MCT for Health

In an older post, I focused on what to eat , what is probably harmful to us and, above all, in what quantity. I used the information here from Paul Jaminet's book  Perfect Health Diet . In the section on carbohydrates, it states that the recommended maximum amount of carbohydrates is 150 g (600 kcal). Why? What happens in the body when the daily intake of carbohydrates is higher? So let's investigate. First, let's look at this image from a study examining changes in metabolism in humans with varying amounts of carbohydrates and fat consumed , which I've added a little. The picture shows the dependence of DNL on energy intake, CH=carbohydrates, P=proteins, fat intake does not affect this process. Empty bars show continuous process, full bars when eating. What do we see here? The process of de-novo lipogenesis (DNL), i.e. the formation of fats from glucose, is a natural protection against high carbohydrate intake. The total amount of fat thus produced in the liver or adip...

Vinegar or acetate is a very interesting substance, a food supplement. If you would like to know more and in detail about it and its metabolism in the body, read this two-part article . It is devoted to acetate only and has two parts, a total of 49 densely annotated pages in two columns. All this about a molecule that contains only two carbons. Incredible. It apparently affects all processes in the body. Acetate acts not only by activating AMPK during its conversion to acetyl-CoA, but also directly on the FFAR2 receptor, thus, for example, it supports vasodilation, i.e. better blood and oxygen supply to tissues. First, let's review the basic mechanism by which acetate in the body acts against obesity. It is the result of the processes associated with the activation of acetate in the cell, i.e. the connection with the CoA molecule to form acetyl-CoA. This reaction consumes energy (ATP) and creates a signal of shortage, activates the enzyme AMPK, which limits the ACC enzyme by phosp...

What is cytosolic acetyl-CoA? We all know vinegar, it is an acid containing two carbons, the shortest fatty acid. We have already met MCT oils here , which contain medium chain fatty acids with eight or ten carbons, coconut oil contains lauric acid with twelve carbons. So if we go in the direction of fewer carbons, we get to butyrate in butter, a fatty acid with four carbons, and acetic acid with two carbons. If the acid is dissolved in water, hydrogen is separated as a proton and we are talking more often about the molecule of acetate, butyrate, oleate, etc., not about the acid as such. That's just an introduction. But what is acetyl-CoA? Acetate is a small molecule, so that the cell can control the flow of these small molecules, it attaches a part called Coenzyme A abbreviated CoA to them. The process of attaching acetate to CoA requires energy (ATP) and it's actually the activation of the acetate molecule for use in the cell. This  process sends out a signal (AMP) to suppor...