Low Toxin Studies The brain actively pulls glucose from the blood

[Elie]

I've been lurking on the forum for a few years, looking for a way to fix "metabolic syndrome", the worst of which for me is high blood glucose. Over the years I've seen quite a few postings about low-fat & high-carb diets (usually along with a lipolysis inhibitor) normalizing BG for some people. What Dr Stephens has found helps make sense of that and, in my case, I've probably had my fair share of both physical and "covert" trauma over the years as well. Interestingly, FBG rose sharply after a fairly violent car accident a few years ago (a bit of head trauma with that).

I've seen my FBG levels lower since I started the glucose treatment he prescribes a few days ago, hopefully that continues. Have also felt much sharper and more relaxed in general.

Thanks for sharing.
I'm supper curious about your approach.
Is it 3 TBS of dextrose 3-4 times a day? (like Dr..Stephen suggested to start)
Do you take this on top of your daily caloric needs?

 

[Elie]

Where do you find dextrose?

I het mine from a local bulk store. It's very cheap.

Last week u decided to experiment with higher amounts - 10 tbsp in one shot at breakfast, instead of my standard carbs.
To my surprise I got super tired.

 

[lilrawhoney]

I was always fascinated by Peat's remark that injecting glucose into a chicken egg during the growth process makes the resulting hatchling way more intelligent. Overcoming glucose deficiency during pregnancy and the first years of life is the key to reach our human potential.

Now with the new focus on glucose, his statement that glucose is the limiting factor for brain growth has a bit more practical meaning. I was thinking about how taking glucose feels to me. I am realizing that I had misunderstood the way the brain works throughout my entire life.

I always considered the brain as some kind of passive organ that gets taken care of by the other organs and the blood.

But on dextrose, I suddenly started to feel my brain pulling out as much as glucose from the blood as it can. It's starving and wants more. The brain can be hungry for sugar. I can feel it soak in every single molecule of the extra blood sugar that comes in via dextrose.

And I started looking for some evidence in this direction and immediately I came across a source that actually confirms my subjective experience:

Translation from a german article:

"To secure its supply, the brain acts like an egomaniacal despot. It allocates the lion's share of the total amount of sugar available to itself without any scruples. To do this, it uses a mechanism that Achim Peters, a professor of medicine from Lübeck, first described in 1998 as brain pull and has since researched in ever greater detail. The pull principle he discovered literally turns the previous functional models of sugar distribution on their head. Peters and his research team discovered that the brain cannot be fobbed off with a passive glucose allocation. It gets what it needs. The brain triggers a pull and actively draws the acutely required amount of glucose from the energy stores in the liver, muscles and blood.

What looks like a nefarious ego trip is sheer necessity: the brain cannot store energy reserves and is dependent on a constant supply of fresh glucose. Even the smallest interruptions in the cerebral sugar supply have dramatic consequences: After ten seconds there is a loss of function, followed by the threat of fainting and coma, and irreversible brain damage occurs after just a few minutes.

So the brain can't help itself: in the interests of the system as a whole, it absolutely must maintain its uninterrupted and needs-based preferential supply of sugar. This is ensured by the brain pull. The active glucose demand mechanism is triggered and regulated with the help of a sophisticated, hormone-controlled triple strategy. If the brain's glucose level drops, it first stimulates the release of the stress hormones cortisol and adrenaline. The agents of the stress system immediately block the entire insulin production of the pancreas. Due to the insulin blockade, organs, muscles and cells can no longer absorb glucose. At the same time, the liver is stimulated by an increased release of glucagon to release more stored sugar (glycogen). Finally, the blood flow to the head is increased at the same time.

This means that the emergency supply is running at full speed. All of the increased glucose produced and supplied is now solely available to the central organ. As soon as the cerebral glucose sensors register a sufficient sugar level again, the brain deactivates the brain pull and dampens the stress system. The concentration of cortisol and adrenaline drops, the pancreas produces insulin again unchecked and the remaining body organs and cells can absorb and burn glucose again."

Dr. David Stephens describes the long-term consequences of this system.

Just add the logical consequence that the brain has to permanently limit it's glucose uptake during a chronic shortage of glucose supply to not kill the body and the result is exactly what Dr. Stephens describes. The brain, throughout life, slowly goes from 100% function before birth, to 70%, 60%, 50% function and so on until it's at almost zero (dementia). That is, if this process is not interrupted by a continuous supply of large amounts of pure glucose.

It is this "brain pull" that needs to be activated for healing. Regeneration takes a large surplus of energy, more than is required for simply running the necessary body functions. And the only way to activate it is by ingesting large amounts of glucose so that the brain feels safe doing so. The cerebral glucose sensors need to register an excess glucose level so that the brain can feed on it, without releasing adrenaline and cortisol, which just catabolize the body.

Just a simple anecdote, but with my son who was born autistic, I heavily restricted sugar during my pregnancy with him. With my next baby I gorged on sugar my entire pregnancy. I craved it and I had read what Ray Peat said about smarter babies being born to mothers with higher blood sugar. Now the sources of sugar weren’t the best and didn’t make me feel the best. But my daughter is extremely advanced for her age. Her level of cognition at 15 months blows my husband and I away, and we have 3 other children to compare her to. Oh and her head is in the 99th percentile, just like Ray Peat also talked about. Peat may have been wrong about a lot, but I’m thankful he taught me the importance of sugar.

 

[Peater]

Just a simple anecdote, but with my son who was born autistic, I heavily restricted sugar during my pregnancy with him. With my next baby I gorged on sugar my entire pregnancy. I craved it and I had read what Ray Peat said about smarter babies being born to mothers with higher blood sugar. Now the sources of sugar weren’t the best and didn’t make me feel the best. But my daughter is extremely advanced for her age. Her level of cognition at 15 months blows my husband and I away, and we have 3 other children to compare her to. Oh and her head is in the 99th percentile, just like Ray Peat also talked about. Peat may have been wrong about a lot, but I’m thankful he taught me the importance of sugar.

Have you tried a little pure dextrose with your son?

 

[lilrawhoney]

Have you tried a little pure dextrose with your son?

I’ve had him on it for a week now, so hopefully it will help.

 

[Dolomite]

Thanks! Any advice on dose?

I worked up over a couple of weeks to about 40 g 3 times per day. I take it before or with meals.

 

[Sebastian B]

I felt compelled to take a substantial amount immediately. I've been consuming 4-6 tablespoons six times a day. I hope I don't encounter any issues.

 

[Bozidar]

I worked up over a couple of weeks to about 40 g 3 times per day. I take it before or with meals.

Why are people taking dextrose with anything? I thought the idea is to jam as much glucose as possible into the brain?
If you have anything else in the stomach with it, it is going to get absorbed slower, thus defeating the purpose...No?

 

[Peater]

I’ve had him on it for a week now, so hopefully it will help.

How is it going? I was thinking within a week some improvements might be noticeable even if they are small or subtle (The sort of thing only Mum notices!)

 

[lilrawhoney]

How is it going? I was thinking within a week some improvements might be noticeable even if they are small or subtle (The sort of thing only Mum notices!)

So far no big changes from the dextrose. He actually seemed slightly more irritable. He’s been doing really well on low A. I’m actually going to experiment with completely cutting fruit for a while and using dextrose as his main carb source.

 

[Peater]

So far no big changes from the dextrose. He actually seemed slightly more irritable. He’s been doing really well on low A. I’m actually going to experiment with completely cutting fruit for a while and using dextrose as his main carb source.

Good plan!

 

[Dolomite]

Why are people taking dextrose with anything? I thought the idea is to jam as much glucose as possible into the brain?
If you have anything else in the stomach with it, it is going to get absorbed slower, thus defeating the purpose...No?

Dr. Stephens said it was fine to take alone or with food. It think it was in the Thor Torrens podcast.

 

[Ras]

So far no big changes from the dextrose. He actually seemed slightly more irritable. He’s been doing really well on low A. I’m actually going to experiment with completely cutting fruit for a while and using dextrose as his main carb source.

It made me more foul at first, too. That passed, and now I'm more pleasant.

 

[Peater]

It made me more foul at first, too. That passed, and now I'm more pleasant.

Do you remember how long it took?

 

[Ras]

Do you remember how long it took?

The context is that I was taking 160 grams four times a day, while otherwise consuming only psyllium in water. Doing this, the bad mood lasted only one day.

 

[Peater]

The context is that I was taking 160 grams four times a day, while otherwise consuming only psyllium in water. Doing this, the bad mood lasted only one day.

That's pretty good!

 

[AinmAnseo]

Would something like this (liquid glucose with a preservative) not be recommended?

Amazon.com

 

[lilrawhoney]

It made me more foul at first, too. That passed, and now I'm more pleasant.

Thank you! That’s definitely comforting. I was thinking maybe his brain is just eating up all that much needed glucose.

 

[Krigeren]

Thanks for sharing.
I'm supper curious about your approach.
Is it 3 TBS of dextrose 3-4 times a day? (like Dr..Stephen suggested to start)
Do you take this on top of your daily caloric needs?

Sorry, missed this yesterday... I am following Dr Stephens suggestions and yes this is on top of my typical diet. Down a couple of pounds since starting (8th day today), but I'm sure that has more to do with some dehydration rather than anything else in that short of timespan. Has had some odd effects on appetite so far, sometimes suppresses it, other times I'll be almost painfully hungry until I eat something although it doesn't seem to spur overeating for those meals.

 

[Ras]

Would something like this (liquid glucose with a preservative) not be recommended?

Amazon.com

I can't think of any reason this is superior to dextrose powder.