Continuing my reading about the human condition, and considering my plans
for the next stage of post-graduate study, I thought that I would read a few
modern books about nutrition. From the little that I have read, it seems
that every author knows where the causes of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs)
such as cancer, neurodegenerative diseases (Alzheimer’s and vascular
dementia), cardiovascular diseases, and type 2 diabetes lay:
metabolic disease, a by-product of the conversion of food into
energy. Welcome to a minefield!
I have only read the opening chapter of the book
Metabolical: the lure and the lies of processed food, nutrition, and modern
medicine, so I can't comment too much about it. What I have read seems very lucid
so the whole book should be interesting.
One small niggle is that even though the abbreviation NCD is introduced at
the beginning (see above), every time (so far) the full term appears, along
with the abbreviation. What's the point of denoting the abbreviation if it's
not used? (1)
My major niggle with this book (again, only the opening chapter) and a few
other books, including those by
Daniel E. Lieberman, is their Americocentric view of the world. The various budgets discussed
in this book, Obamacare, and percentages of morbidity come only from North
America! Who says the rest of the world behaves in the same manner?
If the premise of this book is don't eat processed food, then I would
like to think that I am in a good position as the only processed foods that
I eat are milk products. I am trying to find a yoghurt with no added sugar -
or no sugar at all - but so far have not succeeded in my quest (I wanted to
buy some goat yoghurt that is apparently sugar free but the kibbutz shop had
none). I suppose that milk could also be considered a processed food. Other
than that, I eat only food that I cook, such as chicken and salmon (although
one could say that these are processed during their growth), quinoa, barley
and salad (cucumber and bell peppers). The bread that I eat is made by
someone on the kibbutz using only whole and white flour, honey, walnuts and
salt (I asked him last week).
There was one nice quote that I saw in this book: Nutrition is not the same as food science. Nutrition is what happens to
food between the mouth and the cell. Food science is what happens to food
between the ground and the mouth.
I couldn't resist looking for erythritol in the book, which is where I came
across this passage: You drink a soda. The tongue sends a signal to the hypothalamus that
says, “Hey, sugar is coming, get ready to metabolize it.” The hypothalamus
then sends a signal along the vagus nerve to the pancreas, saying, “A
sugar load is coming, get ready to release the insulin.” If the “sweet”
signal is from a diet sweetener, the sugar never comes. What happens next?
Does the pancreas say, “Oh, well . . . I’ll just chill until the next
meal,” or does it say, “WTF? I’m all primed for the extra sugar. Let’s eat
more to get it.” This explains why diet sweeteners (such as erythritol) do not necessarily
have a positive affect on caloric intake, body fat, and metabolic disease. I
would be interested to find out more about the contention that
The tongue sends a signal to the hypothalamus that says, “Hey, sugar is
coming". This assumes that the drink is sweet; erythritol is less sweet than table
sugar on an equal weight basis, and the 'sweetened' tea that I drink isn't
sweet - so does this cause the hypothalamus to signal the pancreas?
Incidentally, I should write about my recent blood tests; I was tested at
the beginning of May, when the glucose level was slightly high, the
potassium level was very high and the creatinine level was seriously high.
This latter test concerns kidney function. My GP told me to stop using
erythritol for a few weeks and then do another blood test: to quote her
directly, it's better to gain weight (or not lose weight) than lose a
kidney. I did another blood test a few days ago: the glucose level dropped
by 1%, the potassium level dropped slightly, but most importantly the
creatinine level dropped to a reasonable value. Does this mean no more
erythritol? I have an appointment for my nephrologist next Sunday.
(1) Of course, had I read a bit more, then I would have come to the section
entitled "Clear and present danger" that both uses the abbreviation NDC and
talks about the developed and developing world. In 2011, the UN Secretary-General announced that NCDs are a bigger threat to poor countries than infectious diseases, including HIV. American corporations and our government don’t just export bad reruns of Baywatch, we also export our lifestyle, our food, and its subsequent diseases. Our first-world problem has become their third-world problem.
