Sugar, Diabetes and Nitric Oxide: Complex Biochemistry, Simple Solutions
I just completed reading Sugar Crush by my good friend and foot surgeon Dr. Richard Jacoby. This book was published back in 2015. It contains a lot of really good and useful information. It inspired me to devote this month’s blog to the problem of sugar consumption and the havoc it is wrecking on the health of everybody on the planet.
The people of the United States and most Westernized nations are in a health crisis. Nine out of ten Americans are metabolically unfit. In the United States today, we spend more money on health care than any industrialized nation and yet we have one of the sickest populations on Earth. More than 37 million Americans have diabetes, this is more than 11% of the population. Another 9 million are estimated to have undiagnosed diabetes and another 96 million Americans have pre-diabetes on their way to full blown diabetes. That totals 142 million Americans that have metabolic disease or nearly half of all Americans. More than 30% of Americans are overweight and 42% are obese. That is 3 out of 4 Americans that have a weight problem. About 115 million of Americans have hypertension and another 59 million have pre-hypertension. It has been estimated that there is another 11 million Americans that have hypertension and do not even know it. That reveals that 2 out of 3 Americans have an unsafe elevation in blood pressure, the number one risk factor for the number one killer of men and women worldwide, cardiovascular disease. One in three seniors suffer from Alzheimers’ disease and there are more than 6 million American living with Alzheimers. Alzheimers’ Disease is increasing at a rate of 145% over the past 20 years. Despite billions of federal dollars spent on research each year, Americans are not getting healthier. In fact, we are getting sicker. Is there a common denominator here that can explain the health crisis? Yes, the cause is sugar and one of the most effective solutions is elimination of sugar and restoration of nitric oxide.
Sugar is one, if not the most, addictive substances on Earth. Big food companies know that and they want everyone of us addicted to their products. We are their customers and every business wants returning customers. That is why most food we eat in America is enriched with sugar, high fructose corn syrup and processed carbohydrates that are rapidly absorbed when consumed and cause a rapid increase in blood sugar. It is feeding our addiction and just like any addict we keep coming back for more. That is what is responsible for the staggering statistics above. Even the government dietary recommendations, from the food pyramid to the latest “My plate” has it wrong. Government is influenced by lobbyist from big food and big agriculture and directs their initiatives even at the expense of human health.
It is important to understand how sugar affects the body. When our body senses an increase in blood glucose, it tells our pancreas to secrete insulin. In metabolically fit people, the insulin binds to insulin receptors on most cells, but primarily on liver, muscle, fat and brain cells, and instructs that cell to bring glucose into the cell where the mitochondria use it for energy or store it as glycogen for later use. This brings down the glucose circulating in our blood and the pancreas shuts down insulin secretion since the body did its job of normalizing glucose. In metabolically unfit people, although insulin is secreted and binds to the insulin receptors, the cells do not get the signal to bring glucose into the cell. Blood sugar remains elevated so it tells our pancreas to secrete more insulin, which is typically does, but the cells do not respond to it. We call this insulin resistance. High levels of insulin combined with elevated glucose is what drives inflammation and chronic disease. The cell becomes resistant and unresponsive to the instructions given to the cell by insulin. The disruption is because the cell has lost its ability to produce nitric oxide which is part of the signal that tells the cell to bring in glucose and use it as energy or store it as glycogen. Why is this?
Have you ever spilled table sugar on your countertops or spilled a soda, fruit juice or any other sugary substance? It is sticky. It sticks to everything and it absorbs moisture and water. That is exactly what it does in the body. Excess sugar draws water into nerves cells making them swell causing nerve entrapments leading to carpel tunnel syndrome, tarsal tunnel syndrome, neuropathy and actually squeezes off the circulation supplying those nerves precious oxygen and nutrients it needs to do its job. The sugar sticks to proteins and enzymes making them dysfunctional. Sugar sticks to hemoglobin, the molecule responsible for carrying oxygen to every cell in the body. Hemoglobin must be able to be nimble and move and change its structure in order to go through small capillaries and deliver oxygen. When sugar stick to it, it loses its mobility and can no longer undergo structural changes to off-load oxygen. This is measured as hemoglobin A1C which is an actual measurement of how much sugar is attached or stuck to your hemoglobin molecule. If sugar is stuck to hemoglobin, it is stuck to most, if not all, other proteins and enzymes in your body making them dysfunctional. One of those enzymes is nitric oxide synthase. Enzymes undergo structural changes when activated to transfer electrons through different carriers and molecules. If sugar is stuck to these enzymes, they become sticky, unable to move and perform their biochemical jobs.
The only way to resolve this is to decrease or eliminate sugar consumption. Many companies started make “sugar free” sodas and food. The artificial sweeteners are neurotoxins and many are much sweeter than sugar making them even more addictive and still disrupting normal metabolism. High fructose corn syrup or what I like to call high fructose cancer syrup is even worse than sugar. The fructose causes an increase in uric acid, disrupts mitochondria, creating the “Warburg effect” which is how cancer cells rapidly proliferate and replicate.
Any addiction is very difficult to break. I’ve never had an addiction so I can’t empathize. I know people who have struggled with stopping smoking, drinking and drugs. We all know people who struggle with sugar addiction. I see them all the time. The morbidly obese snacking on donuts, sodas, chips, cupcakes. I want to say “STOP ALREADY”. Look what it is doing to you. However, as with any addiction, I know they are addicts and we must offer support. You don’t have to stop cold turkey, although that is best. Start by eliminating all sodas and fruit juice. Replace those with pure and filtered water. Give this 30 days. Next, give up simple carbohydrates like breads, grains, sugary snacks. Do that for 30 days. Eat more protein and vegetables from natural foods like beef, chicken, lamb, fish. You will find the less sugar you consume, the less you will crave it. Eventually get to a stage where you are consuming less than 12 grams of sugar per day. If you are active, you can consume more if you burn it. If you are not active, then you don’t need any added sugar in your diet. We must change our perception of sugar. SUGAR IS A POISON AND A TOXIN. Would you intentionally ingest a poison or toxin? Of course not, so stop consuming sugar and start doing things that restore nitric oxide production so your cells can do their job. Your body will thank you for it.
Be on the lookout for Dr. Jacoby newest book called “Unglued” and my book which will be out later this fall, “The Secret of Nitric Oxide; Bringing Nitric Oxide to Life”
You can find my nitric oxide products at www.n1o1.com Use coupon code NSB10 for a discount.
Dr. Nathan S. Bryan is a biochemist and physiologist that has more than 20 years of basic science and clinical research. His many seminal discoveries have resulted in dozens of issued U.S. and International patents. He is an international expert in nitric oxide and molecular medicine. Dr. Bryan is an innovator and successful entrepreneur who product technology is responsible for hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue worldwide. This content is not intended to replace medical advice from a physician.
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