WHAT’S NECESSARY TO KNOW ON HEALTHY LIVING

Scientists have known that calorie restriction, when accompanied by optimum nutrition ( also known as C.R.O.N.) can extend lifespan of animals 30 to 230 %, depending on the species. Primate studies are in process. It will be another 10 years before we know the final results, and no doubt, results will then lead to even more questions. What we do know, from major studies of centenarians already underway, is that the demographics have nothing much in common. Many centenarians are smokers, for example. They come from all over the world without a favoring any geographic location in particular.
However, there are 3 consistent blood metabolic indicators of all centenarians that are relatively consistent: low sugar, low triglyceride, and low insulin. All three are relatively low for age. Among these three variables, insulin is the common denominator. The level of insulin sensitivity of the cell is one of the most important markers of lifespan.

Insulin

When we eat, the food we consume turns into sugar once inside the body. This is particularly true of carbohydrates such as potato or rice. This sugar circulates within us, and under the influence of insulin, is absorbed into the surrounding cells and tissue where it is metabolized into energy, or in the case of excessive sugar, stored for future use.

Insulin is commonly known as a hormone secreted by the beta cells of the pancreas that lowers the blood sugar by promoting their transport from the blood stream to the cell. Cells, in turn, use sugar as fuel to generate ATP, the energy currency of the body. Insulin's real purpose in our body is to help the body store excess nutrients.

When we take in excessive sugar and once the body sense that there is too much, insulin is released to take the excess sugar out of the bloodstream and store it by converting it into glycogen. The amount of glycogen stored in the liver is small. The entire reserve cannot last more than a day of activity. Excess sugar above and beyond what can be stored as glycogen is then stored as palmitic acid, a saturated fatty acid. Now you see how excessive sugar (calorie) intake leads to extra fat in the body.

Carbohydrates and Insulin
Carbohydrates we eat fall into two groups -complex and refined. Examples of complex carbohydrates include whole grains, vegetables, whole fruits, nuts, and legumes. Examples of refined carbohydrates include white flour, white rice and sugar. All carbohydrates are broken down into sugar once inside the body. Some are broken down slower than the others. The ones that break down slowly are called low-glycemic carbohydrate, such as legumes, apples , cherries, above ground vegetables. Other carbohydrates break down faster into sugar. These are called high glycemic carbohydrates. Examples are wheat, rice, tubers vegetables (potatoes), watermelon, and banana.

Excessive consumption of high glycemic index carbohydrate causes the most sugar storage in the body. Excessive intake of all carbohydrate, especially the high-glycemic type, is the primary culprit in the development of insulin resistance.

Carbohydrates, once broken down into sugar inside the body, promote insulin release from the pancreas. Each time there is a surge of sugar in the diet (as in taking a big bowl of noodles), there is a corresponding surge in blood sugar, and an immediate surge in insulin as the body tries to move the excessive sugar out from the blood and store it somewhere else. This process is an automatic one as the body balances itself to maintain a constant blood sugar level.

While sugar is a good source of energy, it was never designed to be the primary source of energy. Sugar is meant to be an emergency short-term fuel, like when you are running away from a tiger. Yes our brain will burn sugar for energy, but but it doesn't have to. It can do very well from burning ketones from fats. Fats and triglyceride can then be converted into sugar for emergency use. The body prefer fat as the energy source.

Furthermore, the body can survive very well without simple refined carbohydrate provided that adequate protein and fat is on board to provide the calories required for metabolic functions. Our body is designed to run on fats as a fuel and not sugar. In fact, excess sugar is stored as fat because fat is the preferred source of fuel. The body can store a lot of fat but only limited amount of sugar.

Sugar is a recognized toxic as far as the body is concern if present in excessive amounts. The body's job is to get rid of these excessive sugars. The best way is to burn it. What it cannot burn will be stored as glycogen, and when that fills up, it turns into fats. When you eat sugar, the body will burn sugar first and you stop burring fat. First sugar from the blood stream will be used, and then stored sugar in the form of glycogen is next. Last, sugar from the muscle will be used. When these supplies are exhausted, energy is obtained from burning the saturated fats in our adipose that originated as sugar.

When you take a high carbohydrate diet such as pasta, the carbohydrate changes into sugar inside our body. Our blood sugar goes up quickly. The body does not welcome this rush. It panics. The pancreas is immediately signaled to release insulin in order to facilitate the movement of sugar away from the blood stream into the cell, thereby lowering the blood sugar. This reaction is a back up plan for something that should not happen too often in our body, as our body was never designed to process sugar in large quantities in a short time. The pancreas tries to do its best to lower sugar through the release of the hormone insulin. But it generally overcompensates and secretes more than we need at times, especially when the pancreas is chronically stressed. The result - your blood sugar goes down excessively. At this time, our body secretes sugar-raising hormones such as cortisone and epinephrine to raise the blood sugar back up to normal level as a compensatory mechanism. This yo-yo effect happens each time there is a sudden sugar load, and it is one of the biggest stressors in our body. With the release of sugar raising hormones, our blood sugar is finally stabilized, but it comes at a price. The epinephrine makes us nervous. It also stimulates the heart to beat faster. Cortisol is a catabolic hormone and causes breakdown of peripheral tissues. This yo-yo effect of unstable blood sugar signals the brain to crave more carbohydrate as a way to increase sugar anyway it can for survival, not know what is coming next. Signals from the brain creates a craving soon after a meal is finished, telling us to eat more carbohydrate, like a big bowl of cheerios, or a pie between meals. This in turn causes a surge in our blood sugar. This never ending viscous cycle of sugar feeding on more craving on sugar turns our body into a carbohydrate addict and makes us fat.

I hope with the above information my readers will be more ready to cope with matters that concern good health keeping. Cheers !