Sugar as Cocaine? Well, It is Cheaper.

May 23, 2012

Is sugar the new coke?   It does make for a compelling headline.  But first...

The Numbers:

• Fasting Blood Glucose Level:  101 mg/dl
• Weight: 188lbs.
• Exercise:  45 minutes of intense perspiration.  Summer in Houston. Since it's not Memorial Day yet, can we wear white? 
• Mood:  8.5.  I just feel good today. 

The Menu: 

• Breakfast:  Usual fruit medley and oatmeal, baked.
• Lunch:  A turkey patty w/ mushroom sans  gravy, cucumber salad and greens with the Charming Mrs. SWMBO at Luby's.  
• Dinner:  The tofu/corn wrap things again.  I think the Charming Mrs. SWMBO has a new favorite.  Me too. 
• Snacks:  A little bit of cheese.

Cupcakes as the New Cocaine?  

I think this is getting a little over the top.  Yes, we all like to eat something sweet.  Sugar is sweet and cheap and it's found in all sorts of things.  Combine sugar with some white flour and some fat and you have the base for all sorts of crave worth stuff, such as the cupcake Sarah Jessica Parker ate here, or Doritos or Banana Flips.  All of that sweet and fat coats the tongue and makes for a culinary version of great sex.

I have a heck of a sugar/sweet tooth.  Heck, I even use a bit of it in a French salad dressing I make and my tomato sauce.  It helps create flavors our tongue finds interesting and wants more of to sample.  Sweet is a basic part of our sense of taste.  It's sending joyous signals to the brain.

But lets get a grip, people.  We choose to eat it.  We have other options available.  Want a cupcake to satisfy that sweet craving?  Have some strawberries instead.  An orange maybe.  Apples are good.

Sugar does not cause us to gain weight or become a  type 2 diabetics. Too much of it, along with too much of a lot of other foods, will make us fat and maybe diabetic.  That is how 85% of us who became type 2 diabetics got that way.  Too much of a lot and we overloaded the body.  It couldn't handle it all.   

Sugar as nasty, vile poisonous stuff is not new.  Heck, Jack LaLanne even talked about it that way. He said he was addicted to sugar and white flour, which was in a lot of the foods his mom fed him. 



Me?  A little bit here and there isn't going to affect me one way or the other.  For the record, I avoid cupcakes and such, mostly.  I have a new habit of not eating it and I want to keep it that way. 

Gila Monster Spit, Scarfing and Getting Dumb

May 16, 2012

Can a drug made from gila monster spit help you stop scarfing food?  If you say yes that may be a clue you have been eating too much sugar and its making you dumb.

More on all of that, but first...

The Numbers for Today:

• Fasting Blood Glucose:  103 mg/dl.  
• Weight:  187ish.  
• Exercise:  45 minutes and I was flyin' this morning.  
• Mood:  8.0

The Menu:

• Breakfast:  Morning fruit medley and the last of the oatmeal/fruit bake.
• Lunch:  Last of the brisket, last of the au jus (sounds classier than gravy) and a blob of sweet potato.
• Dinner.  Chicken, pinto beans and a salad.
• Snacks:  Last of the cole slaw.

A Official New Trigger for Type 2 Diabetes

Speed easting, or as we speed eaters say, scarfing is now an official trigger for type 2 diabetes.   In a group of recently diagnosed type 2 diabetics, those who scarfed were twice as likely to be diabetic compared to a control group of non-diabetics.  The recently diagnosed type 2ers were also more likely to be fatter and have a lower education level.

I scarfed and still have tendency to gobble things down, try as I might to slow it down. Regardless of the speed of my eating I am trying to keep in mind the 20 minute rule.  I eat a set amount and stop, regardless of the consuming speed.  After 20 minutes I generally feel full and satisfied.  End of the meal.  Eat quickly and it's easier to eat more because the brain still does not really understand that the stomach is full. More food, more weight.  One burger, fries and a Coke turns into a another burger and a hot apple pie. 

Sugar Making You Dumber?

As to the lower education level, well a study at UCLA did this to two group of rats:

1. Both groups were taught to handle a complicated maze.
2. Both  groups were fed a solution of water and corn syrup, a high fructose syrup, for six weeks. 
3. The second group was also fed Omega-3 fatty acid from fax seed and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). 

After the six weeks the rats were placed back in the maze.  The group deprived of the omega-3 had a harder time handling the maze.  They were also developing insulin resistance.

That lead the researchers to theorize that the insulin resistance was affecting brain function, namely memory and learning, and that omega-3 was mitigating the effects of the high-fructose.  

I guess that could be serious.  Uncontrolled diabetics do have more problems with dementia. Omega-3 fatty acids, on the other hand, are not hard to get in a human diet.  A wash?

Sounds like a good reason to apply for more research money to me. Your brain also is the biggest consumer of glucose, for what that's worth. 

Gila Monster Saliva Could Help Scarfers and Keep You Smart.

A drug made form gila monster saliva, Exenatide-4, has been shown to reduce food cravings in rats.  A synthetic version of the drug, Exenatide, is already being given to type 2 diabetics to help them control their glucose.  

Now, it is possible this drug can be used to help people, scarfers and the omega-3 deprived included, with food craving and thus lose weight and stay sharp.

The the thought of gila monster spit kills my appetite. So I guess it really does work.