Fitness

The sources of sugar and starch in our American diet are cheap and overabundant; proteins are expensive and scarce. Typical American breakfasts, therefore, consist of fruit or juice supplying natural sugar; cereals, hotcakes, waffies, coffee cake, toast, or other starch quickly changed into sugar during digestion; usually refined sugar is added to cereal and coffee; jam or jelly may be eaten; quantities of sugar pour rapidly into the blood. In a matter of minutes the blood sugar may increase from 80 to 155 milligrams. Any rapid increase stimulates the healthy pancreas into pouring forth insulin; the insulin, in turn, causes the liver and muscles to withdraw sugar and store it as a form of starch, or glycogen, or change it into fat, thus preventing it from being lost in the urine. As the digestion of a high-carbohydrate meal continues, however, sugar keeps pouring into the blood. In effect, it calls to the pancreas, “Send more insulin! More! More!” The pancreas obeys; it is overstimulated; because of its efficiency, it sends too much. The tremendous amounts of sugar defeat the purpose for which sugar is needed: to produce energy efficiently. Too much sugar is withdrawn due to the oversupply of insulin; the result, ironically, is fatigue. The more carbohydrate eaten, the greater the insulin oversupply. For example, in the studies mentioned, the largest amount of sugar was freed during the digestion of the breakfast containing oatmeal.

When three high-carbohydrate meals are eaten daily, the pancreas becomes over-efficient, or trigger-happy; too much insulin is produced too quickly. Persons eating such meals often produce actual insulin shock in themselves. This fact is emphasized by a diabetic specialist 3 who observed insulinshock symptoms among ills non-diabetic patients. Since American meals are largely carbohydrate, self-produced insulin shock is probably much more common than is realized. The same symptoms, however, can occur whenever the blood sugar drops far below normal because no food has been eaten and/or because exercise has used up the available sugar.

The cells can store only a little glycogen; any remaining sugar is changed into fat. After digestion is completed, however, the only normal source of sugar is stored glycogen, which is broken down into sugar again; this sugar is soon used up, especially if vigorous exercise is taken. Most of the cells then bum fat alone to supply energy, but fat is not burned efficiently without sugar; it leaves “clinkers” or “ashes” in the form of acetone and two acids, all somewhat harmful to the body. Energy ebbs, and damage is done by the acids. The brain and nerves, however, must have sugar to sustain life; the adrenals send out cortisone, and cells are destroyed so that their protein can be converted in part to sugar. Bad eating habits thus force the nervous system to become a parasite, living off other body tissues. If you allow this destruction to happen often, you will not like the sags and bags you see in your mirror.

On the other hand, if breakfast has supplied a small amount of sugar and fat and moderate protein, digestion takes place slowly; sugar trickles into the blood, givmg a sustained pickup hour after hour. Insulin production is not overstimuIated. Glycogen storage proceeds normally; no hated fat is formed. Energy urges the body into activity; warmth is produced as needed, or the cooling system functions with equal efficiency if the weather is hot.

Proteins are measured in grams. For example, an egg supplies 6 grams of protein; a quart of whole milk, 32 grams (see table, pp. 32-3). In the studies mentioned, efficiency for three hours after a meal was produced only when 22 grams or more of protein were obtained. The meal furnishing 55 grams of protein sustained a high level of energy and a high metabolism for six hours afterward. It now appears that the more protein eaten at any meal, the greater is the efficiency and the longer it is maintained. Lunches and dinners must also supply high protein with some fat and carbohydrate if well-being is to be sustained for hours after the meals. Further studies show that blood sugar levels are lower during hot weather, when little protein is eaten, than in winter, when sharp winds whet the appetite.

Another means of maintaining a high blood sugar level, now studied extensively, is to eat between meals. The objections to this procedure are that nutritious foods are frequently unavailable and non-nutritious ones too readily available. Also people often gain too much. The mid-meals’ found most effective 4 contain protein, fat, and carbohydrate; of mid-meals studied so far, a glass of whole milk with 100 calories of fresh fruit has produced the greatest efficiency.