Got the test...

[historyteach]

We were talking about alternatives to medications here on the MH forum.
And one of the threads, started by SoozieQ, got into some really good nutritional information. Here it is:
http://www.soberrecovery.com/forums/...ted-doing.html (want to know what the non-medicated are doing)
So, yesterday, I had the 4 hour functional/reactive hypoglycemia test. OY! My arms are black and blue! Eight blood tests in 4 hours!

They are going to get the results by tomorrow. I can't wait to see what they are!

I had to drink this terrible sugary drink. See, I don't use any sugar at all, so, this was really horrid!!!
Thankfully, I had to drink it quickly. LOL! They gave me water to wash it down.

The blood tests measures how my body metabolizes it. And the tests will show if my blood sugar spikes, (expected after the drink), and then goes too low, causing dizziness, foggy brain, confusion, anxiety, depression and other mental health symptoms that are now erroneously treated with medication, instead of better nutrition!

These conditions are brought about today with our diets. Processed foods; high carbohydrates of the wrong kind -- especially refined white breads and such, high fats of the wrong kind, and alcohol and tobacco consumption. All of these things contribute to our maladies.

It's no wonder there's been an explosion of mental health problems since the mid point of last century. That's when processed foods became widely available to the new subburban housewife! I think there's a call for an historical psychiatriac study of this phenonom, honestly.

Anyway, I'll let you know what I find out. And I thought you'd be interested in the fact that I followed through with this lead. I'm really interested in finding out if my anxiety is a result of nutritional issues rather than just internal imbalances. :>)

Shalom!

[PaperDolls]

Originally Posted by historyteach

I'm really interested in finding out if my anxiety is a result of nutritional issues rather than just internal imbalances. :>)

Shalom!

I'm interested for sure.
Hope you find some good info.
Keep us posted.

[historyteach]

Thanks, PD...
I will keep you up to date!

I hope SoozieQ comes back, too, cuz, she's the one that got me started on all this!

Shalom!

[PaperDolls]

The only thing for me is I don't think I could ever give up coffee or diet coke.
Or sugar for that matter. Yikes.

SoozieQ: Get back here sistah!

[historyteach]

PD,
Sugar is a MAJOR culprit!

Shalom!

[PaperDolls]

well......I'm a culprit magnet!

[historyteach]

Ok, I got the results.....
And I am *not* hypoglycemic...
That's both good and bad news.

It's good news cuz I do not have a metabolic disorder. :>)
It's bad news cuz, my high blood sugar is all on me.
It's all about what I'm eating and drinking. And how much of each I'm doing.
Which means, I've got some more lifestyle changing to do.

More modifcation of my diet is the first step.
Gone is the pasta I love.
Burgers, fries, onion rings, pizza, and the occasional ice cream or candy bar.
And no more chinese buffet! OY!!! Shuchi and crab legs.... good bye my friends....
And forget my beloved fried clams...no more.

I already eat whole wheat or 7-12 grain bread.
I have to eat smaller meals, more often; like 5 times a day she said. OY!
More protein and fruits and veggies.
I've been trying with the fruits and veggies.
And my garden makes it easier; the tomatoes are starting to come in. The lettuce has been in for quite some time; the broccoli too. :>)~
But, it's going to be hard.

I don't use any sugar. But, I like to go out. It's about the only thing I do for myself. And the places I go do not serve the most healthy foods, if you get my drift, LOL!
Guess you could tell by the list I said good by to, huh?

Anyway, the test results said my fasting glucose was high; it was 118, and should be 99 or lower. Each point is big, so, it's a meaningful difference. Not diabetic, but, high.

It takes my body too long to process the sugar. That means I'm in early insulin resistance. After the sugary drink, I spiked at 185. At 1 1/2 hours, it went up to 195. No wonder I felt so sick! Yuck!

At the two hour mark, my blood sugar was 166. It should have been less than 140. There's where it showed I was insulin resistent. But, by 2 1/2 hours, I was aat 143 and then quickly dropped down to acceptable numbers.

One interesting note, though. I bummed a cigarette during the last 1/2 hour. Prior to the last reading, my blood sugar was 82. After the cigarette, my sugar reading was 88! Yes, cigarettes effect our blood sugar!!! The tobacco is cured with three different types of sugar, and we ingest it when we smoke them!

Anyway, if I do not take care of these issues now, I will become a diabetic. The only way to take care of it is with diet and exercise. It's all in my hands. There's no excuse; there's no metabolic disorder to blame. It's all about my choices. So, it's up to me to make better choices.

All in all, my doc said that my readings were "much better" than they were when we first started looking at my weight, over a year ago. And I have lost about 35 pounds since then. My clothes fit better. I've gotten into a dress that I bought years ago, and was never able to wear, but, was *determined* to wear, cuz I loved it so much! LOL! It's a very classic design, so, it doesn't go out of style. LOL!

I still have about 30 pounds more to loose in order to look good and to be *fit.* I had lost 3 more pounds. But, I've had alot of stress with an alcoholic neighbor. I actually had to get a restraining order against her! And, unfortunately, I'm a stress eater. So, I gained that three pounds back. But, no more than that. I'm made at myself, but, I hope I've caught myself on time. We go to court tomorrow, so, this should be the end of her harrassment and threats. And, hopefully, I can begin to enjoy my summer, before it's over.

Anyway, no hypoglycemia. Lots learned. And I'm responsible.
Guess it took an awfull lot of words to say those three facts, huh?
Thanks for listening....

And SoozieQ, if you're around, I'd love to hear from you!!!!

Shalom!

[PaperDolls]

All in all, sounds like good news to me.

[pedagogue]

Not all sugar is created equal. Sugar in and of itself is not a problem, but how and what kinds is where we get in trouble. One of the major culprits is HFCS....high-fructose corn syrup. It is in a majority of processed foods and is one of the things that nutritionists look out for because of the differences in not only how it is processed, but what that means to your body short/long term.

I googled a quick article on it, and although a bit wordy....there is some good info in it. I bolded a few things that may be worth checking out. This isn't medical or nutritional advice for you, but instead some general information about how HFCS can effect metabolism and related areas.

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The Double Danger of High Fructose Corn Syrup

By Bill Sanda, BS, MBA

For many years, Dr. Meira Fields and her coworkers at the US Department of Agriculture investigated the harmful effects of dietary sugar on rats. They discovered that when male rats are fed a diet deficient in copper, with sucrose as the carbohydrate, they develop severe pathologies of vital organs. Liver, heart and testes exhibit extreme swelling, while the pancreas atrophies, invariably leading to death of the rats before maturity.

Sucrose is a disaccharide composed of 50 percent glucose and 50 percent fructose. Dr. Fields repeated her experiments to determine whether it was the glucose or fructose moiety that caused the harmful effects. Starch breaks down into glucose when digested. On a copper-deficient diet, the male rats showed some signs of copper deficiency, but not the gross abnormalities of vital organs that occur in rats on the sucrose diet. When the rats were fed fructose, the fatal organ abnormalities occured.

Lysl oxidase is a copper-dependent enzyme that participates in the formation of collagen and elastin. Fructose seems to interfere with copper metabolism to such an extent that collagen and elastin cannot form in growing animals--hence the hypertrophy of the heart and liver in young males. The females did not develop these abnormalities, but they resorbed their litters.1

These experiements should give us pause when we consider the great increase in the use of high fructose corn syrup during the past 30 years, particularly in soft drinks, fruit juices and other beverages aimed at growing children, children increasingly likely to be copper deficient as modern parents no longer serve liver to their families. (Liver is by far the best source of copper in human diets.)

"The bodies of the children I see today are mush," observed a concerned chiropractor recently. The culprit is the modern diet, high in fructose and low in copper-containing foods, resulting in inadequate formation of elastin and collagen--the sinews that hold the body together.

BINGEING ON FRUCTOSE
Until the 1970s most of the sugar we ate came from sucrose derived from sugar beets or sugar cane. Then sugar from corn--corn syrup, fructose, dextrose, dextrine and especially high fructose corn syrup (HFCS)--began to gain popularity as a sweetener because it was much less expensive to produce. High fructose corn syrup can be manipulated to contain equal amounts of fructose and glucose, or up to 80 percent fructose and 20 percent glucose.2 Thus, with almost twice the fructose, HFCS delivers a double danger compared to sugar.

(With regards to fruit, the ratio is usually 50 percent glucose and 50 percent fructose, but most commercial fruit juices have HFCS added. Fruit contains fiber which slows down the metabolism of fructose and other sugars, but the fructose in HFCS is absorbed very quickly.)

In 1980 the average person ate 39 pounds of fructose and 84 pounds of sucrose. In 1994 the average person ate 66 pounds of sucrose and 83 pounds of fructose, providing 19 percent of total caloric energy.3 Today approximately 25 percent of our average caloric intake comes from sugars, with the larger fraction as fructose.

High fructose corn syrup is extremely soluble and mixes well in many foods. It is cheap to produce, sweet and easy to store. It’s used in everything from bread to pasta sauces to bacon to beer as well as in "health products" like protein bars and "natural" sodas.4

FRUCTOSE FOR DIABETICS?
In the past, fructose was considered beneficial to diabetics because it is absorbed only 40 percent as quickly as glucose and causes only a modest rise in blood sugar.5 However, research on other hormonal factors suggests that fructose actually promotes disease more readily than glucose. Glucose is metabolized in every cell in the body but all fructose must be metabolized in the liver.6 The livers of test animals fed large amounts of fructose develop fatty deposits and cirrhosis, similar to problems that develop in the livers of alcoholics.

Pure fructose contains no enzymes, vitamins or minerals and robs the body of its micronutrient treasures in order to assimilate itself for physiological use.7 While naturally occurring sugars, as well as sucrose, contain fructose bound to other sugars, high fructose corn syrup contains a good deal of "free" or unbound fructose. Research indicates that this free fructose interferes with the heart’s use of key minerals like magnesium, copper and chromium. Among other consequences, HFCS has been implicated in elevated blood cholesterol levels and the creation of blood clots. It has been found to inhibit the action of white blood cells so that they are unable to defend the body against harmful foreign invaders.8

Studies on the Maillard reaction indicate that fructose may contribute to diabetic complications more readily than glucose. The Maillard reaction is a browning reaction that occurs when compounds are exposed to various sugars. Fructose browns food seven times faster than glucose, resulting in a decrease in protein quality and a toxicity of protein in the body.9 This is due to the loss of amino acid residues and decreased protein digestibility. Maillard products can inhibit the uptake and metabolism of free amino acids and other nutrients such as zinc, and some advanced Maillard products have mutagenic and/or carcinogenic properties. The Maillard reactions between proteins and fructose, glucose, and other sugars may play a role in aging and in some clinical complications of diabetes.10

Fructose reduces the affinity of insulin for its receptor, which is the hallmark of type-2 diabetes. This is the first step for glucose to enter a cell and be metabolized. As a result, the body needs to pump out more insulin to handle the same amount of glucose.21

OTHER EFFECTS

Nancy Appleton, PhD, clinical nutritionist, has compiled a list of the harmful effects of fructose in her books Lick the Sugar Habit, Healthy Bones, Heal Yourself With Natural Foods, The Curse Of Louis Pasteur and Lick the Sugar Habit Sugar Counter. She points out that consumption of fructose causes a significant increase in the concentration of uric acid; after ingestion of glucose, no significant change occurs. An increase in uric acid can be an indicator of heart disease.12 Furthermore, fructose ingestion in humans results in increases in blood lactic acid, especially in patients with preexisting acidotic conditions such as diabetes, postoperative stress or uremia. Extreme elevations cause metabolic acidosis and can result in death.13

Fructose is absorbed primarily in the jejunum before metabolism in the liver. Fructose is converted to fatty acids by the liver at a greater rate than is glucose.14 When consumed in excess of dietary glucose, the liver cannot convert all of the excess fructose in the system and it may be malabsorbed. The portion that escapes conversion may be thrown out in the urine. Diarrhea can be a consequence.19 A study of 25 patients with functional bowel disease showed that pronounced gastrointestinal distress may be provoked by malabsorption of small amounts of fructose.26

Fructose interacts with oral contraceptives and elevates insulin levels in women on "the pill."17

In studies with rats, fructose consistently produces higher kidney calcium concentrations than glucose. Fructose generally induces greater urinary concentrations of phosphorus and magnesium and lowered urinary pH compared with glucose.18

In humans, fructose feeding leads to mineral losses, especially higher fecal excretions of iron and magnesium, than did subjects fed sucrose. Iron, magnesium, calcium, and zinc balances tended to be more negative during the fructose-feeding period as compared to balances during the sucrose-feeding period.19

There is significant evidence that high sucrose diets may alter intracellular metabolism, which in turn facilitates accelerated aging through oxidative damage. Scientists found that the rats given fructose had more undesirable cross-linking changes in the collagen of their skin than in the other groups. These changes are also thought to be markers for aging. The scientists say that it is the fructose molecule in the sucrose, not the glucose, that plays the larger part.20

Because it is metabolized by the liver, fructose does not cause the pancreas to release insulin the way it normally does. Fructose converts to fat more than any other sugar. This may be one of the reasons Americans continue to get fatter. Fructose raises serum triglycerides significantly. As a left-handed sugar, fructose digestion is very low. For complete internal conversion of fructose into glucose and acetates, it must rob ATP energy stores from the liver.21

Not only does fructose have more damaging effects in the presence of copper deficiency, fructose also inhibits copper metabolism--another example of the sweeteners double-whammy effect. A deficiency in copper leads to bone fragility, anemia, defects of the connective tissue, arteries, and bone, infertility, heart arrhythmias, high cholesterol levels, heart attacks, and an inability to control blood sugar levels.22

Although these studies were not designed to test the effects of fructose on weight gain, the observation of increased body weight associated with fructose ingestion is of interest. One explanation for this observation could be that fructose ingestion did not increase the production of two hormones, insulin and leptin, that have key roles in the long-term regulation of food intake and energy expenditure.23

HYPERSENSIVITY
The magnitude of the deleterious effects of fructose varies depending on such factors as age, sex, baseline glucose, insulin, triglyceride concentrations, the presence of insulin resistance, and the amount of dietary fructose consumed.24 Some people are more sensitive to fructose. They include hypertensive, hyperinsulinemic, hypertriglyceridemic, non-insulin dependent diabetic people, people with functional bowel disease and postmenopausal women.25

Everyone should avoid over-exposure to fructose, but especially those listed above. One or two pieces of fruit per day is fine, but commercial fruit juices and any products containing high fructose corn syrup aremore dangerous than sugar and should be removed from the diet.

REFERENCES

1. Fields, M, Proceedings of the Society of Experimental Biology and Medicine, 1984, 175:530-537.

2. Appleton, Nancy, PhD, Fructose is No Answer For a Sweetener, Fructose is No Answer For a Sweetener - Articles.

3. Beatrice Trum Hunter, Confusing Consumers About Sugar Intake, Consumer’s Research 78, no 1 (January 1995): 14-17.

4. Fallon, Sally and Mary Enig, Nourishing Traditions, New Trends Publishing, Washington DC, 2001, p. 23.

5. Hallfrisch, Judith, Metabolic Effects of Dietary Fructose, FASEB Journal 4 (June 1990): 2652-2660.

6. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, November 2002 Vol. 76, No. 5, 911-922.

7. Appleton, Nancy Ph.D., Fructose is No Answer For a Sweetener, Fructose is No Answer For a Sweetener - Articles.

8. High Fructose Corn Syrup.

9. H. F. Bunn and P. J. Higgins, Reaction of Nonosaccharides with Proteins; Possible Evolutionary Significance, Science 213 (1981):2222-2244.

10. William L Dills Jr., Protein Fructosylation: Fructose and the Maillard Reaction, American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 58 (suppl) (1993): 779S-787S.

11. Hunter.

12. J. MacDonald, Anne Keyser, and Deborah Pacy, Some Effects, in Man, of Varying the Load of Glucose, Sucrose, Fructose, or Sorbitol on Various Metabolites in Blood, American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 31 (August 1978)): 1305-1311.

13. Hallfrisch, Judith, Metabolic Effects of Dietary Fructose, FASEB Journal 4 (June 1990): 2652-2660.

14. D. Zakim and R. H. Herman, Fructose Metabolism II, American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 21: 315-319, 1968.

15. A. E. Bender and K. B. Damji, Some Effects of Dietary Sucrose, World Review of Nutrition and Dietetics 15 (1972): 104-155.

16. J. J. Rumessen and E. Gudmand-Hoyer, Functional Bowel Disease: Malabsorption and Abdominal Distress After Ingestion of Fructose, Sorbitol, and Fructose-Sorbitol Mixtures, Gastroenterology 95, no. 3 (September 1988): 694-700.

17. Hunter,Beatrice Trum,Confusing Consumers About Sugar Intake, Consumers’ Research 78, no 1 (January 1995): 14-17.

18. A. E. Bergstra, A. G. Lemmens, and A. C. Beynens, Dietary Fructose vs. Glucose Stimulates Nephrocalcinogenesis in Female Rats, Journal of Nutrition 123, no. 7 (July 1993): 1320-1327.

19. R. Ivaturi and C. Kies, Mineral Balances in Humans as Affected by Fructose, High Fructose Corn Syrup and Sucrose, Plant Foods for Human Nutrition 42, no. 2 (1992): 143-151.

20. Roger B. Mc Donald, Influence of Dietary Sucrose on Biological Aging, American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 62 (suppl), (1995): 284s-293s.

21. H. Hallfrisch, et al.,The Effects of Fructose on Blood Lipid Levels, American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 37: 5, 1983, 740-748.

22. Klevay, Leslie, Acting Director of the U.S. Agriculture Department’s Human Nutrition Research Center, Grand Forks, N.D.

23. Observation by Nancy Appleton, PhD.

24. Hollenbeck, Claire B., Dietary Fructose Effects on Lipoprotein Metabolism and Risk for Coronary Artery Disease, American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 58 (suppl), (1993): 800S-807S.

25. Appleton, Nancy Ph.D., Fructose is No Answer For a Sweetener, Fructose is No Answer For a Sweetener - Articles

SOURCE: The Double Danger of High Fructose Corn Syrup
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Sugar isn't bad, processed sugar is problematic though.

[historyteach]

Thanks, Ped!!!
I know I'm going to have to read this again.
I skimmed it quickly tonight; it's my bday...
But, I'll take a good look at it tomorrow and *digest* it for all it's worth.
This sounds really important.

Thank you again!

Shalom!

[anvilhead]

hey teach, i don't usually post here but i was very interested with the results of your blood work and your plan of action. first i am greatly relieved that there isn't something sinister or overly developed going on...ie. it's all fixable. that has to be a relief!!!

my other half runs a mean lean 140, he's 5'9", and probably has .6235 percent body fat. i swear while he's still eating, his body is already processing calories. what we have noticed with him is that he can only go so long without food before he gets what i've tagged as SQUIRRELLY. his blood sugars start go bonkers and the synapses in his brain don't napse worth a doodly darn.

stick a sandwich in his hand, or a big glass of juice, and wah lah, 20 minutes or so and he's back in business. i can't follow him around all day with a spare turkey sand if he needs one but we do our best to keep him WELL fed and without too lengthy a time in between.

we cook the majority of our meals - i can't recall the last time we went to a restaurant actually - oh wait, about 3 months ago with some friends for breakfast - and we have eliminated most processed foods - try to use products that resemble what they looked like when growing - obviously lots of protein for him - whole milk (i know, but he's from wisconsin, YOU try getting him to be in the same ROOM as 2%!) and i pack his lunch (dang near) every day. i'm also learning to pack my own (bit slow there). what we have noticed is if we do order take out and he grabs something from taco hell during the day, we feel like crap the next day. so we aren't even ordering pop's pizza anymore.

i guess the point of all this is that thru our own process of wanting to get healthy and well-er, we came to many of the same conclusions, only not as strict. we do dairy - i'm fiercely protective of CHEESE thank you - i trust butter more than margerine or that "other" stuff - we cook with olive oil, rarely FRY anything, during the summer lots of grilling, he's taken a liking to this one sourdough bread for his lunches, we like that Simply Orange juice and the V-8 fusion - we aren't much on fresh fruit but do ok with veggies, lots of salads.......he is the Noodle God

i realize i will never get a supermodel figure this way, but some things are a compromise. we are both healthier today than ever and i guess the best thing is it isn't a struggle, i don't jones when i pass mcdonalds etc, i'd RATHER eat my own food - we are both excellent cooks too, so that helps!!! make sure your diet is one you enjoy, that you PREFER, not something you are now doomed to do for the rest of your days....make the day kind of a moving feast, not like "oh goodie carrot sticks again, i may cry from sheer joy".

last note - for whatever reason i've always had really good blood work, blood pressure, all those vitals. damn blessed i guess. so i went into the doc recently for a check up, me being 48 now and getting over a nasty addiction etc. even the doc was blown away with my results....frickin textbook - even with the way we eat above as i mentioned. even tho i'm carrying a few extra pounds, my weight actually has stayed the same now for a good two years - nearing 50 and still perimenopausal that's a dang miracle in itself!!! which gets me back to ENJOY eating...i'm working (slowly) on a recipe collection cookbook with the title Food Is Love, Let the Feast Begin...

[historyteach]

Hey, thanks, Anvilhead, for the tips and your way of living.
I'm just getting over my birthday binge, lol!
Doc said I can blow it on my birth*day*; not my birth week!
Ok, I heard him!!!

Shalom!