Your Weight Gain is Okay and Here Is Why

We've talked about fats. Somehow fats are always viewed in a negative light. We must fight this with all our might. Let's put it that way. So, excessive glucose consumption is exactly what leads to the formation of fats. Is this a purposeful reaction? Purposeful, absolutely purposeful, especially in women because fat is an energy accumulator. That is a storage facility. And a woman who gives birth to a child, she has an instinctive literal concern for the future child, how she will feed it. Nature has worked all this out over millions of years. And these fat deposits that women have on their hips and buttocks, which they try to fight with all their might, are actually a positive reaction of nature — to the possible need to feed a future child. So, fat is a much richer source of energy than glucose, much richer. Well, for example, a fat molecule contains three fatty acid residues, three residues. So, one residue, if we take an average one, say 16 carbon atoms, palmitic acid, well, this one chain gives 130 ATP molecules. Can you imagine? Fat provides a huge amount of energy. What's the catch? Well, the thing is that to get this energy from fat, you need to consume a lot of oxygen, much more than glucose consumes. This is a serious problem, especially under conditions of hypoxia. If it's pathological hypoxia, for example, some kind of heart disease, which is most often the case, the question of diet immediately arises. What to feed say a person suffering from ischemic heart disease? How much fat should they be given? Suppose he likes fatty foods? No, here you already need to limit it and focus more on carbohydrates. If there are questions about fat, and there should be many because we're talking about omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids, but that's a separate conversation. So, we're setting aside the fat component of nutrition and returning to the carbohydrate one. Carbohydrates can be slow releasing glucose into the blood. They are exactly what should form the basis of carbohydrate nutrition — because daily carbohydrate consumption is quite high. The normal amount is 450 to 500 g of carbohydrates. But which ones? Not sugar, but starch, fiber, pectins, and so on. And it's necessary for these carbohydrates to break down slowly so that blood glucose doesn't spike instantly to high levels, — which negatively affects the pancreas, insulin resistance, and future diabetes. That's what it's all about.

But we consume a lot of sugar. According to international statistics, we consume 70 times more sugar than our physiological needs. Just think about it, 70 times more. It would never occur to anyone to consume 70 times more sunflower oil. But with sugar, it's fine, everything's calm, everything's normal. Why? Well, it's a result of technical progress. And now sugar production is well established. Our raw material is sugar beet, and in southern countries, it's sugar cane. It doesn't matter, but sugar production is so extensive that literally all countries are flooded with sugar. And since it has pleasant properties, and those pleasant properties are rooted in nature's desire to get the necessary energy, that's why it made it pleasant. What perceives the taste of sugar? The papillae on the tongue, but tongue have special receptors — that perceive the taste of sweetness. There are receptors that perceive other tastes, the taste of bitterness, and so on. But no one develops a love for bitterness, especially children, only for sweetness. Precisely because sweetness for a child is, as I've already said, a source of energy. But if everything were limited by norms, there wouldn't be this problem. But to our great regret, we in civilized countries consume a huge amount of sugar. It's not necessarily in an obvious form, scooping it with spoons, but adding it to tea, coffee, and so on. And a mass of confectionery products to which sugar is added. And it's very profitable for the manufacturer, and sugar is a cheap material to add sugar to all products, even to the point that sugar is added to bread. There are types of bread that are sweetish, they add sugar. And we've become so accustomed to sugar being a useful thing that this opinion has become common. No matter who you talk to who doesn't deal with these issues. Well, sugar is needed for brain function, for the brain to work better, you need sugar. Well, glucose. Well, it's formed from sugar, that's why I eat sweets. — And so on. I should say right away that sugar in the body, meaning glucose, is perfectly synthesized from non-glucose products. This process is called gluconeogenesis, it has a term, and this glucose can be synthesized from amino acids. This is an inefficient process because amino acids are more expensive than sugar. — It can be synthesized from fat transformation products, and so on. So, the brain won't be deprived of sweets, I assure you, even if you don't consume any extra sugar. Well, considering that the love for sugar is, in general, somehow programmed genetically, I've already said why. I repeat once more because it's not just about the taste, but because sugar is, by genetics, a source of energy, first and foremost. Moreover, uh an energy source, a primary energy source, essentially. Absolutely all organs consume glucose. But not all consume fatty acids. For example, red blood cells don't consume fatty acids at all for their existence. Not all brain cells consume fatty acids as an energy source, although fatty acids provide a lot of energy, but absolutely all consume glucose. This explains biochemically why there is such a love.