Good morning! Welcome to Neurology Grand Rounds here at Blogmocracy General Hospital. Today we are going to get all sweet and look at nutrition! Not all sugars are created equal ( 
) . Please read the lecture below and make sure to be familiar with our case study, our grad-ass CJ as he is a long term study in the effects of high doses of HFCS on the human body as seen over at DoD, Dr Daedalus has done quite a detailed study on this subject. It is quite clear what a long term diet made exclusively of Cheetos and Mt Dew will do to what was an in shape human.
It is quite simple. Humans love sweets. We run on glucose. When we eat glucose, chemicals are sent out to make us feel satisfied. When we eat fructose (high fructose corn syrup) for instance, these chemicals are not released and we are not satiated and eat/drink more, thereby ingesting more calories.
The following is from Wiki and has been checked for accuracy.
Glucose (/ˈɡluːkoʊs/ or /-koʊz/; C6H12O6, also known as D-glucose, dextrose, or grape sugar) is a simple monosaccharide found in plants. It is one of the three dietary monosaccharides, along with fructose and galactose, that are absorbed directly into the bloodstream during digestion. An important carbohydrate in biology, cells use it as the primary source of energy[3] and a metabolic intermediate. Glucose is one of the main products of photosynthesis and fuels for cellular respiration. Glucose exists in several different molecular structures, but all of these structures can be divided into two families of mirror-images (stereoisomers).
Most dietary carbohydrates contain glucose, either as their only building block, as in starch and glycogen, or together with another monosaccharide, as in sucrose and lactose.
In the lumen of the duodenum and small intestine, the glucose oligo- and polysaccharides are broken down to monosaccharides by the pancreatic and intestinal glycosidases. Other polysaccharides cannot be processed by the human intestine and require assistance by intestinal flora if they are to be broken down; the most notable exceptions are sucrose (fructose-glucose) and lactose (galactose-glucose). Glucose is then transported across the apical membrane of the enterocytes by SLC5A1, and later across their basal membrane by SLC2A2.[17] Some of the glucose is converted to lactic acid by astrocytes, which is then utilized as an energy source by brain cells, some of the glucose is used by intestinal cells and red blood cells, while the rest reaches the liver, adipose tissue and muscle cells, where it is absorbed and stored as glycogen (under the influence of insulin). Liver cell glycogen can be converted to glucose and returned to the blood when insulin is low or absent; muscle cell glycogen is not returned to the blood because of a lack of enzymes. In fat cells, glucose is used to power reactions that synthesize some fat types and have other purposes. Glycogen is the body’s “glucose energy storage” mechanism, because it is much more “space efficient” and less reactive than glucose itself.
Fructose or fruit sugar, is a simple monosaccharide found in many plants. It is one of the three dietary monosaccharides, along with glucose and galactose, that are absorbed directly into the bloodstream during digestion. Fructose was discovered by French chemist Augustin-Pierre Dubrunfaut in 1847.[3] Pure, dry fructose is a very sweet, white, odorless, crystalline solid and is the most water-soluble of all the sugars.[4] From plant sources, fructose is found in honey, tree and vine fruits, flowers, berries, and most root vegetables. In plants, fructose may be present as the monosaccharide and/or as a molecular component of sucrose, which is a disaccharide.
Commercially, fructose frequently is derived from sugar cane, sugar beets, and corn and there are three commercially important forms. Crystalline fructose is the monosaccharide, dried, ground, and of high purity. The second form, high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is a mixture of glucose and fructose as monosaccharides. The third form, sucrose, is a compound with one molecule of glucose covalently linked to one molecule of fructose. All forms of fructose, including fruits and juices, are commonly added to foods and drinks for palatability and taste enhancement, and for browning of some foods, such as baked goods.
All three dietary monosaccharides are transported into the liver by the GLUT2 transporter.[33] Fructose and galactose are phosphorylated in the liver by fructokinase (Km= 0.5 mM) and galactokinase (Km = 0.8 mM). By contrast, glucose tends to pass through the liver (Km of hepatic glucokinase = 10 mM) and can be metabolised anywhere in the body. Uptake of fructose by the liver is not regulated by insulin. However, insulin is capable of increasing the abundance and functional activity of GLUT5 in skeletal muscle cells.[34]
From My Medscape Account:
Fructose Effects in Brain May Contribute to Overeating
Jan 02, 2013Consuming fructose appears to cause changes in the brain that may lead to overeating, a new study suggests.
“Increases in fructose consumption have paralleled the increasing prevalence of obesity, and high-fructose diets are thought to promote weight gain and insulin resistance,” lead author Kathleen A. Page, MD, and colleagues from Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, write.
In this study, they showed in healthy volunteers that although glucose ingestion resulted in reduced activation of the hypothalamus, insula, and striatum on MRI — areas that regulate appetite, motivation, and reward processing — as well as increased functional connections between the hypothalamic striatal network and increased satiety. Fructose ingestion had none of these effects.
“The disparate responses to fructose were associated with reduced systemic levels of the satiety-signaling hormone insulin and were not likely attributable to an inability of fructose to cross the blood-brain barrier into the hypothalamus or to a lack of hypothalamic expression of genes necessary for fructose metabolism,” they conclude.
Their findings are published in the January 2 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Glucose vs Fructose
Fructose ingestion produces smaller increases in circulating satiety hormones compared with glucose ingestion, and central administration of fructose provokes feeding in rodents, whereas centrally administered glucose promotes satiety, the authors write. “Thus, fructose possibly increases food-seeking behavior and increases food intake.”
In this study, the researchers used arterial spin labeling MRI to quantify regional cerebral blood flow in 20 healthy normal-weight adult volunteers before and after drinking a 75-g beverage of pure glucose or fructose.
They observed that glucose (but not fructose) ingestion reduced activation of the hypothalamus, insula, and striatum. Glucose ingestion also increased functional connections between the hypothalamic-striatal network and increased ratings of satiety and fullness.
Brain responses were markedly different after ingestion of an equal amount of fructose. Not only did fructose fail to diminish hypothalamic activity, but it also induced a small, transient increase in hypothalamic activity.
The striatum, as with the hypothalamus, also did not deactivate with fructose ingestion, which may cause decreased inhibitory responses. Fructose ingestion was also associated with reduced systemic levels of the satiety-signaling hormone insulin.
Appetite Regulation
“These findings support the conceptual framework that when the human brain is exposed to fructose, neurobiological pathways involved in appetite regulation are modulated, thereby promoting increased food intake,” Jonathan Q. Purnell, MD, and Damien A. Fair, PhD, from Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, write in an accompanying editorial.
They say the implications of this study, coupled with mounting evidence from epidemiologic, metabolic feeding, and animal studies, are that the “advances in food processing and economic forces leading to increased intake of added sugar and accompanying fructose in U.S. society are indeed extending the supersizing concept to the population’s collective waistlines.”
The study was supported in part by grants from the National Institutes of Health and the Yale Center for Clinical Investigation. The authors and editorialists have disclosed no relevant financial relationships.
I got over eating most sweets after my dentist had a drilling program that Shell Oil would have been proud of. Now I pretty much just don’t do them at all. No sugar in the coffee or tea or anything like that, a couple little pieces of candy once a year, maybe a slice of pie at Thanksgiving or Christmas, and that’s about it.
I do, however, have plenty of other bad habits to make up for my failing in this one regard…
refined sugars are a serious problem. its ok if you are working yer ass off 8-12 at physical labor.
sitting at a keyboard all day? not so much
And I am a keyboard sitter, for sure. But it’s not impossible to train oneself off of them. I am not exactly a tower of willpower or anything like that, but I just got myself out of the habit.
Then again, I was a weird kid -- used to eat lots of salads and raw veggies even when I was in grade school. Still do. First thing I have to do after checking into the hotel apartment tomorrow is go to the grocery store, and top on the list will be a pile of veggies to make myself salads for lunch. Not up to the standards I would buy here at home, but I can usually find enough decent stuff to do in a pinch. I tend to give a wide berth to those dirt-common tropical fruits down there, unless they have out some of their strwaberries, kiwis, or their most excellent grapefruit. You can keep my share of the papayas, mangos and pineapples.
Bolivian grapefruits are small by American standards, not much bigger than a medium-sized orange, but in my experience, they have ranged from very good to excellent. Their strawberries and kiwis are excellent as well. I don’t think they would know an apple, pear or cherry if it ran up and bit them in the ass. Never seen any peaches, either.
I HATE sitting at work, and so I usually work in a more active position.
I also have the metabolism of a hummingbird, still, at age 37.
My wife doesn’t, and so I really do need to be more careful with what we have available at arms length.
I could literally eat and drink from dusk til’ dawn, and I pretty much do.
My body doesn’t like it when I eat large meals in one sitting anymore.
@ Mike C.:
I’m not a big pineapple fan, either.
My first exposure to pineapple was as a child with the canned variety, and I found the texture to be so appalling that I can’t eat pineapple now without that twinge.
Same goes for celery, except in that instance I had a textural problem when it was cooked.
I’ve pretty much figured that most of the foods that I’m averse to have almost nothing to do with taste and everything to do with texture.
@ Bumr50:
Oh, I don’t mind pineapple -- just don’t want it for breakfast. A grilled pineapple slice goes great with a grilled ham steak and sweet potatos, and the wife makes a pineapple salsa (I grill the pineapple slices) that is excellent on a chicken or turkey burger.
@ Mike C.:
OTOH, papaya is pretty much useless and mango anything gives me the trots…
@ Mike C.:
Grilled, on a burger, with the right basting sauce is most definitely an acceptable form of pineapple in my book.
The salsa, not so much.
I’m pretty much in the ‘brookly red’ club when it comes to pineapple on pizza, and I guess I subconsciously put salsa in the same category.
I had an olive and garlic salsa a few weeks back that was most excellent, but it was of the bottled variety.
The local grocery chain Giant Eagle has been selling fresh salsa for a little while now, and it is actually most excellent in terms of freshness and flavor balance, IMHO. I believe I saw corn & black bean the last go-round there, and I’m probably gonna give it a whirl.
@ coldwarrior:
Are you finally off shift, or did I miss a couple of days?
Salt can be as bad for your teeth as sugar.
@ Guggi:
I’m tired of teeth.
All of this “whitening” has gone too far!
Pineapple on pizza is an abomination.
Well, 25 minutes to go before my ride to the airport is here, and then it’s the long slog back to work. Ugh. Work is definitely the curse of the drinking class…
Good morning . Three more days until the Melee In Miami.
Norte Dame vs Alabama!
Bumr50 wrote:
chillin wit da crumbcrunchers today
Bumr50 wrote:
It’s not about whitening but about caries and enamel. Salt is as much “poison” for your teeth as sugar is.
@ Mike C.:
Have a pleasant journey.
I do meditation before and during travel.
From ‘Breitbart’
- ‘John Wilkes Booth could be a poster child for Tea Party’ (Killing Lincoln producer)
- Former NY City mayoral candidate compares gun owners to child molesters
- ‘Plugs’ ‘guarantees’ Boston mayor massive gun control this month
- Vanity Fair ‘Eliminate the 2nd Amendment’
@ coldwarrior:
Crunch some crumbs for me!
I have a chicken-egg question. I heard a report the other day that researchers are seeing evidence that makes them wonder if the bacteria in the gut is contributing to obesity. My question is Does sugar alter the gut flora?
Also, none of these studies account for personal differences in metabolism.
Hey CW,
Man you stepped in it today;)
So as a lifetime overweight member of the 101st Keyboard brigade, my skinny-assed marathon running cardiologist told me awhile back to get off the artificial sweeteners. Now I like that big cup of coffe in the morning but now it is sweetened with sugar instead of Equal. Is there anyway (or anything) to get with the program to cut down on fructose or is it usual grind of will power?
I think I know what the answer is going to be but I just thought I ask anyway since I really am not in tune with ever-changing nutritional science landscape.
unclassifiable wrote:
Eat this!
Wait…
Don’t eat that!
//
Mike C. wrote:
Dude, you need a good Hawaiian papaya from the Big Island not those crappy Bolivian ones.
A fresh Hawaiian papaya and some Kona coffee for breakfast? Heaven on earth!
@ Bumr50:
Being overweight can shorten your life, right?
Wait! Now they say that overweight people live longer.
Charles Johnson celebrates with a pound bag of gourmet
Cheetos.
@ Bumr50:
I am almost sure that one day I am going to see a study that the number one cause of death is living.
@ unclassifiable:
the human body can process animal and plant fats, it cannot process ‘shortening’ (hydrogenated), same with butter v margarine crap
the human body can process sugars, it cannot process the artificial sweeteners. (chem lab)
i always try to eat ‘natural’ foods, like if i make something that calls for shortening i use lard. i told my doc there is no way in hell that i will vever eat margarine, ever.
an eminent cardiologist once told me:
more calories in than get burned..weight goes up
less calories in than get burned..weight goes down
exercise is good for you / smoking will kill you
take an aspirin and manage your cholesterol and blood pressure.
RIX wrote:
slightly overweight, not cj overweight
All this talk if food is killing me, peeps. I’m ” in hospital” as the Brits say
and am on an IV diet. I starting to hallucinate about food.
The Osprey wrote:
ummm…why the IV?
@ The Osprey:
Man, that sucks.
Get well soon!!
@ coldwarrior:
Thank you sir.
That is kinda what I thought (i.e. common sense -- burn more energy and don’t eat or ingest cr*p).
You know the longer I live the more I find out that old persistent knowledge is the best.
As usual, the issue is execution.
Maybe if I walk to the Kolache store instead of drive that might be better:)
Later folks.
@ coldwarrior:
I’ve got an abscessed diverticulum. They are trying to kill the infection with the IV anti bio, and they are giving me
sustenance thru IV so GI tract can rest.
The Osprey wrote:
Osprey! What’s wrong?
@ coldwarrior:
True ,they did make a distinction between overweight
and morbid obesity.
But Charlie is nothing if not delusional, so he probably
views himself as just a full figured guy.
unclassifiable wrote:
Kolache store? Would that be the famous Czech Stop in West, Texas?
The Osprey wrote:
How does that even HAPPEN?
The Osprey wrote:
that is straight up nasty right there!
@ eaglesoars:
See #33.
Hey, cW do you know the answer to my #21?
@ The Osprey:
I had a relatively mild case of diverticulitis earlier this year.
Missed a couple weeks of work.
Prayers for you.
@ eaglesoars:
anything that goes into the gut alters the flora.
eaglesoars wrote:
Shit gets stuck in diverticular pocket, infected, pus happens.
I’m sure CW could give us all a more med techie explanation
Bumr50 wrote:
@ Bumr50:
Thanks!
Jihad in America: The Grand Deception.
The Osprey wrote:
throw sepsis in just before puss and ya pretty much got it.
The Osprey wrote:
Ugh. I think I could do without it. I hope you’re better soon (and not in any pain)
{Osprey}
eaglesoars wrote:
This can cause extreme gut pain. But they’ve been giving me the good pain drugs
so I can sleep and the antibiotics have helped a lot.
@ coldwarrior:
Oh, well.
WTF is a BBVA Compass Bowl anyway?
Bumr50 wrote:
I don’t know but I can tell you the name of Chucky’s favorite college bowl game…
THE FRITO-LAY CHEETOS BOWL! Live, from Culver City!
I have proven this to myself quite inadvertantly. Last summer when I tore my meniscus (while in physical therapy for other body parts!), I thought I’d treat myself to a fruity, sugary drink while I recovered from surgery and multiple complications. Big mistake. i enjoyed the strawberry/kiwi flavor but the more i drank it, the more thirsty i became. I swelled up like a water balloon! never again. Straight up water for me.
four more years of this crap….I really dislike these trashy people, they are an insult to everybody, even their supporters
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/nilegardiner/100196479/barack-obamas-7-million-hawaii-vacation-is-an-insult-to-americas-struggling-middle-class/
random reactions to the food comments:
i love pineapple. but only if it’s fresh and ripe.
regarding texture, i despise mushrooms. they are slimey. they’re fungus for crying out loud! who would want to eat a fungus!
and i have recently become lactose intolerant. that sucks.
i think i like the word galactose. sounds like a space age sugar.
The History Channel is going to show a new miniseries called The Bible. I do hope they are ready for about a billion critics giving them a meticulous anal exam. If they thought we purists were sticklers for detail in comparing the books and movies of The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, they haven’t seen anything yet.
heysoos wrote:
but it was the struggling middle class who helped re-elect the thoughtless, greedy, cretin who thinks he’s royalty. they don’t seem to have a problem with this concept of spending 40% above our annual income on lavish vacations because that’s exactly how they live too. they’re going to have to pay for it now. unfortunately, we are going to have to pay for as well.
Kirly wrote:
From “touched by and Angel” and “The Survivor” people? You guys are doomed.
heysoos wrote:
The comments over there are pretty scathing………
@ eaglesoars:
from the article
these are the same people who incessantly wail about how CEOs make so more than the “workers”. damn communists.
@ Kirly:
right, it’s the principle…these assholes have no style, no taste other than their fake regal attitude…AmIdol all the way
D,oh!
Kirly wrote:
Yeah, but just think -- with all the new taxes the ‘income inequality gap’ will be narrowed considerably!!
Krugman should be thrilled………..
Psycho Kilter, qu’est-ce que c’est?
I want it.
@ The Osprey:
Unfortunately, no. And good luck on your treatment. I got one of those multiple diagnosis (IBS, diverticulitis, various intestinal spasm things). I never got to the state you are in and I wish you a quick and full recovery.
As for me I finally went back to my straight shooter GP who said it was all stress related. Funny enough that had a calming effect and I have been OK ever since.
Bumr50 wrote:
typical damn leftists! they’re probably happy about how these light bulbs will kill humans but “save” the earth. i will not have one in my house -- eco-friendly light bulbs OR leftists. i swear, i will use freaking candles before i’ll use those damn light bulbs.
@ heysoos:
Most of the Obama voters saw the new taxes on the evil 1%,
or anybody but them.
If you rob Peter to pay Paul, Paul will never complain.
But the math doesn’t work. In order for Obama tom transform
the nation into his vision of a Socialist Utopia, he has to
raid & destroy the Middle Class.
@ heysoos:
Well you see this is all part of the social justice thing because this is the way Obama thought white presidents conducted themselves so this is just a “it’s our turn” moment.
Got to admit this is pretty clever because even if you supporters are suffering, they can get their social justice living vicariously through his extravagance.
unclassifiable wrote:
regarding IBS…i have heard that a gluten free diet helps. what do people think?
No surprise.
@ RIX:
so, are the people who decided to publish the map to registered gun owners homes stupid or evil? i say a little bit of both.
also, this illustrates exactly why no registration scheme is ever acceptable.
Kirly wrote:
My experience has only been with my dog. There is a difference between Inflammatory Bowel SYNDROME and Inflammatory Bowel DISEASE. Celiac disease is an auto immune disorder than manifests as an intolerance for gluten. There has been some research indicating genetic similarities between celiac and IBD.
I can also tell you that IBD -- al least in dogs -- requires a LOW FIBER diet. We had started her on a high-fiber and green bean diet to help Molly lose weight. It nearly killed her and that is not hyperbole.
i’m sure we all heard about the low-information voter who posted at DU wondering why its paycheck decreased in size. it actually said “what happened that my SS withholdings in my paycheck just went up”. what a moron! here’s a link to a screen cap since the coward deleted the statement after being featured as an example of teh stupid on rush limbaugh yesterday: http://thehayride.com/2013/01/silver-linings-reality-comes-to-low-information-voters/
@ eaglesoars:
wow. your poor dog!
i know there are differences in all those conditions. i was just wondering if people thought the gluten free helped with IBD and such. my aunt/adopted mother had celiacs so i became very familiar with gluten free products.
Kirly wrote:
I agree. They are evil because they think their position is morally superior and that said superiority gives them the right -- nay, -- the obligation - to destroy those they consider outside the pale.
And that self-certainty is what makes them stupid.
Bumr50 wrote:
When I’m travelling, my thoughts tend to turn mostly to murder and mayhem. So I just try to avoid greasy foods and sleep as much as possible. I had a bowl of chicken noodle soup and hope to get on the plane without attempting to kill anybody. Didn’t have to go through the nudie picture machine at security, though.
Kirly wrote:
It can’t hurt, especially given the genetic link between the two diseases. Altho we were never advised to restrict Molly’s diet in that regard, I’ve never given her food w/grain of any kind so that wasn’t an issue. Now, tho’, since her liver cancer diagnosis, her oncologist said to put her on the ‘jelly donut’ diet, aka ‘if they will eat it, you will feed it’ because the appetite gets really iffy.
She has found out she LOVES plain donuts! Hasn’t exacerbated her IBD at all.
@ Mike C.:
where are you going this time?
@ eaglesoars:
oh no. liver cancer. that’s what took my Sockies when she was only 12. her appetite did fade. i would crush kitty-treats so she didn’t have to work very hard to chew them. that and the water from the tuna can was all she wanted for months. all my kitties are gone now. i miss them. but i don’t want to get any more. with the economy so crazy, you never know when you’ll get laid off and how long you’ll be off work and it would devastate me to make one of the precious critters go without some necessary health care or something.
The people at that news paper had to know that there would be negative consequences.
Now they want to do more
They are just part of the media wing of the Obama Movement.
Kirly wrote:
Molly will be our last pet. We are too devestated to go thru a loss like this again -- and too old. BUT. She is getting the best possible care and will leave us having been the most spoiled dog in the history of dogdom.
@ eaglesoars:
sounds exactly like all my kitties. the best possible medical care available. the best food too. and loved and pampered all their days.
@ Kirly:
DO, please, think about fiber, tho, not just gluten.
RIX wrote:
Dude, their is a reason I put TREASONOUS in Fifth Column
Treasonous Media.