Have you ever heard of a no-carb diet? I know of some people who partake in such a practice. I would not, however. One reason being that sugars are carbs. Glucose is a sugar, and in fact, the only substance your brain can metabolize.
That leads me to the interesting topic of just how important glucose is to your body. It is actually very important to all vertebrate neurons. It provides them with almost all their energy. It is also suspected that glucose deprivation in children can cause issues in the development of their nervous system. Not only that, but glucose allows the testes to produce sperm. So without glucose, your body is being limited with it’s supply of important energy and material for many cells.
Now, the reason glucose is so important to your brain is not that the cells are incapable of digesting the sugar. It is actually due to the fact that glucose is one of the very few substances that can actually pass through the blood-brain barrier. A cell cannot metabolize what it is not presented with.
As I stated earlier in terms of the no-carb diets, I would not partake in that diet myself, however those who do are not doomed. The liver is able to produce glucose from substances such as carbohydrates (which ones on such diets would not be provided with) and amino acids. Many of those on such diets do take supplements including amino acids, so while the glucose may not be plentiful, it can be enough for one on a no carb diet.
Unfortunately,
I did not find the best video on this topic but here is one.
Enjoy and don't forget, glucose isn't always as horrible as people make it out to be. http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/nutr.html
Is there a "right" amount of glucose that the body needs? Can you have too much glucose? In the site it said that children can develop mental illnesses, but since adults are already developed, can a lack of glucose cause them to develop mental illnesses as well? I like that the video explains this topic and how the glucose affects the body. But I'm curious, what will happen to an adult who is on a no carb diet and doesn't get enough glucose from the liver?
ReplyDeleteI don't think I would ever go on a no carb diet but never say never right. So in my understanding it's okay if you don't have enough glucose as long as you have amino acid which the liver produces, right?
ReplyDeleteA no carbohydrate diet would be hard to do. The body, as you said, needs glucose and if it is not able to undergo glycolysis and the citric acid cycle, it will resort to making ketone bodies as an alternative fuel source. An abundance of ketone bodies though can lead to ketosis, which can be fatal.
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