Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Vegetarianism (Part 12)

Good Day everyone. Today, this will be the last post for this topic and it will be a long post. I hope reading this post will not bore you to death. Let's talk abit about USDA as well as insulin. Our country(Malaysia) food pyramid guide follows very similiar to what USDA had 'planned' for all of us. According to USDA, we should be eating a diet that is 60 percent carbohydrates. Your body will turn that carbohydrates into almost two cups of glucose, and each and every molecule has to be reckoned with.

Does any of you know that with that amount of sugar in the bloodstream, would lead to coma and death if humans didn't have a way to process sugar, and fast. So, the body comes equipped with a mechanism to clear sugar from the blood, but it's a mechanism that agriculturalists wear out. Elevated sugar levels stimulate the pancreas to produce insulin. Insulin is a hormone responsible for nutrient storage. Its primary purpose is to get excess sugar, amino acids and fats out of the blood and into the cells.

Sugar, is the most dangerous of those three, as too much sugar can cause serious consequences very quickly. So, insulin most important job is to keep the blood sugar level out of the red zone. It does this by binding with insulin receptors, which are proteins on a cell's surface that remove sugar from the blood. Insulin is the switch that turns on the insulin receptors, which they do the work of moving glucose into the cell.

When the blood sugar levels are constantly spiking from a diet of high carbohydrates, the amount of insulin required to deal with that will, over time, damage the insulin receptors, blunting their ability to work. Yet, the high levels of sugar still need to be lowered, and lowered quickly. So, the pancreas pumps out even more insulin, which forces temporarily forces the insulin receptors into action but ultimately creates still more damage.

Now, there is so much insulin in the blood that by the time it's all bound to the insulin receptors, blood sugar levels will to be too low. This cycle, of high blood sugar ---> too much insulin ---> low blood sugar, is called hypoglycemia. I've told many of my friends and colleagues about this state, I hope they remember it. It ends when the sufferer, biologically desperate to raise her blood sugar levels, puts another dose of sugar into her mouth with a sweaty shaking hands. Well, that will help, for an hour or two, until her blood sugar crashes again and the whole process starts over. Sounds familiar?

Where it really ends is in Type 2 Diabetes. The resistant insulin receptors demand too much insulin, more then the pancreas could ever make. The chronic excess sugar destroys the nerves, the heart, the arteries and the retinas too. Despite every advance in medical science, a diabetic's life can be shortened by one third! Such, are the wages of civilization's dietary sins.

Because insulin also controls a number of other basic life functions, high levels of insulin will cause damage throughout the body. Insulin triggers cholesterol synthesis, activating the enzymes that spur cholesterol production. Bear in mind, I have mentioned in my earlier cholesterol post, about only 80-85% of total cholesterol is made by the body, the rest of it, is dietary. This is why, a low fat or low cholesterol diets have proven useless. Everyone of your cells both makes and needs cholesterol, most of it is produced by your liver.

Too much of insulin triggers the growth of smooth muscle cells that line the arteries, thickening the walls and reducing elasticity. Blood volume of the arteries shrink, which means the heart has to pump harder, which is another way of saying, 'high blood pressure'. Insulin also triggers the kidney to retain fluid, which again increases blood pressure. Arteries with less elasticity are more prone to plaguing and arterial spasm. Insulin, also increases oxidation of LDL particles. I'm sure some of you by now, know that there is not only one LDL, but in fact, there are two LDL particles.  What damages them? Too much blood sugar and insulin.

Sugars are able to attach proteins all over the body and start a reaction that creates permanent damage to the cells. This process is called glycation and fructation, for glucose and fructose respectively. Check this out, year in and year out, from the time we were born, this damage by the process accumulated in our bodies, over a lifetime it wreaks the most havoc in long-lived proteins, including elastin, the protein that gives youthful elasticity to the skin. DNA, the genetic blueprint present in all cells, and collagen, the structural protein mass, occurring in tissues all over the body, including the hair, skin and nails, the walls of the arteries and veins, and the framework of bones and organs. Damage to these critical protein structure results not only in such cosmetic maladies as wrinkles and age spots, but in serious health problems ranging from cataracts to failure of major organs, such as kidney and the heart.

All these, that's just from ingesting SUGAR. The excess insulin required by that ingestion makes it even worse, as insulin raises the rate of oxidation of the LDL particles. So, on a carbohydrate-based diet, there's a lot sugar can do damage, and that sugar requires insulin that adds even more damage. Once impaired, the LDL heads for the arterial walls. There, it sets off an immune reaction. The body's defenders, the macrophages, will attack and disremember the LDL, creating inflammation and bits of deranged cholesterol. Those bits, are now bioavailable and will be used by the body in the formation of plaque.

Insulin triggers the production of fibrinogen, which is the substance used in the first stage of clot formation. Insulin, also stimulates the kidneys to dump both magnesium and potassium, which can lead to heart arrhythmias and life threatening fibrillation. Is there any stage of coronary heart disease missing from this indictment?

The counter balancing hormone to insulin is glucagon. Well, most people have yet to know this hormone, as both are secreted by your pancreas. When your blood sugar levels are in free fall and headed for the crash, glucagon's job is to get those levels back up. It does this by stimulating the body to burn its reserves of energy, and with some help by both adrenalin and cortisol as well.

Adrenalin prepares you for the fight or flight situation. It forces energy out storage and cranks up the metabolism in your muscles, getting you ready for action. One of the ways it free up more energy for your muscles is by shutting down your digestive systems. The presence of adrenalin suppresses the stomach's production of hydrochloric acid.

Well, thats fine for the occasional sabertooth tiger attack, but what about eating a high carbohydrate diet 3 meals a day? This is equivalent to three times being attacked by the tiger daily, everyday. You can damage your stomach ability to produce hydrochloric acid, and anyone with blood sugar problems is at risk. The resulting condition is called gastroparesis. Anyone heard of it before?

Gastroparesis, is commonly occurs in those who are either diabetic or hypothyroidism. You have to realise, that blood sugar regulation is closely tied to the functioning of the stomach and the health of the nerves. Very low carbohydrates diet have been successfully used in virtually all stomach disorders because it has been found that insulin is intimately tied up with acid production, the pressure of the esophageal-gastric sphincter and the hormonal control of other stomach functions. Lowering insulin levels through a low carbohydrate diet, is the first step to resolving this disorder. Who says you need drugs from conventional doctor?

So here are some questions for you, vegetarians. Do you feel sick when you eat? Specifically, does your stomach feel bloated, or like it takes a long time to empty? It's not your blood type, and it's not because you are naturally meant to eat light. Simple, if you can't eat food your body needs, it's because you have damaged your digestion, from too many blood sugar highs and lows, as well as too much adrenalin. Can this be fixed? Of course my friend. It can be fixed, but you are going to have to eat real protein and fat and not sugars. You need to leave adrenalin for emergencies only.

Cholesterol is, of course, to almost everyone, known as a 'villain', surely nutritional vegetarians will stand behind. The Lipid Hypothesis, as I've discussed months ago in my Cholesterol posts, referred to the theory that ingested fat causes heart disease, particularly saturated fat. It is the stone tablet that the Phrophets of Nutrition have brought down from the mountain. We have been shown one way, true way, that cholesterol is the demon of the age, the dietary Black Plague, a judgement from angry GOD. That at least is what the priests of the Lipid Hypothesis declared, having looked into the entrails of.....rabbits. Damn rabbits!! Whoever had read my cholesterol posts earlier, or whoever realized about this pathetic health scam, you surely know what I meant.

There is a huge array of epidemiological studies that show no correlation between saturated fat consumptionm cholesterol levels and heart disease. First of all, let's check out the paradoxes such as French Paradox, the Greek Paradox, the East African paradox, the Swiss Paradox, etc. These contries have high cholesterol and saturated fat consumption, yet low levels of heart disease.The French consumes four and half times as much butter as Americans, but look at the comparison of heart disease rates between these 2 countries. Furthermore, the Masai of Kenya, eat a diet almost entirely based on meat, milk and blood. On average, Masai warriors ingest 300 grams of animal fat everyday! Yet heart disease is unknown.

Another epidemiological study discovered the Pacific Island paradox. Coconut is a staple food of the people of Pukapuka, and coconut oil is more highly saturated then animal fats. Big part of their calories is in the form of saturated fat. Cardiovascular disease was absent, as were degenerative diseases in general.

How about the Japanese? They increased their consumption both of total fat and animal fat over 250% since 1960's and they are now the longest living people in the world. Consumption of both animal protein and fat increased significantly, as one would expect during a time of economic prosperity. Blood cholesterol also increased, while blood pressure and strokes went down. Check this out. A survey of 40000 Japanese subjects found that over sixteen year period, those who ate the most eggs, dairy products and fish, had 28% lower risk of stroke then those who ate them least.

Want more? India. Over a million of people were examined for incidence of CHD. Guess what? The highest rates were in Madras, and the lowest rates were in Punjab. Their dietary difference? In disease prone Madras, fat consumption was lower, and consisted of polyunsaturated vegetable oils. In Punjab, milk products supplied the fat, and with much lower polyunsaturates. The Punjab men has average of overall lifespan of 8 years longer then those in Madras.

Next, we then have China. Well well. What can I say? There is a bizarre and entrenched myth among the health concious in the West that the Chinese don't have cardiovascular diseases. the idea is that they eat lots of rice and vegetables and very little protein and fat, are healthy. The truth of the matter is that the Chinese do indeed have cardiovasular disease, and lots of it. The rates of death from cardiovascular disease suffered by both rural and urban Chinese males is almost indistinguishable from the rate experienced by American males, while the rates of cardiovascular deaths for both rural and urban Chinese women is significantly higher than those of American females.

The past fifteen years have seen a reduction in fat consumption of almost 25 percent, due to the relentless badgering of the medical establishment and the willingness of corporate food manufacturers to fabricate an endless array of ridiculous information about fats and cholesterol, cheap polyunsaturated vegetable oils that have been chemically altered. Consumption of fat has gone down, and we are getting fatter and higher rates of heart disease?

As I've mentioned before in my cholesterol posts, twenty five percent of the body's cholesterol is in the brain., the brain that is made up of over 60% of saturated fat. Without fat, our neurotransmitters literally can't transmit. Fat is also preferred by our nervous systems. Without this substance, your brain would be almost entirely useless. The name of this wonder substance? CHOLESTEROL!

Low cholesterol means low seratonin levels, which means depression. Cholesterol is essential for the brain's seratonin receptors. In fact, people on low fat diets are twice as likely to die from suicide or violent death. Low fats diet increase anger, depression and anxiety. Low cholesterol levels occur more often amongst criminals, individuals diagnosed with aggressive conduct disorders, homicidal offenders with histories of suicidal attempts and violence related to alcohol. While ratings of anger hostility slightly declined during the high fat diet period, they significantly increased during the low fat, high carbohydrate diet period.

There are two things going on here. One is that the human body and its brain need saturated fat and cholesterol. The other is that while polyunsaturated fats are essential but they are only needed in tiny amounts. The quantities currently consumed by almost all of us, are damaging both body and brain. Until very recently in human history, non one used discrete polyunsaturated vegetable oils, or at least not for food. They were used to make glue and paint!

High consumption of polyunsaturated fats have been shown to contribute to a large number of diseases such as increased of cancer, heart disease, immune system dsyfunction, damage to the liver, reproductive organs, lungs, digestive disorders, depressed learning ability, impaired growth and weight gain. A big problem with polyunsaturated fats is their tendency to oxidize very easily, or go rancid, when expose to air, moisture and heat, not to mention when these oils are used in cooking. Whereas saturated oils are stable because every carbon is paired with a hydrogen.

When I recently just attended a class (nutrition), and the trainer was saying that cholesterol causes heart disease and caused formation of plaque, I just shake my head and thought to myself, "Do you even know what you are talking about?". Someone with no solid real knowledge about nutrition, is trying to conduct a class about nutrition? That's just plain silly. The trainer also mentioned that our liver can only store up to about 500g of glycogen. What happen to Von Gierke's disease? Thats the type 1 storage glycogen disease which proved that human liver can store to basically unlimited amount of glycogen stores.

Folks, you gotta know, cholesterol don't just gum your arteries for no reason. Think of cholesterol as 'Dark Knight' the movie, where dark knight is in fact a true hero, but he was mistaken as a villain. Cholesterol has been protecting us for thousands and millions of years. Blaming cholesterol for CHD, is like blaming the fire fighters for the fire.

Whether it's sugar and insulin or polyunsaturated fat which are causing the damage to our bodies, it is cholesterol that keeps us from dying, and then takes the blame for killing us. That is utterly absurb! You don't listen and follow everything you study or being told. You grab the knowledge, use common sense and connect the dots the best you can and ask yourself, "Does it make sense?".

Anyway, I'm going to finish off this post right about now. It is a long post, and I'm tired. I've been falling behind a bit lately on my sleeping cycles, thats bad, I'm trying to catch up slowly on my lost hours in bed. What I can say, after you've read every post in this vegetarianism topic, do have an open mind, do some research, connect the dots and always have the readiness to change and move forward. It's your life, your health, and the freedom of choosing your own food, eat according to how humans are supposed to eat since thousands and millions of years ago. We are still having the same genes inherited from our primal ancestors, the hunter gatherers, the caveman, whatever you wanna call it, eat real foods, eat according to your metabolic requirements, eating for energy.


2 comments:

  1. I would like to ask what should be eaten by a Vegetarian since they only can eat grains and leafy veggie?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Well, if you look through human evolution/anthropology, there is virtually none of our ancestors evolved and survived more then a few generations on vegetarian or vegan. I will not condemn the vegan community, but the truth is, our bodies are not designed to solely depend on non animals foods.

    There is a reason why we are classified as omnivores. As for your question, it is not true that vegetarian can only eat grains and leafy greens. You can include eggs, dairy products such as raw organic milk, cheese and yogurts(if your body allows it) if it is within your diet eating restriction. Avoid grains especially the dangerous gluten type of grains.

    ReplyDelete