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What are your thoughts on dextrose? Thinking of ordering some because I know how good my brain feels on sugar and I feel like its not getting enough a good bit of the time. Maybe this is why my brain seems to function on ketones (because it needs some fuel of some source).
I wonder if under normal circumstances my brain is not getting enough energy then when I go into light ketosis my brain feels somewhat better. But when I have plenty of sugar it feels really good. Problem for me with the sugar though is that shortly after upping the amount I start to gain a bit of weight, etc.Just the very fact that dextrose is made from corn and wheat would make me leery of it…
“Dextrose is a type of sugar that usually comes from corn or wheat. It is almost identical to glucose, which is the sugar found in the bloodstream. For that reason, it can be quickly used as a source of energy by the human body. Dextrose is often used in foods as an artificial sweetener or a preservative.”
“The body breaks down dextrose very quickly and will store any sugar that is not required as fat. Eating too much dextrose can lead to a buildup of fat, which can result in obesity.”
“Excess consumption of dextrose can also worsen depression, as well as acne and other skin conditions. It can also cause symptoms such as frequent urination, thirst, nausea and vomiting, shortness of breath, and stomach pain when eaten in excess.”
I hadn’t considered all of that. Good input, Cari. Have any ideas of pure forms of sugar? I recall you talking about how you would give your father milkshakes and it would do him tremendous good.
I’m wary of taking anything from WebMD at face value. For example-
“The body breaks down dextrose very quickly and will store any sugar that is not required as fat. Eating too much dextrose can lead to a buildup of fat, which can result in obesity.”
Well, any sugar can be converted to fat via Fatty Acid Synthase. But, it primarily is burned for energy and then stored as glycogen before being converted to fat, at least in a healthy organism. This is textbook biology, and the fact that WebMD skips right over glycogen storage leads me to believe that the author is either ignorant of basic biology, and/or pushing the standard “You eat too much and that’s the only reason you’re fat” propaganda, that’s been pushed for decades.
However, in overweight and obese individuals, there is apparently an overactivation of FAS, which is probably one of the mechanisms that leads to fat gain, and a lower feeling of energy. I think the proposed block in the Krebs Cycle by that 2003 Wlodek paper makes a lot of sense. After all, if overweight and obese people just had “too much stored energy,” they should be bouncing around like little kids, going to clubs and raging till 2am pretty much every night, running around outside every chance they get, not staying in and being “lazy.”
Pure glucose is usually used by diabetics that need to control their blood sugar. An old boss of mine had Type 1 Diabetes, and he would use glucose tablets after injecting insulin, so it didn’t go too low. Although he would also use candy for the same purpose, he said it did the same thing. He was acting a bit crazy one time, checked his blood sugar, realized it was really low, and popped a few glucose tabs and had something sugary, and was acting normal pretty quickly thereafter. So, they do affect blood sugar quickly, but I don’t know if there is anything else special about them. But, they might be good to have on hand, especially if you think or know you have a problem with blood sugar dips.
As far as weight gain goes, could it be transient weight gain from upping carbs in general? If it’s not just transient, maybe it’s due to over activated FAS, or the “Metabolism Block.” If you add more sugar, or any sort of carbs, you probably want to cut fat intake by a similar, or maybe slightly greater, caloric equivalent. I think if you have weight gain from regular sugar, you would probably get similar effects from glucose or dextrose in similar amounts, but you could always experiment and see what happens. Maybe they would have different effects.
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Johann2547