Haidut On Improving Glycogen Stores

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One person I always look for giving advice is Haidut, and I'm sure I'm joined by many others. Not trying to say people are giving bad advice, etc. With lack of time its easy to go to a source I can trust fairly easily, and for me its this guy.

So in the coming times I want to create posts which have some of haiduts posts which I am digging up and adding them for others to have an easy go to resource.

The methods for increasing glycogen storage depend very much on the specific organism/person, but if you are interested in trying some news things the first option I would suggest is to get some pure fructose (or fruit juices like apple that contain mostly fructose) and use that as your primary source of sugar for several days. Fructose is supposed to be very good at building up glycogen storages.
On the supplement side, taurine is supposed to help with that but the dose varies wildly from person to person for optimal effects. So, you have to try to find out what works for you. Typically, effective doses are 2g-5g a day.
Another supplement that Peat wrote about is uridine. Read this article or search it for "uridine".
The problem of Alzheimer's disease as a clue to immortality Part 1

Finally, if you are interested in trying drugs (after consulting with your doctor of course) an older antihistamine and anti-acid drug famotidine (brand name Pepcid) is exceptionally good at inhibiting glycogen breakdown and also promoting the synthesis of new glycogen. It is worth noting that famotidine is unique in its glycogen effects among the anti-acid drigs and also unlike other drugs it has no know interaction with any other drug or any known effects on liver health or metabolizing abilities. So, you could use that while loading up on sugar. Famotidine has been found to be helpful for a number of conditions completely unrelated to stomach acid such as schizophrenia and PTSD. The Peat-approved explanation of those benefits would be due to the drug improving glycogen storage/usage and thus improving brain energetic profile. Here is one study for famotidine and glycogen:
http://informahealthcare.com/doi/abs/10 ... 012.672413
I hope that helps.
 
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Elchapchapchapo
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"Taurine Doubles Liver Glycogen" - haidut

Taurine Doubles Liver Glycogen

The dose used was not that high and is a human equivalent of 2,500mg - 3,000mg daily. The other findings of note were that a single dose of taurine was enough to produce that effect, and also that taurine increased the consumption/oxidation of glucose. Taurine induced these effects through elevation of cAMP, which is the main mechanism of action of caffeine as well. Yet another reason to combine taurine and caffeine.
Sounds like taurine could be a good alternative to famotidine for improving glycogen storage.


[Insulin-like effects of taurine]. - PubMed - NCBI

"...A single administration of taurine at a dose of 200 mg per kg of body weight increased the insulin-like activity in blood plasma, elevated two-fold the content of glycogen in liver tissue, decreased content of sugars in blood. In vitro taurine increased the consumption of glucose by isolated diaphragm and increased the insulin activity. The adenilate cyclase activity was increased in incubation mixture, containing the diaphragms and taurine added. The data obtained and the recognized insulin-like effect of 3',5'-AMP and theophylline suggest that the insulin-like action of taurine is mediated through the cyclic 3',5'-AMP."
 
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Elchapchapchapo
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Famotidine Increases Glycogen, Improves Glucose Metabolism

Famotidine Increases Glycogen, Improves Glucose Metabolism

Several people on the forum have asked for measures on how to increase glycogen storage in the liver. Hypothyroid people have issues with glycogen storage and having a substance that can increase such storage would be helpful. It looks like famotidine is one such substance. It dose dependently increased glycogen storage. A human equivalent dose of 20mg doubled glycogen stores compared to controls and a 40mg dose quadrupled it. These are doses commonly recommended for every day famotidine use and should be fairly safe. Btw, famotidine also lowers blood sugar and the mechanism of action is likely the increased glycogen storage and uptake of glucose by the muscles.

Famotidine inhibits glycogen synthase kinase-3β: an investigation by docking simulation and experimental validation. - PubMed - NCBI

"...Docking studies showed how famotidine is optimally fit within the binding pocket of GSK-3β via numerous attractive interactions with some specific amino acids. Experimentally, famotidine could inhibit GSK-3β (IC₅₀ = 1.44 μM) and increased significantly liver glycogen spares in fasting animal models. Moreover, a single oral dose of famotidine was shown to decrease the glycemic response curve after 75 g OGTT."
 

Elize

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Thanks sooooo much. Just what I have been looking for.

Elize
 
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Elchapchapchapo
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Biotin Promotes Glycogen Synthesis

Biotin Promotes Glycogen Synthesis

I posted some studies on biotin, including its effects on blood lipids and insulin sensitivity. There have also been discussions on the forum about supplements or drugs that promote glycogen synthesis, since glycogen synthesis and levels are both low in hypothyroid people. In addition to the already discussed famotidine and uridine, now you can add biotin to the list of glycogen-promoting supplements. The doses used in the study were high, but not as high as the 300mg used in the recent and wildly successful human trial with multiple sclerosis (MS).
The study is in Chinese so I can't get the full data but effective human equivalent doses were 0.08mg/kg, 0.42mg/kg, and 0.85mg/kg. I will ask the authors if the effects were dose-dependent.

[Effects of biotin on blood glucose regulation in type 2 diabetes rat model]. - PubMed - NCBI

"...CONCLUSION: The possible mechanism of the decreasing biotin blood sugar in diabetic rats may by promoting the synthesis of glycogen and reducing gluconeogenesis."
 

Elize

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Great but how do I use. Taurine without lowering my already. Low levels of cotisol

Thanks

Elize
 

LeeLemonoil

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Glycogen controls Caenorhabditis elegans lifespan and resistance to oxidative stress. - PubMed - NCBI

Glycogen controls Caenorhabditis elegans lifespan and resistance to oxidative stress.
Abstract
A high-sugar diet has been associated with reduced lifespan in organisms ranging from worms to mammals. However, the mechanisms underlying the harmful effects of glucose are poorly understood. Here we establish a causative relationship between endogenous glucose storage in the form of glycogen, resistance to oxidative stress and organismal aging in Caenorhabditis elegans. We find that glycogen accumulated on high dietary glucose limits C. elegans longevity. Glucose released from glycogen and used for NADPH/glutathione reduction renders nematodes and human hepatocytes more resistant against oxidative stress. Exposure to low levels of oxidants or genetic inhibition of glycogen synthase depletes glycogen stores and extends the lifespan of animals fed a high glucose diet in an AMPK-dependent manner. Moreover, glycogen interferes with low insulin signalling and accelerates aging of long-lived daf-2 worms fed a high glucose diet. Considering its extensive evolutionary conservation, our results suggest that glycogen metabolism might also have a role in mammalian aging.
 

theLaw

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I've personally found the following is best for refilling glycogen stores/maintaining healthy blood sugar (in order) based on Haidut's posts :

- fresh organic pulp-free juice

- store-bought organic pulp-free juice (refrigerated)

- store-bought organic pulp-free juice (stored @ room temp)

- honey

- sugar
 
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Can someone please explain the mechansim as to why someone would benefit from increasing liver glycogen stores? I thought we want it in the muscle cells first?
Does this counteract cortisol release, by upping liver glycogen stores?
With increased liver glycogen, the body has a stock of glucose and when your blood glucose lowers for any reason, the liver will liberate some of it into the bloodstream and the blood sugar will be stable. This is specially important during nighttime, since 8 hours without any carbs would increase cortisol and adrenaline. I also remember reading a study where the resistance to endotoxin is directly related to the amount of glycogen that the liver has, which makes sense, since glycogen is a form of energy easily accessed by the hepatocytes, enabling them t0 neutralize the toxins. Also, the amount of glycogen in the liver will determine how fast your metabolism is( I believe it was user tyw who said this). There was also another study showing that growth hormone can only be converted to IGF-1 if the liver has enough carbs. The same thing happens with the thyroid hormones: the liver can't turn T4 into T3 without glucose stores. That probably explains a bit why sucrose raises the metablic rate more than glucose.
Having glycogen in the muscles is very important too, since it is easy, fast energy when exercising or doing hard physical tasks. But I think it's wiser to first replete liver glycogen, since it is this organ which will control a lot of metabolic processes in the body. With good amounts of glycogen in the liver, the blood sugar will be kept stable, and, over time, the the glycogen of the muscles will fill up. So, as long as you eat adequate amounts of fructose or galactose, both the muscles' and the liver's glycogen stores will be good to go. Also, sucrose seems to fill up muscle glycogen more rapidly than glucose, so that's doubly good.
 
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With increased liver glycogen, the body has a stock of glucose and when your blood glucose lowers for any reason, the liver will liberate some of it into the bloodstream and the blood sugar will be stable. This is specially important during nighttime, since 8 hours without any carbs would increase cortisol and adrenaline. I also remember reading a study where the resistance to endotoxin is directly related to the amount of glycogen that the liver has, which makes sense, since glycogen is a form of energy easily accessed by the hepatocytes, enabling them t0 neutralize the toxins. Also, the amount of glycogen in the liver will determine how fast your metabolism is( I believe it was user tyw who said this). There was also another study showing that growth hormone can only be converted to IGF-1 if the liver has enough carbs. The same thing happens with the thyroid hormones: the liver can't turn T4 into T3 without glucose stores. That probably explains a bit why sucrose raises the metablic rate more than glucose.
Having glycogen in the muscles is very important too, since it is easy, fast energy when exercising or doing hard physical tasks. But I think it's wiser to first replete liver glycogen, since it is this organ which will control a lot of metabolic processes in the body. With good amounts of glycogen in the liver, the blood sugar will be kept stable, and, over time, the the glycogen of the muscles will fill up. So, as long as you eat adequate amounts of fructose or galactose, both the muscles' and the liver's glycogen stores will be good to go. Also, sucrose seems to fill up muscle glycogen more rapidly than glucose, so that's doubly good.


You think using a sauna is safe if not pufa depleted? Take some aspirin before hand and sip something with sugar?
 
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You think using a sauna is safe if not pufa depleted? Take some aspirin before hand and sip something with sugar?
I don't know.

I would imagine that it depends on the temperature of the sauna. PUFAs are easily peroxidizable due to light and heat, and if a person is exposing themselves to very high temperatures( a sauna can get really hot, up to 90 degrees celsius), then there will probably be PUFA decomposition inside the person's organism.

I'm going to summon @Amazoniac. Maybe he knows something about this.

̶S̶u̶m̶m̶o̶n̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶j̶u̶t̶s̶u̶
 

skycop00

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Do we have a thread of recommendations for those who need to purge PUFA and restore metabolic flexibility back to optimal glucose and FFA burn rates? I wanna be like a kid again !!!!! =)
 
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I don't know.

I would imagine that it depends on the temperature of the sauna. PUFAs are easily peroxidizable due to light and heat, and if a person is exposing themselves to very high temperatures( a sauna can get really hot, up to 90 degrees celsius), then there will probably be PUFA decomposition inside the person's organism.

I'm going to summon @Amazoniac. Maybe he knows something about this.

̶S̶u̶m̶m̶o̶n̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶j̶u̶t̶s̶u̶
The sauna I use reaches nearly 90c. I’m going to load with vit E and continue avoiding PUFA before going to sauna again
 

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