose curve.
Fructose:
Plants also transform some of their glucose into molecules that are 2.3 times as sweet called fructose
Sucrose: (table sugar)
Fructose links up with glucose to form sucrose and helps plants compress energy even further. A sucrose molecule is smaller than glucose and fructose molecule which stores more energy in a tighter space.
Anytime we see a glucose spike from sweet food, there is a corresponding fructose spike.
Fruit:
Fruit tastes sweet because it contains unchained glucose molecules and fructose which is sweet, and their combined form sucrose, which is sweeter than glucose. Glucose from fruit doesn't have to be taken apart but sucrose does and only takes a nanosecond. A portion of fructose gets turned back into glucose in our small intestine and the remainder stays in fructose form. Both permeate the lining of our gut to enter our bloodstream.
Glucose concentration measurements:
The baseline concentration a.k.a fasting level - your glucose level first thing in the morning before eating between 4-4.7 mmol/L is normal, 5.5-6.9 is prediabetes and 7.0 and above indicates diabetes. A glucose spike is an increase in glucose in our body of more than 1.7mmol/L after eating
Maillard reaction:
The inside of our body is turning brown like toasting bread and happens when glucose molecules bumps into another molecule causing a reaction and is glycated and damaged forever. The more glucose we deliver to our body, the more glycation happens. The effects of this are wrinkles, cataracts, heart disease, alzheimers, and general ageing. Slowing down browning leads to a longer life. Fructose molecules glycate things 10 times as fast as glucose.
The Haemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) test measures how many red blood cell proteins have been glycated by glucose over the past 2/3 months so the higher it is, the more often the browning is happening and the more glucose is circulating.
Inflammation:
The combination of too many free radicals, oxidative stress and glycation leads to a generalised state of inflammation in the body. It's a result of the body trying to defend against invader but chronic inflammation is harmful because it turns against our own body - redness and swelling outside, tissues and organs damaged inside.
It can also be driven up by alcohol, smoking, stress, leaky gut syndrome and substances released by body fat.
Insulin:
Pancreas's main function is to send insulin hormone into the body to stash excess glucose in the liver, muscles and fat to keep it out of circulation. Diabetes is the in ability to create insulin.
Liver turns glucose into glycogen and can hold 100g. Muscles can hold about 400g. Once those are filled, glucose is stored in our fat reserves. Fructose cannot be turned into glycogen so cannot be stored in liver or muscles.
The fat our body creates from fructose accumulates in the liver and drives development of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, we gain weight and it enters the bloodstream and contributes to an increase risk of heart disease (LDL or bad cholesterol)
The more glucose spikes we experience, the more insulin is released and long term, too much insulin causes obesity, type 2 diabetes, polycystic ovary syndrome and more.
When insulin levels are high for a long time, our cells start becoming resistant to it and glucose levels are increased for good.
Losing weight:
When glycogen reserves diminish from liver and muscles, our body draws on the fat in our fat reserves for energy and we burn fat. But this happens only when our insulin levels are low. If there is insulin, our body is prevent from burning fat. It only allows glucose to come in and not out. So we need to flatten our glucose and insulin curves.
Constant huger is a symptom of high insulin levels. When there is a lot of insulin in our body, built up over years of glucose spikes, our Leptin hormones get mixed up. They should tell us we are full and should stop eating but its signal gets blocked while Ghrelin tells us that we are hungry. The more weight we put on, the hungrier we get.
Glucose spike and dips
A dip in glucose levels after a spike leads to cravings and hunger. After a glucose spike, your immune system is temporarily faulty.
When too much insulin is released and too much glucose is stashed away, it goes below normal and crashes which is called reactive hpoglycaemia - our body releases extra glucose into the blood which causes hunger, cravings, light-headedness or tingling in our hands and feat
Flattening glucose spike:
We automatically flatten our insulin spikes
If starches or sugars are the first thing to hit the stomach, they get to intestine quickly and broken down into glucose into the bloodstream and creates a spike.
How calories are measured:
This food warms up water by x amount of degrees when we burn them using a calorimeter
Sweets to add:
cinnamon, cacao powder, cacao nibs, shredded unsweetened coconut, unsweetened nut butter
Postprandial state:
Period of our day when the hormonal and inflammatory changes take place to digest, sort and store the molecules of food that is consumed - blood rushes to our digestive system and hormones rise. Systems put on hold like our immune system and fat storage activated. Insulin levels, oxidative stress, inflammation increase. It's normal but an effort on our body and we spend around 20-24 hours a day in it.
Vinegar:
Amount of insulin decreases by about 20% when vinegar is consumed before eating. The acetic acid in vinegar temporarily inactivates alpha-amylase so sugar and starch are turned into glucose more slowly and hits our system more softly.
Once acetic acid gets into the bloodstream, it penetrates our muscles and encourages our muscles to make glycogen faster than than they usually would and leads to more efficient uptake of glucose.
It also tells our DNA to reprogrammed slightly so that our mitochondria burns more fat.
ATP:
Adenosine triphosphate is the energy created from glucose to use
How to spot spikes in packaging of foods:
Check if sugar is in the top 5 ingredients
Golden ratio is 1 gram of fibre for each 5 grams of Total Carbohydrate
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