Why Sugar Is Dangerous to Our Health

Dr. Sal [00:00:00]:

You know, we're really basically consuming 500 calories more per day than we did back 50 years ago, back in 1973. Welcome to the Health Quest Podcast, your guide to God's will for good health. Hello. My name is doctor Sal, and And I've been a practicing surgeon for well over 30 years, and my goal for each episode is that you'll be able to have your mind transformed to God's design for good health And the way you eat and the way you live. If you're new here, we release a new episode every week. And if you enjoy the content, would you please leave us Good review. It really helps our ratings and allows our show to reach out to more people, and in turn, we can help those individuals. So we thank you for your support.

Dr. Sal [00:00:58]:

And on today's Episode, we'll be talking about insulin resistance. So let's dive right on into today's health quest. Insulin resistance, metabolic syndrome or syndrome x, and type 2 diabetes. Well, how do we develop insulin resistance? What does insulin, first of all, do for us? Well, number 1, it lowers Our blood sugar levels, which is known as glucose. Glucose and sugar are pretty much interchangeable. So Number 1, it lowers our blood sugar levels. Number 2, insulin shuts down the liver from making more sugar, which is known as gluconeogenesis, which is the making of new sugar. So the liver so insulin shuts that liver down from making any more sugar, and it enhances the liver's fat production.

Dr. Sal [00:01:59]:

So what are the hallmarks of resistance? Well, number 1, insulin can't shut the liver down, and it increases sugar production and increases Does the blood glucose levels or the blood sugar levels? Number 2, the pancreas increases insulin production in the beginning, which within time, the Pancreas is compromised and then cannot produce any more insulin, and this is how we end up with type 2 diabetes. And number 3, resistance Since in the liver does not affect fat production. So even though, insulin is resistant At the level of the liver, because over time, we've produced so much insulin, the liver starts to shut down. It does not affect fat production. So fat is continuously being produced, and we're gonna go over that in a minute here. So how does this happen? Well, number 1, it occurs by the type of foods that we eat. We keep pounding the idea that eating fast foods, processed foods in particular, is not good. And on top of that, How much of the food that we eat has an impact and starts to alter our body's biochemistry or the chemistry of the body and the physiology and the way the body naturally works.

Dr. Sal [00:03:13]:

So we're gonna talk about, sugars and carbs. Well, first of all, We weigh too many carbs in our society. And sucrose, which is basically table sugar so The sugar that you see on the table is made up of glucose and another sugar called fructose. So sucrose or table sugar has both glucose and and fructose in it. So let's talk about glucose. Well, glucose is the primary energy source for the whole body. Our muscles use it. Our brains use it.

Dr. Sal [00:03:49]:

And so anytime you consume anything that has glucose in it, 80% of that is gonna be used for energy. The remaining is stored as glycogen, which is a store is it's a sugar's, storage molecule. So sugar gets stored in the form of this glycogen, and it's used, for and it's And it's actually stored for later purposes when we need it. Now once the glycogen storages are full, the excess Sugar then gets converted to fat by the liver, and this is about 20% of the glucose that we, consume. But now let's talk about fructose. Fructose is another form of sugar, but it's not glucose. It's completely different, and the liver metabolizes, fructose completely different than glucose. In other words, where we talked about glucose getting into the bloodstream, we use it as a source of energy.

Dr. Sal [00:04:51]:

So the muscle and the brain will actually use glucose. Well, folks, a 100% of fructose actually gets metabolized in the liver, and fructose gets metabolized into what we call very low density lipoproteins. This is the worst kind of cholesterol that our bodies can actually have. So this fructose, this form of sugar, gets metabolized into to a very bad cholesterol. And this is called hepatic de novo lipogenesis. Now what does that mean? That's a fancy term meaning lipogenesis meaning the making of fat or new fat de novo by the liver. So the liver makes this new fat from the sugar. So A high carb diet actually primes this de novo lipogenesis or for the liver making extra fat, and it all comes from this fructose.

Dr. Sal [00:05:58]:

So About 50% of fructose ends up as fat. If your glycogen stores remember, glycogen is stored sugar. If those are Full, then practically a 100% of that fructose becomes fat. So in essence, you're not consuming carbs, you're consuming Fat. And your liver is now making free fatty acids and triglycerides, which are other forms of fat. And it's also producing excess sugar because now the insulin can't Shut it down. So what's happened there, folks, and the reason why I bring up fructose is because back in 1990 three. Our father, who art in Washington, actually gave permission to the food industry to go ahead and use high fructose corn syrup as a substitute for sweetener for sugar.

Dr. Sal [00:06:55]:

So as a kid growing up, when I had a 7 Up, if I had 1 or a Coke, it had real cane sugar in it. Ice cream had real sugar in it. Our cereals had real cane sugar in it. So by 1993, Because corn is subsidized by, Washington, what ends up happening is is we've got That's so much of it that we turned it into this high fructose corn syrup and now used it as a substitute. And, Mostly all your foods, including your soda pops in particular, your your breakfast cereals, your breads, your ice cream, all contain this Fructose or high fructose corn syrup, especially these, syrups that we use to we put on our pancakes or French toast. And, folks, as I said, you think it's a sugar, but once it gets into your body, your liver converts it into bad fats, and so it eventually gets stored. So what are some of the other problems with fructose? Well, number 1, It doesn't stimulate insulin secretion. So your pancreas that makes insulin and, you know, secretes it into the bloodstream to lower your blood sugar, doesn't have any receptors for fructose.

Dr. Sal [00:08:17]:

So even though fructose levels are rising in the blood, Your body's not stimulating insulin. Now insulin stops the production of sugar in the liver. Remember that. And insulin combined with leptin that we talked about in one of our previous podcast tells us that we're and to stop eating. So number 1, you're consuming this fructose and There's no insulin, and so, eventually, it gets converted into fat. And it doesn't to create the insulin so it doesn't give us a sensation that we're full, and your liver is continuously producing more sugar and more fat, especially with the, ingestion of, fructose. And then by not telling your body or your brain to shut off because we're full, Because leptin is not secreted, we now have all these added calories in our stomach, and we're not getting full. Number 2, it doesn't suppress ghrelin.

Dr. Sal [00:09:22]:

And ghrelin is a hunger hormone that comes from the stomach. Now if it doesn't suppress ghrelin and ghrelin is still being secreted and it's the hunger hormone, It's telling your brain that we're still hungry, and we need to cons and we need to continue to eat more. So we've added all these calories into Her stomach, which now is gonna get converted into fat, and our stomach, it's throwing our whole system off by saying we're not Full, and we need to continue to eat. So when you consume increased sucrose and fructose and continue with this, We end up with bad fats and that spells trouble. You now have an oversupply of bad Omega 6 fatty acids or what we call arachidonic acid. These are bad fats, and they serve as a great, for inflammatory mediators. Remember what we talked about before? This is a substrate which then gets converted into bad Inflammatory, products and causes inflammation in our body, and this is known as eicosinoids. And, You know? And this is just great because we're just adding more inflammation to the inflammation that we already have.

Dr. Sal [00:10:39]:

And, of course, this wreaks more havoc on our metabolic system. So we're consuming stuff, especially these bad fats, which now increases More inflammation, and that in turn creates more problems to our metabolic system such as insulin resistance. And this manifests as a serious breakdown of fat metabolism. Okay? So what are the dynamics? What is the breakdown of this? Well, we're producing these bad Fats. And one of them is free fatty acids, which now increases in the bloodstream. On top of that, it It increases triglycerides, which is a surrogate marker for what we call these long chain fatty acids that are in our in the muscle cells. So You'll go to the doctors, and one of the tests that they, test you for, especially when they're tested for cholesterol, is your HDLs, which are your good Cholesterol, your LDLs, which is your bad cholesterol, and your triglycerides. So increased free fatty acids and increased triglycerides Eventually, it's a marker for the types of fats that are deposited in the fat cells.

Dr. Sal [00:11:58]:

Now when fat gets into the fat cells, Wells, it's called intramyocellular lipid, which is lipotoxicity. So muscle cell All fat ends up causing this thing called lipotoxicity, toxicity of Fat being in the muscle or being in areas where it shouldn't be. Okay? Keep in mind that god created fat cells to Protect us from fat going into the wrong places. So fat needs to go into the fat cells. But when you have an excessive amount of fat cells Those that are overly, packed with too much fat, and they spill into back into the blood, and it can get stored to the fat. What's more, we consume fructose. The liver converts us into bad fats. This extra bad fats then get stored into the muscle causing problems.

Dr. Sal [00:12:53]:

Because eventually, when your fat cells get overloaded with too much fat, it starts to spill back into the bloodstream. Dream. So, again, we're consuming you know, we're really basically consuming 500 calories more per day than we did back 50 years ago, back in 1973. 500 extra calories per day. Now If you consume an extra 35 100 calories per day, you added a pound of weight to your body weight. So if you're eating an extra 500 calories per day more than you did back in 1973, at the end of the week, you will have put on a pound. So can you imagine after 52 weeks or 1 year, you're already 52 pounds overweight. So remember, God made the fat cells for a reason, but we don't have to fill them up with too much fat, and that's basically what we're basically trying to say here.

Dr. Sal [00:13:47]:

So when we can Assume too much of the wrong foods, the excess fat buildup in the muscle prevents the glucose transport system to function properly. So what ends up happening is as the sugar is circulating through your blood, it needs to get into the muscle for the muscle to use it as energy. Well, with excess fat buildup in the muscle cell, the transporters or the doors that allow sugar to enter into the muscle now become locked. They can't they can't Open up the sugarcane, get into the muscle, and at that point in time, the muscle has no way of producing energy. So then it starts to use, fat in excess. Now our pancreas tries to compensate, and it puts out more insulin. So we can't get we can't lower the blood sugar levels by the sugar getting into the muscle. The body recognizes this.

Dr. Sal [00:14:49]:

It tells the pancreas, hey. We gotta start putting out more insulin. So the beta cells in the pancreas that makes the insulin starts to put out more Insulin. But we're now insulin resistant at the levels of the muscle. But here's what ends up happening, folks. We talked about lipotoxicity, meaning that the fat buildup in the muscle cells where it doesn't belong now starts to affect The ability for the receptors to allow sugars to get into the muscle, but here's what happens. Excess fat now starts to build up in those cells in the pancreas that makes insulin. Okay? So we remember, lipotoxicity Obesity means excess fat accumulation in areas where it doesn't belong.

Dr. Sal [00:15:40]:

And over time, the pancreas now becomes functional, and it can't make insulin. So at first, insulin kept liver's ability to make sugar Under control, now with the resistance or no insulin production, it increases, sugar production. It also decreases the ability of the muscle to take in the sugar. And the liver increases sugar and fat production, and this is what results in metabolic syndrome where SYNGIMEX. It presents itself with abdominal obesity, increase in blood pressure or hypertension, increase in blood sugars, increase In blood triglycerides, low HDL, which is the a lower level of good cholesterol, and this all results in type to diabetes. And here we have a photo of what metabolic syndrome looks like. So Oh, what can we do? Number 1, again, we can go on a ketogenic diet, try to get into a ketogenic state either through Atkins diet or the ketogenic diet, Right? And then move into a paleo diet by increasing vegetables, nuts, no fruits in the beginning, But then you can have the only thing the only fruits that you can have, which are very low glycemic, are your berries, your strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries. And over time but eat them whole.

Dr. Sal [00:17:01]:

Don't don't make them into a juice. A juice takes the fiber out, and you need to have that fiber. Exercise also increases the insulin sensitivity, and you could also take supplements that we provide for you in once you subscribe to our Podcast will give you a whole list of supplements that you could take. Now taking the supplements isn't going to correct the problem. You have to change the way you eat. You have to start, implementing an exercise program. And with the supplements, you'll start to see how you start to Change your life. Get in alignment with god's will.

Dr. Sal [00:17:40]:

Do god's will, and you'll see Miracles happen in your life. With that, I'd like to thank you so much for watching our show. If you enjoyed this episode, be sure that you leave us a good review, And visit our website and social media accounts to connect with us more. And if you would like to see any of the sources of research, for this particular episode, it'll be available on our Go notes in description. Until next time. Have a great day, and god bless.