statistics have proven that some of the
biggest health challenges we face today
our problems brought on by metabolic
risk factors such as high blood pressure
cholesterol imbalances high fasting
blood sugar and obesity at the same time
history has proven that these issues
have only become significant problems in
the past 25 or so years what is it
that's prompting deadly diseases such as
diabetes Alzheimer's heart disease and
overall cognitive decline over this
period let's take a look at some
statistics pointed out by dr. Robert
Lustig in the past 25 years the average
Americans weight has increased a pound
per year resulting in a 25 pound total
this coincides with adding 200 to 300
calories per day to average nutritional
intake the fact that this huge increase
in nutritional intake does not correlate
with a large energy domain increase or
equal increase in energy output means
that the system that regulates this
ratio is not functioning properly on
average a diet that increased around 250
calories in the past 25 years would be
made up of an increase of 210 calories
from carbohydrates
and only 40 from fat which is equal to
about four grams of fat and a whopping
52 grams of carbohydrates from this we
can see that the huge increase in weight
gain and metabolic disease correlates
directly to a large increase in the
consumption of carbohydrates many of
which have been in the form of various
types of sugar sugars come in many forms
whether monosaccharides like glucose and
fructose or disaccharides like sucrose
all forms of sugar are in the category
of carbohydrates and are broken down to
produce energy for systems in the body
they are consumed in massive amounts all
over the globe without any consideration
or knowledge of the harmful effects
let's dive into what it is about the
excess amounts and metabolism of these
different types of sugars that is slowly
disrupting our metabolism and becoming a
detriment to our health one of the
biggest issues with excess consumption
of sugar is that there's a large
increase in sugar molecules binding to
proteins fat
and amino acids in a process called
glycation our DNA provides information
that strings together amino acids in two
unique three-dimensional proteins that
carry out specific tasks such as
regulating body processes guarding
against infection and making up the form
and shape of almost all structures
throughout the body these functions are
determined by the shape of the proteins
which is achieved through the folding of
its structure glycation or the process
of renegade sugars binding to proteins
results in the deformation of proteins
and becomes what is known as an AG II or
advanced glycation end product when
these proteins become misshapen through
glycation they not only become much less
functional but attached to other
proteins nearby and become a source of
increased free radicals leading to the
destruction of tissue and damage to DNA
now small amounts of glycation are
inevitable and increased slightly with
age but research has shown that
glycation is hugely amplified with
excess amounts of sugar intake and can
be associated with kidney and vascular
disease diabetes and overall cognitive
decline shockingly this glycation
process can be visibly noticeable and
can manifest as signs of early aging
when the proteins that make up the
structure of the skin become glycated
and misshapen by sugars skin sagging
wrinkles and loss of radiance occurs
we've talked about sugars as a whole but
let's break down a specific
monosaccharides that provides the sweet
taste of fruit which most people
consider a healthy choice fructose
fructose can be defined as a substrate
that upon ingestion is exclusively
metabolized in the liver and presents
chemical problems a description that
also defines the word poison
there are a variety of ways fructose
negatively affects metabolism and unlike
other carbohydrates all of these effects
originate in the liver where fructose is
broken down as a result of this liver or
hepatic metabolism fructose does not
trigger the normal response that other
carbohydrates do there is no immediate
rise in blood sugar therefore an insulin
response is not triggered and as a
result the hormone leptin which
communicates to the brain that nutrients
have been ingested is not produced
regardless of the calories ingested from
fructose feelings of hunger are never
satisfied and satiety can never be
reached this is why when soda is
ingested which is one of the biggest
providers of fructose in a Western diet
the calories are in addition to daily
caloric intake not in substitution for
other calories this along with the fact
that all sugars activate sweet receptors
that trigger dopamine production in the
brain makes it hard for anyone to avoid
these fructose sweetened beverages the
hepatic metabolism of fructose also
differs from glucose metabolism in its
byproducts through the process of
hepatic de novo lipogenesis over 30% of
fructose consumed is converted and
stored as fat in the liver in addition
during the conversion process
detrimental byproducts are produced such
as uric acid which is known as a key
factor in the development of a
life-threatening disease called gout
this production of uric acid also lowers
the production of endothelial nitric
oxide synthase which aids in the
production of nitric oxide a key factor
in keeping blood pressure regulated
not to mention fructose is 7 times more
likely to produce the advanced glycation
end-products
we previously discussed the consumption
of sugar can definitely be a tough habit
to break but it's a crucial turn to take
on the road to improved health for more
information and other information on low
carb ketogenic diets check out other
videos on the channel as always more
videos are on the way and feel free to
leave comments about what videos you
might like to see in the future until
next time keep going against the grain
you