Editor’s Note: The following is the first in a series of articles on “How Your Body Talks.” To make sure you don’t miss the next article in the series, subscribe by clicking here.
I recently saw a lady in my office who presented with fatigue. She is mildly obese and couldn’t lose weight. She was on insulin, 40 units per day, and her blood sugars were in the 150 to 200 range. Her fasting insulin level was 49 (normal is less than 10, and preferably less than 5).
What is this lady’s body telling her? What is the talk that is going on inside her body to have this much disruption of normal cellular function? And, most importantly, what can be done to restore and maintain energetic and vibrant cells to keep our body functioning at its highest and most effective level?
Sugar Digestion and Absorption
Let’s enter into a fascinating journey, following carbohydrate and sugar digestion and utilization in the body, and what the various messages our body is sending tell us.
Before we take the first bite of food, the sight, smells and even thoughts of food increase the production of salivary and digestive juices in the body. When we take that first bite and start chewing, saliva mixes with the food. An enzyme called amylase begins to break down carbohydrates into sugar.
When the food is sufficiently chewed (although most of us need to chew more) and moist, we swallow it and it travels down the esophagus to the stomach.
As the food enters the stomach, the salivary amylase and enzymes in the food continue to break down carbohydrates. This is called the digestive process. Although numerous other enzyme reactions occur in the stomach and small intestines that digest proteins and fats, this journey will only address the carbohydrate and sugar reactions. We’ll save the “rest of the story,” as Paul Harvey used to say, for another time.
When the food in the stomach is sufficiently mixed and in a liquid state, it is passed on into the first part of the small intestine called the duodenum.
In the first part of the duodenum, juices from the gallbladder (made from the liver) and pancreas continue digesting food. More amylase is added from the pancreas. The next part of the small intestine is called the jejunum, with microvilli that perform the final stage of digestion. The microvilli are tiny finger-like projections that extend the surface area of the intestine, so that more nutrients can be absorbed more efficiently. The enzymes sucrase, maltase, lactase, and trehalase break down carbohydrates into the sugars glucose, fructose and galactose. These sugars are now absorbed in the jejunum and the last part of the small intestine, the ileum.
Now that digestion and absorption of the food has taken place, the food is passed into the large intestine, where 99% of the water is resorbed into the body and the waste can be excreted or eliminated from the body.
What Happens to Sugar After It Enters the Bloodstream
Although all 3 sugars are absorbed, we will only talk about glucose, as that is the blood level with which we are most familiar. As glucose is absorbed into the bloodstream from the small intestines, there is a rise in blood sugar levels. This increased blood sugar talks to the pancreas to produce and release insulin. Insulin accompanies glucose to a receptor on the cell membrane and opens the door so glucose can enter the cell. Glucose can now perform its function—to produce energy and signaling molecules inside the cell. About 50% of the glucose absorbed from the intestines is used up supplying immediate energy to the body in this fashion.
The rest of the glucose is stored in the body. Approximately 10% of the glucose absorbed is stored in the muscles and liver as glycogen, an immediate source for glucose (sugar) when the blood levels of sugar start to fall. The rest of the glucose is placed in long-term storage as fat, triglycerides. It is difficult to utilize the energy stored in fat.
How Does the Pancreas Know How Much Insulin to Release?
Translating the communication between the pancreas and blood sugar level is more an art rather than a science. When proteins, fats and carbohydrates are eaten (this means real food, not nutrient-depleted processed food), there is a small and consistent absorption of sugar. The pancreas is told to release insulin, based on two factors: the sugar level and the anticipation of continued slow absorption for the next 1 to 3 hours. This permits a rise in sugar after a meal and a return to normal in a short period of time.
What Happens if We Eat Sugar or Processed Food?
Refined carbohydrates tend to be eaten without fiber and fats to modify rapid absorption. Rapid absorption of sugars causes a sharp and quick rise in blood sugar without the anticipated ongoing consistent absorption of sugars to follow. This high blood sugar sends an urgent message to the pancreas: help now!
With the cry for help comes an abundance of response. Excess insulin is released, which drops the blood sugar too low. The cry for help goes to the adrenal gland and the stress hormone epinephrine (adrenaline) is released.
Epinephrine talks to the body and to the liver. Epinephrine in the liver tells it to release the immediate glucose storage form, glycogen. This slowly raises the glucose level in the blood.
Epinephrine In the body tells the brain to be anxious. Tremors may appear in the hands. Heart rate goes up, sweat appears and confusion reigns. Then you remember—a candy bar will change all of these uncomfortable symptoms quickly. Ingest another refined carbohydrate, which raises the blood sugar quickly. If it overshoots the normal glucose level, more insulin is secreted, which triggers another drop in blood sugar, we eat more candy and the cycle goes on.
What Happens When this Cycle Continues?
Initially the body’s messaging system is constantly sending out alerts and updates, trying to correct the swings in blood sugar toward normal. It may even tell the person to stop the madness of the cycle.
When it is clear the body is not listening, the cells take the matter into their own hands (or cell membranes). The cell membrane thickens (does this sound like some couples you know who don’t listen and talk to each other?) and the insulin receptors refuse to open their door to the insulin-glucose knock. Both the blood sugar and the insulin levels rise.
What is the Harm with High Blood Sugar Levels?
As sugar levels go up and stay up in the blood, the sugar binds to proteins or lipids in the body. This is called glycation. Glycation affects different parts of the body in unhealthy ways, depending upon where in the body glycation occurs.
Glycation of the red blood cells causes them to be sticky so they aggregate together (stick to each other). They can no longer perform their function of transporting oxygen and nutrients to cells.
Glycation of LDL won’t shut off cholesterol production. When sugar binds to the proteins in the lens of the eye, vision is impaired. When sugar binds to nerves, or the myelin sheath covering the nerves, the nerves do not function normally. We may lose feeling (we become numb), or feel too much (burning, painful, sensitive to touch).
Glycation of the blood vessels makes the walls sticky. Platelets, red blood cells and other material may stick to the sides and start to block the flow of blood. What a sad way for the blood to reduce sugar levels.
What is the Harm with High Insulin Levels in the Blood?
As insulin levels rise in the blood, inflammation rises in the body. In fact, insulin is the most inflammatory substance the body makes. Insulin converts more glucose into the long-term storage form of fat. If the cells won’t take the glucose, insulin talks to the long-term storage facility to expand its capabilities. Insulin tells the kidney to reabsorb more sodium and does not let it be excreted out in the urine when insulin is present. A rise in sodium in the body causes more water retention and higher blood pressures. Insulin even tells the hormone system to increase production and release of testosterone.
Is There Anything That Can Be Done?
First and foremost, we have got to get the body talking–and listening to itself–again. We must stop the cascade of madness that started the miscommunication at the beginning.
An improper diet started this, and diet is where the solution begins. We have to get serious in talking with our body, and show respect for the messages it is sending us. So here’s the mandate:
- No refined carbohydrates (this means sugar, candy, ice cream, cakes,…you know the rest) and
- fewer overall carbohydrates.
- Add considerably more fiber to each meal.
- Also, fat slows down stomach emptying, which slows down carbohydrate digestion and absorption.
- Exercise will help to reduce glucose levels in the blood while improving the messaging between the insulin and its receptors.
Outside of the diet, we have got to get the insulin receptors and the insulin to talk to each other again. Over time the receptor may open the “door” (receptor sites) wider and let sugar into the cell. Some nutrients have also been shown to help in this process:
- Chromium
- Vanadium
- Biotin
- DHEA (this may require follow-up with a practitioner)
- alpha-lipoic acid
Inflammation
Inflammation always leaves a wave of oxidative stress wherever it is. The following products improve antioxidant status in the body:
- ASEA (new supplement on the market)
- Vitamin C
- Vitamin E
Other nutrients that are useful for repair as the cell talk surrounding sugar and insulin breaks down are:
- Magnesium
- Vitamin B6
- Omega 3 essential fatty acids
To your dynamic health and energy!
Dr. Stan
Dr. Stan Gardner, M.D., CNS, is a certified nutrition specialist who understands how to help people become well on a cellular level. If you would like to learn more about Dr. Gardner’s philosophies, visit his website at keystohealing.net. His office number in Sandy, Utah is (801) 302-5397.
Mary Ann JohnsonJanuary 1, 2016
Nice to see you here Stan. : )
SophiaMNovember 7, 2015
Dr Gardner, is it known whether (or how) these processes are involved in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome?