Runenight201
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- Feb 18, 2018
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I'm not sure anyone has attacked the topic from this angle but I wanted to see if anyone can contribute to this theory that I've been working on. Note that I am not the best scientist nor researcher, at best I'm pretty well-versed in bro-science and then of course personal experimentation, but please feel free to point out where my reasoning isn't making sense or I'm making unfounded claims or I am not understanding the Biology properly.
As a starting point, I'd like start off with is that we need maximal ATP production in order to have maximal health. The more ATP we can produce, the more energy the cells have to carry out work, the better they'll be able to repair themselves, generate new cells, attack pathogens, detox, etc.... It should be no surprise here that we want high metabolisms, but what this really means is we want to produce as much ATP as possible.
In a healthy individual, the majority of ATP production occurs through the Krebs Cycle and the Electron Transport Chain, which has multiple very important steps that need to be functioning in top order so that the proton gradient is maximized and ATP Synthase can produce as much ATP as possible.
1) NADH oxidizes to NAD+
2) FADH2 oxidizes to FAD
3) Hydrogen combines with Oxygen and produces water
1 and 2 I have no idea what it takes to maintain that those steps can be carried out efficiently and there's no damages to those steps.
For step 3 tho, I believe this is where I can make the case for why Carbohydrate intake is crucial
In order for Oxygen to be present, it has to be provided to the cell by the Red Blood Cells. Red Blood Cells do not have mitochondria and thus exclusively run on anaerobic glycolysis, aka they NEED glucose. If glucose isn't present due to dietary choices, then the body will have to undergo gluconeogenesis in order to provide glucose for the red blood cell to function.
But why make the body work harder to carry out it's function? Why not provide the fuel directly instead of making the body do more "work" to obtain the fuel it needs. By consuming ample glucose through the diet AND ensuring that the glucose is being properly utilized by the body (aka NOT insulin resistant), than Red Blood Cell will have more energy to carry out their functions, blood volume and cell count increases, more oxygen becomes available, more water is produced endogenously, and thus ATP production increases. With more ATP production, there is more energy production, and the individual will subjectively feel a lot better (because who doesn't love having nice, warm energy?)
From personal experience, I can tell when my tissues are properly hydrated and blood volume increases by looking at my hands and feet. They should be engorged with blood, taking a deep pink/light red color, and should be warm to touch. This most strongly occurs when I consume a meal with salt, starch, and animal protein/fat. I believe the animal protein/fat is an absolute necessity as this will allow the the glucose to actually enter into the cell instead of causing inflammation or insulin resistance. I will typically consume some boiled leaves as well for the calcium and other micronutrients for the same insulin resistance reasoning, and while in the past I've experimented with brown rice, I now believe that white rice is the optimal way to obtain glucose, due to how easy it is to digest. One has to be careful about the choice of starch as well. For instance one day I tried to acheieve this affect through ground beef and bread and the result was an almost incessant flow of brain activity and mental chatter that I could not shut off. I also became overly aggressive and combative, and became quite arrogant.
I cannot obtain this same level of endogenous hydration of my tissues by sunbathing, taking ice-baths, consuming fruit/dairy, or eating carnivorously. I believe that humans are evolutionarily designed to be omnivorous, and that there is better and worse ways to eat, and eating a well-balanced omnivorous diet is the best way to eat for optimal health.
As a starting point, I'd like start off with is that we need maximal ATP production in order to have maximal health. The more ATP we can produce, the more energy the cells have to carry out work, the better they'll be able to repair themselves, generate new cells, attack pathogens, detox, etc.... It should be no surprise here that we want high metabolisms, but what this really means is we want to produce as much ATP as possible.
In a healthy individual, the majority of ATP production occurs through the Krebs Cycle and the Electron Transport Chain, which has multiple very important steps that need to be functioning in top order so that the proton gradient is maximized and ATP Synthase can produce as much ATP as possible.
1) NADH oxidizes to NAD+
2) FADH2 oxidizes to FAD
3) Hydrogen combines with Oxygen and produces water
1 and 2 I have no idea what it takes to maintain that those steps can be carried out efficiently and there's no damages to those steps.
For step 3 tho, I believe this is where I can make the case for why Carbohydrate intake is crucial
In order for Oxygen to be present, it has to be provided to the cell by the Red Blood Cells. Red Blood Cells do not have mitochondria and thus exclusively run on anaerobic glycolysis, aka they NEED glucose. If glucose isn't present due to dietary choices, then the body will have to undergo gluconeogenesis in order to provide glucose for the red blood cell to function.
But why make the body work harder to carry out it's function? Why not provide the fuel directly instead of making the body do more "work" to obtain the fuel it needs. By consuming ample glucose through the diet AND ensuring that the glucose is being properly utilized by the body (aka NOT insulin resistant), than Red Blood Cell will have more energy to carry out their functions, blood volume and cell count increases, more oxygen becomes available, more water is produced endogenously, and thus ATP production increases. With more ATP production, there is more energy production, and the individual will subjectively feel a lot better (because who doesn't love having nice, warm energy?)
From personal experience, I can tell when my tissues are properly hydrated and blood volume increases by looking at my hands and feet. They should be engorged with blood, taking a deep pink/light red color, and should be warm to touch. This most strongly occurs when I consume a meal with salt, starch, and animal protein/fat. I believe the animal protein/fat is an absolute necessity as this will allow the the glucose to actually enter into the cell instead of causing inflammation or insulin resistance. I will typically consume some boiled leaves as well for the calcium and other micronutrients for the same insulin resistance reasoning, and while in the past I've experimented with brown rice, I now believe that white rice is the optimal way to obtain glucose, due to how easy it is to digest. One has to be careful about the choice of starch as well. For instance one day I tried to acheieve this affect through ground beef and bread and the result was an almost incessant flow of brain activity and mental chatter that I could not shut off. I also became overly aggressive and combative, and became quite arrogant.
I cannot obtain this same level of endogenous hydration of my tissues by sunbathing, taking ice-baths, consuming fruit/dairy, or eating carnivorously. I believe that humans are evolutionarily designed to be omnivorous, and that there is better and worse ways to eat, and eating a well-balanced omnivorous diet is the best way to eat for optimal health.
