Does Low-Carb Stress You Out?

I came across an interesting book recently that I thought I would share with you all, because it provokes some interesting thought on how food affects our moods and why some people may have trouble maintaining certain kinds of diets.

The book is Peak Performance Living: Easy, Drug-Free Ways to Alter Your Own Brain Chemistry for Improved Productivity, Greater Energy, Sharper Thinking, Optimal Health. It's writen by Dr. Joel Robertson. Published in 1996, it's a bit of an older book, but contains some intriguing ideas.

What I really like about this book is that it doesn't treat everybody as being the same. Robertson recognizes that people respond differently to environments, food, and activity differently, depending on their personality and what they are mentally, emotionally and physically accustomed to. Robertson's theory is that people have different neurochemical persnoalities. That is, they are most comfortable when their seratonin, dopamine and other neurochemicals that slow or speed up neurotransmission are at certain levels. Some people like high levels of dopamine that make them energetic and don't like high levels of seratonin, which makes them feel sluggish. On the other hand, some people get agitated and stressed out when dopamine levels are high and prefer the ability to concentrate that high seratonin levels afford them. Robertson identifies nine neurochemical personality types and their preferred balance of neurochemicals.

Why am I talking about this in a health and fitness blog? Because, according to Robertson, the easiest way to achieve your most comfortable level of neurochemistry is through food and exercise. Here's the jist of it: proteins boost dopamine and similar chemicals, thus giving you a boost of energy and accelerating performance; meanwhile, carbohydrates boost seratonin and provide a satiated feeling and improving concentration. Moderate exercise, Robertson says, will boost dopamine and energize you, while exhaustive exercise boosts dopamine temporarily, but then exhausts it and boosts seratonin. Bottom line is if you need an energy boost, eat protein and exercise lightly, but if you want to relax or concentrate, eat carbs and exercise until you can't stand upright (my translation).

Since we live in a performance-based society and getting more things done and having more energy always seems like a good idea, it would seem that Robertson's theories would support a low-carbohydrate/hgh-protein diet. But hang on a minute. If some people actually get stressed out from high dopamine levels--and Robertson indicates this stress can get pretty severe, then a low-carb diet is likely to be unproductive for personalities that have a preference for feeling satiated and comfortable. For these people, a high-protein/low-carb diet would just put them on edge and the resulting stress would eventually impair their ability to function at an optimum level. Also, if high dopamine levels can make it hard to concentrate, then there are obviously times when having high seratonin levels and eating a few carbs are beneficial to the performance factor.

Now, I'm neither a proponent nor opponent of healthy low-carb diets. But I think that it's well worth considering that some people will have more trouble than other adapting to a low-carb/high-protein diet because of their neurochemical personality. A person who gets stressed out by high dopamine levels is going to have a difficult time with such a diet compared to somebody who loves the adrenaline rush and likes to go-go-go. Although Robertson doesn't specifically address low-carb diets, his theories seem to suggest that high-seratonin-type people, which he calls "satiation personalities", who want to lose weight should focus more and reducing fat intake and refrain from consuming excessive carbs rather than eliminating grain-based carbs altogether. And while these folks may not find exercise enjoyable, they're likely to prefer the end result of exhaustive-type exercise more than the energy boost from light exercise.

I don't mean to vouch for Robertson's credibility or suggest that his theories are the be-all end-all of neurochemistry and diet. But the individuality of a person plays a siginificant role in their ability to lose weight, build muscle and perform. So I think this idea is worth taking a look at. Robertson's book is available at Amazon.com if you want to take a look.

Sugar vs. Broccoli: Does it really matter what you eat?

I recently overheard a guy at church talking to some older folks at church about sugar consumption and how bad it is for you. Now, I didn't hear the whole conversation, but what I did hear just about made me laugh out loud. He was telling them how sugar just stays in the body and messes everything up. I mean he was talking as if after eating a candy bar you would have granules of sugar floating around in your blood stream. Ludicrous.

It doesn't work that way.

First of all, your body treats all carbohydrates the same way. It doesn't matter if those carbs come from a teaspoon of sugar and corn syrup or whole grains and vegetables. The body turns all carbohydrates into glucose. Glucose is a simple sugar that the body utilizes to create ATP, which is the fuel for cellular metabolism. Some glucose is stored as glycogen in the muscles and liver.

Now, it is true that when you consume sugar, corn syrup and other simple carbs that your blood sugar level spikes dramatically. This is because simple sugars are easily digested and it takes less time to donvert them to glucose and get them into the blood stream. An occasional spike in blood sugar level is of little consequence to most people. Folks who aren't diabetic have a natural response mechanism (insulin release) that causes the body's cells to start taking in glucose and storing it either as glycogen in muscles and other tissue or combining it with fat to store in fat cells.

The problem with high blood sugar levels is that if they occur frequently the cells max out their ability to store glucose and can become resistant to insulin. This causes the body to release even more insulin in an attempt to lower blood sugar level. If this pattern continues over a long period of time, it seems that the pancreas, which produces insulin, wears down and has difficulty making the amount of insulin needed. This is the current theory on how Type 2 diabetes develops.

Additionally, when the tissue cells reach their maximum capacity for storing glycogen, the only way the body can lower blood sugar levels is by combining the glucose with fat to create triglycerides and storing them in the fat cells. Fat cells seem to have a nearly unlimited capacity for storage. This is why overeating, obesity and type 2 diabetes seem to go hand in hand so often.

But here's the thing, it doesn't matter whether the glucose that causes the problem comes from simple sugars or from whole grains, fruits and vegetables. Glucose is glucose. Technically speaking, you can develop obesity and diabetes from eating too much broccoli. Of couse, it's a lot harder to eat too much broccoli than it is to eat too much sugar or corn syrup, which leads me to my next point . . .

The reason sugar, corn syrup, highly-refined grain products and other simple sugars are so detrimental to our health is not because they act differently once digested. It's because it's too easy to overeat them. Whole grains, fruits and vegetables require a longer digestive process, which means the resulting glucose takes longer to get into the blood, so blood sugar levels don't spike as often. This reduces the chance of developing insulin resistance and diabetes. Since digestion takes longer, it also means we feel "full" longer and are less likely to consume as much.

By way of comparison, a candy bar contains three times as many total carbohydrates and four times as many sugars as a banana. You would have to eat three bananas to get the same glucose reaction in your body as eating a candy bar. A banana also has a fraction of the fat of a candy bar and a fourth of the total calories. Most people wouldn't eat more than one banana at a time. They also wouldn't eat less than a whole candy bar at a time. When you consider how many fewer carbs, fat and calories a banana has--not to mention all the extra nutrients that the candy bar doesn't have--it's easy to see why fruits, vegetables and whole grains are a better source of carbohydrates than candy and junk food. But it's not because the body reacts differently to those carbs. It's about quantity.

More information about metabolism and how it affects your health can be found in my upcoming eBook Secrets of a Turbocharged Metabolism published by Lifeline Publishing LLC. Keep an eye out for it at www.turbochargedmetabolism.com.

Live long, stay strong

John Fike