Sugar and Appetite

Various diets treat sugar as if it were a villain. Sure you can get fat if you eat too much sugar. Diet guru's like Atkins attributed weight gain to sugar alone and his diet was built around the theory that you would lose weight if you did not eat carbs/sugars. The low carb fad followed. There was merit attributed to the diet because people lost weight. There was a whole lot more about the diet that was harmful - like coronary disease. But there was a point almost overlooked by the diet that did not get the attention it should have. That carbs make us excessively hungry.

We all remember from basic biology that sugar is the body's fuel. It is absorbed from foods we eat and goes into our blood stream where it circulates in the form known as glucose (anything with -ose at the end is a sugar). The blood circulates it and any cell in every part of the body takes it up to do their particular job as needed whether brain, heart muscle or organ. Our cells are little combustion engines that burn sugar with oxygen also delivered by the blood. They secrete carbon dioxide as a waste product back into the blood and it is delivered to the lungs where we exhale it.

You probably know that "surplus" sugar in the blood, that the cells cannot use immediately, is converted in our liver into fat for storage. Conversely, when the body needs more fuel than we ingest, it converts stored fat back into energy. Reducing the fat in storage is what dieting is all about. Seems pretty simple doesn't it?

[In case you were getting worried, I am not about to get deep into biochemistry or I will embarrass myself! ;-) Just the basics needed to frame the picture for a successful diet and appetite control. If you are interested in details, I again recommend the book, "You on a Diet" by Roizen and Oz, MDs.]

The problem is that there are a series of chemical middle men at work in our bodies that assist our metabolism. I'll just focus on the most important one to fatties - the hormone known as insulin.

Insulin is a catalyst. Catalysts are chemical assistants needed for specific chemical reactions. Insulin helps in sugar metabolism. OK, you know that diabetics take insulin. That's because their pancreas has either stopped producing it (type 1), OR, in type 2 diabetes, the cells become resistant to insulin and that keeps sugar from crossing the cell membrane into the cell. Either way sugar builds up in the blood and the kidneys begin to excrete it. That is why diabetics test their urine. It is not normal to have sugar in the urine. They can also test their blood for sugar - hence the little devices you hear about to test the amount of sugar in a drop of blood. We all have glucose circulating in our blood but if it gets too high a diabetic needs to take insulin to bring it down. Conversely, if it gets too low they need to eat something with sugar to bring it back to normal or they may pass out.

So sugar metabolism is, at least in part, regulated by insulin. People with normal pancreases secrete insulin in response to the increased levels of sugar in the blood. The more sugar, the more insulin. If we sugar in a doughnut, a piece of fruit or candy, the sugar is in a pure form which is easily dissolved and it enters our blood stream within minutes. The insulin level rises rapidly, sugar is quickly metabolized and the sugar level drops just as quickly. In people who are particularly carb sensitive, eating large amounts of sugar at a time triggers a sudden burst of insulin. This can result in rapid swings between hyperglycemia and hypoglycemia (high and low blood sugar), often with concurrent bursts of energy and lethargy.

Our bodies have a signal that tells us when we are low on fuel (hypoglycemic) and we need more sugar to run our cells. We are all too familiar with the message - it is called hunger. Hunger is normal. It is a warning signal that we have to fill up. Biologically we are programmed to react to hunger by seeking food. That is why it is almost impossible to deny the urge to eat for long.

When our blood sugar drops too quickly we can be hungry again within an hour or two. You know, eat a doughnut and juice for breakfast, a cup of coffee and you are ready to eat again long before lunch.

[Now if someone happens to be one of those people who eats sweets and doesn't react with excess appetite in a short time - then they are not as carb sensitive and may produce insulin more gradually in response to sugar level increases in their blood. These people (like my husband, drat it!) may never suffer more than small weight gain from over-indulgence or lack of exercise and lose it again when they return to their normal diet. For lack of similar experience, they may find it difficult to commiserate with others whose bodies overreacts to sugar. But hopefully they will learn to appreciate that something different is happening with someone else. It is important to grasp there are difference in order for family members to help others with weight problems. One needs to understand that there are different metabolic factors that keep some people from gaining excess amount of weight and not others. Skinny people can be very self-righteous about people who get fat and make remarks like - they just ought to eat less! Well they may be right in a way but there is a lot more too it than that. It is not an excuse. We are programmed to eat when we get hungry and fat people may be prone to excess feelings of hunger.

There may be different factors at work. Just being fat has it's own psychological fall out as well. People who are unsympathetic may lack compassion but, granted, there are some fatties who are just looking for sympathy too and need some outside help that family members may not be psychologically able to provide. No question that overeating is an addiction but these addicts cannot just toss their drug down the drain. The food addict has to eat and deal with their drug sitting right in front of them - every day. And family members may be intentional or unintentional saboteurs. More on social and psychological factors in another post!]

So what we are looking is some way to turn off - or at least down - the cravings for excess amounts of food. We have to manage our appetites so we CAN lose weight.

If you understand the basics of metabolism outlined, it should not be so hard to understand that the very simple answer lies in managing the insulin level in our blood. If our bodies do not do it naturally for us, then we have to manage our sugar intake just like a diabetic. The diabetic knows that they are causing severe and certain harm to themselves and it will kill them if they don't make the adjustment so they have a very strong incentive. Fat people are also killing themselves - but we just don't see the effects as quickly.

The folks at the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) are fond of saying that overweight is the most preventable health problem in this country. But dang it, you can yell that in people's ear all day and it does not make a bit of difference if we don't know how to control the beast inside.

For me the secret has been getting sugar in my diet under control. I found that if I eat in a way that does not produce that strong insulin reaction I also avoid extreme hunger that will cause me to eat too much. I regulate the carbs carefully in my diet - just like a diabetic. I aim to keep my blood sugar level reasonably low and as steady as possible so as not to trigger a surge of insulin that will cause me to lose control. Portion control became a lot easier once I got hold of my unreasonable appetite.

You know you should avoid cake and ice cream but there is sugar hidden in much of the other foods we eat. And it may surprise you where it is hidden if you don't start looking at those nutrition labels on the sides of packages. Those designer foods for dieters are famously misleading. Very few have anything good to offer except to the manufacturers. But you can find some help among the hype.

More on specific foods and drinks in different posts. I am trying to keep posts focused and not blather too long. So much to say and so little time. LOL!