What does sugar, fruits and juices do with metabolism? And what about beer or wine?
I have already written here how the composition of fats programs our metabolism, how it determines whether we will store or consume fats. However, fats are not the only foods that program our body. Today, we look at the research of the very active scientist, professor and physician Richard Johnson, who describes it in his book as a "fat switch."
To put it simply, fructose, a simple sugar that is part of all common sweet foods, programs animal metabolism in the wild to prepare for winter. It is mainly about the rate at which fructose (sugar) is absorbed and gets into the liver. When liver cells are repeatedly exposed to high concentrations of fructose, the processes evolutionarily set up as when there is a lack of energy, oxygen or water are turned on. These are rescue processes for survival in critically difficult conditions, stimulate the processes of fat formation and storage (fat is also a water reservoir), save energy, increase the production of uric acid, which causes changes in the kidneys, so even a small change in salt concentration in blood causes an increase in blood pressure to compensate for the lack of water.
I have already mentioned this in an older post. There are groups of scientists who have the idea that almost all the problems of civilization could be solved by banning sugar consumption. I do not think so. However, this does not mean that the consumption of sugary drinks and fruit juices cannot cause metabolic problems. Exactly opposite. Sugar, especially as part of common sweet and fruit drinks, is the fastest way to expose liver cells to fructose. Our aim should be to avoid this rapid absorption of sugar if possible. This can be done, for example, by eating whole fruit instead of juice, drinking water instead of a sweet drink, or having a sweet dessert after an honest main course, not before it. All this can significantly slow down the absorption and prevent metabolic changes. Nevertheless, I still think that without harming the metabolism with polyunsaturated fats, sugars would not cause it so easy. This is evidenced, for example, by the diet of natural hunters and gatherers (African Hadzas), rich in wild bee honey, full of sugar with a high content of fructose, which certainly does not cause them any problems. Or, for example, this experimental Bred Marschal croissant diet, consisting of starches, saturated fats and a pinch of sugar, still allows weight loss, provided that vegetable oils with polyunsaturated linoleic acid are completely eliminated. It is also not possible to get vegetable oil in a bottle in the wild.
But Dr. Johnson is really on the lead and clarifies a number of seemingly unrelated phenomena. His main field was first kidney disease, the effect of salt consumption on kidney function and blood pressure, uric acid metabolism. But gradually this research led him to study the effect of sugar consumption and especially its one component, ftuctose, on the overall metabolism. Fructose is part of both regular sugar (sucrose) and fruit and honey. With a small amount, it is converted into harmless glucose, blood sugar, when absorbed in the digestive tract. But in larger quantities, it reaches the liver, is processed into fat and stored. But that's not all. Nature has arranged this so that fructose not only does not supply the liver cells with energy, it even deprives them of energy. The cells start screaming at the alarm with chemical signals and start preparing for the lack of food, ie the winter season. We've met it before, it's called torpor. The effect of vegetable oils with sugar is incredibly supported. Autumn fruits and oilseeds and nuts will allow animals to survive the winter from fat reserves, but it will easily cause us metabolic problems.
An increase in uric acid levels is also an accompanying feature of fructose flooding of liver cells. It usually arises as a product of processing the contents of cell nuclei (DNA, RNA, purines) from food. The most common disease associated with elevated uric acid levels in the blood is gout, a painful disease caused by small sharp crystals of acid. It is usually associated with high meat consumption, but even high sugar consumption, especially in beverages, can cause it. Sugar dissolved in water gets into the liver very quickly. It's the speed, what is important. This is considerably lower if you eat whole fruit than if you quickly drink concentrated fruit juice squeezed from many fruits in the form of fruit juice.
However, elevated uric acid levels manifest themselves even earlier and differently. It affects kidney function. Dr. Johnson studied this effect and found that it causes the blood pressure to become more sensitive to salt levels in the blood. But there is another effect of salt, its increased concentration triggers the formation of fructose in the liver even if you do not consume any sugars. For example, a lot of salty chips without water is enough. It even depends on the order, the worst is to get salty meal without water, as soon as you get thirsty, you have already started producing fructose in your body. Again, the rate at which salt enters the blood is crucial. If you dilute it with water, no changes will occur. It is an evolutionarily refined mechanism of response to water scarcity. Did you know that whales make fresh water by burning their own fat? Burning of fats produce clean energy, water and carbon dioxide. Water is a natural part of fat stores. Lack of water or excess salt will trigger a fat storage rescue process. Sufficient drinking of water alone has a protective effect.
What Dr. Johnson does not mention is that uric acid levels depend not only on production but also on the rate at which it is excreted by the kidneys. And here we come to the effect of the concentration of free fatty acids in the blood. Their increased level activates uric acid retention, reabsorption is activated. Interestingly, some fats hold it more and some less. For example, fish oil reduces the risk of gout and lowers uric acid levels in the blood, but only when eating fish, not supplements. Vegetable omega-3 oils also do not work this way. Watch it. It is not known why saturated fats promote uric acid retention. Maybe it's an effort to promote fat burning. Uric acid is a powerful antioxidant, reportedly producing half of the blood's antioxidant properties. It should be added that the increased level of free fatty acids alone already indicates poor fat metabolism, a consequence of excessive consumption of polyunsaturated vegetable oils (linoleic acid).
What about alcohol? It is a known fact that fructose and alcohol have a similar negative effect on the liver. I probably won't please beer lovers, especially lowers of unfiltered one. In addition to alcohol, beer also contains yeast residues, so-called purines, which the body processes into uric acid. Thus, their negative effects are combined and it is no wonder that beer is said to form the so-called beer belly. Wine is more merciful in this respect. However, I must point out here that, just as the consumption of vegetable polyunsaturated oils together with sugars (fructose) is dangerous, the consumption of these oils together with alcohol is probably even worse. A number of studies have confirmed that this combination reliably destroys the liver, while the combination of alcohol with saturated fats more or less protects the liver. But where do we currently find fat without polyunsaturated vegetable oils? In every meat except beef or games, there is a lot of them, it will be good to pay attention to what we eat along with alcohol. It should be just something prepared on butter or coconut oil, or have fatty cheese.
References:
#87—Rick Johnson, MD: Fructose—the common link in hypertension, insulin resistance, T2D, & obesity?
Redefining Metabolic Syndrome as a Fat Storage Condition Based on Studies of Comparative Physiology
High plasma uric acid concentration: causes and consequences
Omega-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids Inhibit the Function of Human URAT1, a Renal Urate Re-absorber
Polyunsaturated fatty acid deficiency reverses effects of alcohol on mitochondrial energy metabolism
Comments
Post a Comment