One of the most common complaints one hears about from friends and family these days is not having enough energy. Energy drinks, bars and supplements, not to mention the ubiquitous presence of coffee shops on almost every corner in every city are a testament to these complaints and they are also BIG business. Of course, when it comes to so-called “energy drinks” and caffeine we’re not talking about generating real lasting energy so much as we are talking about adding a jolt to the system in the form of a stimulant that provides the short-lived illusion of energy. That said, one thing virtually all these products has in common is that they can dramatically spike your blood sugar levels.
So…that’s a good thing, right?
Well…
Anyone who takes a conventional course in nutrition, medical school, nursing school or any chiropractic or naturopathic school today will likely be taught that their brain, tissues and organs greatly depend upon sufficient blood sugar to fuel energy, maintain their day to day energy supply and fuel all their metabolic processes. We are taught that “blood sugar” is important—critical, even–and that it must be sustained and regularly managed for optimal health. Unfortunately, this is only a conditional truth at best and one that conceals a rather mammoth sin of omission that is overlooked by nearly everyone. The fact is that we are all one of two things: we are either a “sugar burner” or we are a “fat burner”. Perhaps since fat is (erroneously) assumed to be inherently evil, nothing about its potentially vital role in all aspects of health or primary energy production is ever discussed. We are encouraged to avoid it at any cost and not ask any questions.
Blood sugar management is big business, too. VERY big business.
We are taught that complex carbohydrates—up to 11 servings a day of grains, beans, rice, potatoes, pasta, etc should form the very basis of our daily food supply, with only honorable mention given to (what they insist should be) LEAN meats and fish, lots of fruits and veggies and next to no fat of any kind (other than perhaps a dollop of olive oil). Alongside the lonely morsels of fat at the top of the food pyramid lie the sugary snacks…to all be eaten sparingly. We are also taught to “eat a large breakfast” and many nutritionists admonish us to eat a small snack every couple of hours between meals “to keep that blood sugar up”.
So is the need for “blood sugar” for our energy real and valid…or is it just like its initials would suggest: “B.S.”?
As with many things the answer is “it depends”. But what if the basic essentiality of blood sugar for our brains, organs and day to day energy was really a myth? In fact, what if that dependence on “blood sugar” for our day to day energy actually did more harm than good? What if there was an alternative? Not only this, what if that alternative were the very fuel we were actually designed to depend upon nearly all the time from the very beginning and that very fuel were the one you actually had the hardest time using… all because you are too busy fueling yourself with sugar?
Come closer…and fasten your seat belt. You are about to undergo a bit of a paradigm shift.
As with many things, certain things can be conditionally true, within a certain context. Case in point: IF you are metabolically adapted to depending on sugar as your primary source of fuel (and all non-fiber carbohydrates are sugar once they hit your bloodstream) then you must of necessity continue to refuel yourself with foods that keep these blood sugar levels elevated so there is no interruption in the energy supply. Many people experience these interruptions of steady blood sugar supply as mood swings, brain fog, fatigue, irritability, jitteriness, problems thinking, and cravings for anything that will boost those sugar levels back up. For some people this is experienced as more of an extreme urgency than others. Either way, the dependence on sugar as a primary source of fuel is more or less the same in those adapted to it with a variable manifestation of consequences
So what does this mean?
If we are to look at the macronutrients in our diet (carbohydrates, protein and fat) strictly from the standpoint of the energy they provide our “metabolic fire”, then carbohydrates in this context can be viewed as a form of metabolic “kindling”. Brown rice, beans and whole grains could effectively be viewed as “twigs” on our metabolic fire. White rice, cereal, potatoes, pasta and bread would be “paper” on the fire and substances like alcoholic beverages would readily constitute “gasoline” on that metabolic fire.
Now I’m from a very cold place called Minnesota originally so wood stove analogies work well for me. If you have ever had to heat your living space with a wood stove you know that the fire in it has to be fed. If all you had to feed that fire was kindling (twigs, paper and gasoline) you could certainly do it. The problem is that you would be able to think of or do little else but stay perched in front of that stove, loading it up with handfuls of twigs and wadded up paper all day long just to keep it going. The flames would flare and die down relatively quickly and you’d need to add more fuel with fairly constant regularity. God forbid you should need to take a bathroom break or run an errand. By the time you returned to the stove the fire would be nearly out and you might need to resort to some gasoline to shock it back to life again, just so the process could continue. Good luck sleeping, too. Even if you could attach an alarm to the stove to awaken you when the fire got too low you would be awakened well before you were fully rested in order to feed the hungry flames (hmmmm…there’s an analogy here). In essence you would be enslaved to that wood stove and your preoccupation with it would of necessity be relatively constant. The flames would rise and fall like a roller coaster ride. Much as I love a good wood stove fire, though (or carnival ride) that would be anything but my idea of a good time.
What if instead you were to place a nice big “fat” log on the fire? All of a sudden you would…have a life! –What a concept!! You could leave the house and run errands. Heck–you could even get a good night’s sleep! By morning if the fire was burning low all you’d need to do is grab another big log and toss it in. You wouldn’t need to think too much about it most of the time and your fuel wouldn’t take up too much space, either.
Sugar is best described metabolically as “rocket fuel”. It burns best anaerobically (in conditions of low oxygen—as while sprinting or extreme exertion). Far from being a steady, lasting or reliable fuel, sugar burns very hot and very fast. How badly do you need rocket fuel in your car to go most of where your car takes you day to day? Do you really want to have your engine burn that hot all the time? Don’t racing cars need a lot more maintenance in part because of that? Increased metabolic heat also makes for a very hungry engine.
Sugar’s presence additionally attracts what is termed “free radical activity” which leads to unhealthy oxidation (damage) of tissues. Sugar also undergoes a process known as “glycation” in the body where molecules of sugar combine with proteins and fats there and cause them to become sticky, misshapen and start to malfunction. This in turn leads to even more free radical damage and basically fuels the degenerative aging process. The brain and nervous system are particularly susceptible to all this as they don’t respond much to insulin and are therefore more likely to be bombarded with all the dangerous stickiness. In diabetics and alcoholics this can result in accelerated forms of neuropathy, organ damage and degenerative brain conditions. In others, glycated tangles of amyloid proteins eventually lead to a diagnosis of Alzheimers…technically a form of “brain neuropathy”. Advanced glycosylation end-products (A.G.E.’s) lead to mutations in DNA and help potentiate cancerous processes which blood sugar additionally feeds the growth of. In short, it ain’t pretty.
Most people feed themselves as if there were no alternative to running their metabolic fires other than kindling. Food advertising consistently supports this. Told to eat “low fat”, many people instead eat diets high in addictive sugar and starch in order to feed (and feed) themselves. Those that don’t care about “low fat” eating often eat large amounts of sugar and starch along with dietary fat, which has its own brand of consequences. Dietary fat in the presence of carbohydrates (sugar and starch) behaves very differently than dietary fat in the absence of carbohydrates. The dietary fat in the presence of sugar and starch is far more likely to be stored as excess and also to become damaged through peroxidation, as the body looks to preferentially burning off the sugar to get the excesses out of the bloodstream quickly and as sugar combines with the fat to damage it and make its presence more problematic than it otherwise would be. And as long as insulin is present (in other words, as long as dietary sugar and starch keep coming in) it becomes impossible to burn fat at the same time. Weight gain is the most common consequence, but there is more to this. You can be skinny and athletic and also suffer serious consequences from a dependence on sugar burning.
Depending on blood sugar for your primary source of fuel means you will be hungry more often and that you may experience regular cravings. It also means you must eat regularly or else suffer energy and mental and physical performance loss. Consider the animals that are natural (what I term) “carbovores” (herbivores and ungulates). What do you see them doing ALL day? Their faces are on the ground and in the bushes continually. Eating for them is constant. I, for one have far better things to do with my time!
It additionally means the quality of your moods and thinking are often hugely dependent upon that steady supply of fuel. You might also require caffeine to boost your kindling supply first thing in the morning if that supply gets too low, or you may crave alcohol in the evenings. If you manage this balancing act poorly by regularly eating high glycemic foods then over time the swings can become greater, along with more symptoms typically associated with blood sugar lows: fatigue, anxiety, irritability, explosive anger, jitters and more cravings.
Addiction to the fastest form of this rocket fuel is called “alcoholism”. This is why recovering alcoholics are never considered “fully recovered” even after stopping their alcohol use. Most are still suffering from constant sugar cravings, using things like caffeine and even nicotine to boost their blood sugar in the absence of alcohol. They often crave sugary sweets and beverages, but the craving for alcohol never fully goes away because the underlying condition has never actually been addressed: an addiction to sugar. In others, the tidal waves of insulin needed to lower excessive blood sugar would over time lead to either something termed “reactive hypoglycemia” or deeper states of clinical hypoglycemia. –Or (taking it in the other direction) the same bombardment can eventually lead to insulin resistance, obesity and metabolic disorders.
Insulin resistance occurs whenever there is a breakdown in communication between blood sugar and insulin. Through unrelenting bombardment of insulin the cells eventually become resistant to its constant message. It starts to take more and more insulin to get the same message across. Eventually blood sugar that can’t go anywhere creeps up in the bloodstream and other tissues to a point where finally one becomes diagnosable as type 2 diabetic. On the way there, obesity is basically often the price you pay for avoiding becoming diabetic…at least as long as your pancreas is willing to continue supporting the effort. It is possible, however, to be skinny and be diabetic also. Being slender is not necessarily synonymous with optimal health (see my “Top 10 Nutritional Mistakes” on my web site: www.primalbody-primalmind.com).
Who benefits from diets based in carbohydrates? Certainly not the people who are forced to live this way. The food industry, diet industry, big agribusiness, the pharmaceutical companies and ultimately the petroleum companies (upon which big agribusiness and others are dependent) all make out like bandits, though. For them it is immensely profitable to have the entire world depending upon carbohydrates—particularly addictive grains—as their primary source of fuel. The vast majority of advertising dollars spent are designed to support these interests. And schools of all kinds are, in turn, encouraged to teach whatever maintains the profitable status quo.
If, instead, one elects to metabolically adapt ones-self to becoming a fat burner—someone who uses sufficient dietary fat to satisfy one’s appetite (while simultaneously avoiding sugar and starch) this forces the body to adapt to fat as a primary source of fuel for their metabolic fire. What is the result of this basic metabolic change?
You have now become free. You have effectively removed the constant need for “blood sugar” for your primary energy, mood or cognitive functioning.
All of a sudden eating becomes more of a choice rather than a constant necessity. Energy levels maintain more constancy and an even-ness that allows for clearer thinking and stable moods. Your Ice Age-forged body no longer is in the business of greedily storing fat from the carbohydrates you were eating and is freer to burn stored fat for fuel, both away from constant presence of insulin and recognizing that as long as there is “enough” fat at mealtime that “hunting must be good”—therefore stored fat can be comfortably spared and utilized for energy. Not only this, but you suddenly find your food bills lessening considerably. The natural dietary fat you eat quickly fills you up and leaves you less hungry, with cravings rapidly becoming a thing of the past. Insulin sensitivity becomes gradually restored, and all that this implies. Sleep becomes more restful. Aging slows and becomes more graceful. You begin to look and feel younger. Energy is never in short supply.
In becoming a “fat burner” one comes to depend instead on something called “ketones” which are the energy units of fat, as well as using free fatty acids for fueling almost everything sugar did before. –The big difference here is that fat fuels it all longer, better, more consistently, reliably and more evenly. And also far more cheaply. Our body still maintains the ability to utilize sugar in the event of an emergency (as sugar still constitutes our best “rocket fuel”) but is able to make use of supplies of ATP, existing blood glucose and stored glycogen to easily meet this more episodic demand.
I write much more about what it takes to make this metabolic conversion in my book, Primal Body, Primal Mind. It’s far easier that you might think (or than certain corporate interests might want you to know).
But don’t we still need blood sugar all the time?
Well, it turns out that the only tissues in the human body that MUST have a small amount of blood sugar at all times in order to survive are our red blood cells. They feed anaerobically in order to spare their precious cargo, which is oxygen. Every other tissue in the body—including the brain—can run beautifully and far better on ketones. As it turns out, one can manufacture all the glucose your body needs from a combination of protein and fat in the diet. In fact, the only macronutrient for which there is no actual dietary human requirement is carbohydrates. We never have to eat them at all! And if we want to be optimally healthy and live longer, cutting out the carbs (all the sugar and starch) can only improve your health and well being in the long run. Low insulin levels are the single biomarker that most consistently characterizes all the longest lived individuals.
Good thing, too. If Nature had been so stupid as to design us to be dependent on sugar as our primary source of fuel we likely never would have survived the extremes of the Ice Ages.
Either that, or we’d still be swinging in the trees.
For more information about this and much more look for the book: Primal Body, Primal Mind: Beyond the Paleo Diet For Total Health and A Longer Life and go to www.PrimalBody-PrimalMind.com.
~ Nora T. Gedgaudas, CNS, CNT
Perfectly said.
One day all the dieticians/nutritionists of the world will look back at this “carboholic”, “lowfat frenzy” time in history and say to themselves, “What were we thinking?”
I am completing my Integrative Health Coach training at Duke Integrative Medicine. They don’t know it, but they are soooo close to primal eating! They are still holding on to the lowfat (and carbs are okay as long as they are gluten free) mentality. I am going to forward this blog to their dietician and get a conversation going!
Thanks,
Penny
Makes so much sense to a person working with alcoholics. The whole response to sugar can stop. Love it
Nora, thank you for your kindling analogy. I use it frequently with my clients and it REALLY does make so much sense to so many people.
great write-up. we need to get this perspective into alcoholism treatment (and everywhere else, really.) thanks again nora, your work changed my life 🙂
I was a sugar burner for more than 40 years. This past May I became a FAT BURNER!! It was and up and down battle with the sugar. Interesting how all the symptoms of an interruption of a steady sugar supply match up with WITHDRAWL SYMPTOMS from a drug addiction.
I guess you could say I have been converting from a sugar burner to a fat burner – I gave up on sugar a year ago now and now while reading Nora’s book have recently started giving up on grains – just have to increase fat and protein. Im one of those skinny ones who can never gain weight and never truly feels healthy!
Just bought your book, like it very much. As an endurance athlete(bicycle racer) I’m finding it difficult to find a balance of carb intake for recovery and performance requirements. Shouldn’t I still consume starch and carbs post workout to restore glycogen stores? I train 10 to 12 hours a week with 3 workouts in the anaerobic zone. I’d love to be able to burn fat for energy rather than carbs
Very good read.
My only suggestions is explaining the difference in eating fruits and vegetables and the digestion of fructose being non detrimental as compared to the sugars from the grains, wheat, starches and other processed foods or synthesised sugar forms. The benefits of fibre, antioxidant activity, enzymatic activity, vitamins, minerals etc as well as the fire burning ability especially of green cruciferous vegetables far outweighing any detriment and not confusing this into the equation of ‘evil carbs’. That and watching ones ketogenic activity as it can eventually be toxic if out of control.
Other than that, you’ve won me over as a reader and subscriber.
With love and peace.
Awesome read Nora. I really like the way you broke it down.
This makes so much sense. I had an RMR test done and it showed that I pull 92% of my energy from fat and 8% from carbs. This article explains so much as to why I can occasionally have days where I eat 800 Cal. or less and then other days where I’ll scarf down 800 Cal. of Nutella in one sitting without either affecting my weight (note: I generally avoid these practices, but it happens). I also very infrequently experience hunger-fueled mood swings, but when I do I get craaaannky. Most of the time I can be hungry, ignore it, and if I ignore it too long I get light headed.
Nora thanks for the info. I would like to add to the discussion my thoughts. I lived 10 plus years as a “low carber” until a year ago when I turned to keto for a better weight loss plan, which worked wonders. I had energy although I felt my workouts lacked a little but didn’t pay too much attention to it as I was still seeing results. In the back of my mind though i felt keto was possibly wrong for humans due to the way our bodies are made up how fiber is such an important part of helping our bodies work properly in the “waste disposal” part of eating. In other words my BM’s sucked massively and also a few days before my 40th birthday I was sent for a colonoscopy due to a few symptoms I was having and was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease. I was pissed, I had been low carbing for 10 years by that point and felt in the best shape of my life even better than when I was In high school. Anyway doctors put me on medicine right away that I would have to take for the rest of my life. I’m 43 right now by the way. Did not attribute it to diet at all because I thought I was on the right track with my low carb and most recently being keto for past year. I did have that feeling in the back of my head that humans may not have been made to eat like this still. Our mouths don’t even have teath like the regular Carnivors we see ripping through flesh on the nature channel. This feeling I just ignored as I was seeing amazing results with keto. Anyway, watched a documentary the evening of October 14 2017 and swore off meat including fish forever diving head first into a whole food plant based diet, no refined anything. Since then I have not gained any weight, actually still taking it off, and my whole GI system seems to have rebooted itself. I also feel far more success in my workouts and my recovery has been cut in half. My theory is this that you can not have both animal fat and carbs in the same diet if you are to expect results you can only do one or the other. The major diseases set in when you mix the two (sugar and fat). If you keep the two separate and not in the same diet you have many health benefits from both. My only draw back for keto is GI Health. I wish there was more research on that. please comment as I am a seaker after truth with absolutely no biases and really no formal education in nutrition although I am a registered nurse but other than that I consider myself still at the beginning stages of my nutritional path, I just listen to my body at this point. Please tell me your thoughts. Thanks!
Dear Jared,
The problem we automatically face here is one of clarifying definitions, first and foremost. There are almost as many versions of “low-carb”, “ketogenic”, and even “Paleo”, for that matter as there are individuals claiming to practice these ways of eating. The other problem we automatically face is the fact that all of these dietary approaches have become heavily commercialized in recent years, and a large industry and a huge variety of mostly questionable products has been built up and marketed around them. The fact of the matter is that not all versions of these dietary approaches are created equal (by any stretch of the imagination), in terms of their safety or beneficial effects. I have actually taken to separating myself from these genres somewhat by trademarking a term that encapsulates my own specific recommendations with what I now am referring to as ‘Primalgenic®’. Here is how I define it:
‘Primalgenic®’: A low-utilizable carb, moderate protein and high % fat-based ketogenic diet based on foods of uncompromising quality (organic, non-GMO, 100% fully pasture fed/finished/naturally foraged) in alignment with our human evolutionary and genetic heritage. This approach also takes into account the science of human longevity research, autoimmunity and the uniquely challenging modern world we live in today. It additionally allows for the inclusion of an extremely wide variety of fibrous vegetables and greens (as desired or tolerated), providing additional phytonutrients, antioxidants and added fodder for our embattled microbiome (also allowing for added bulk and satisfaction). Finally, this dietary approach embraces the highest standards of sustainability and humane, ethical food production; always with en eye toward both human and planetary health.
BTW—(and this is important) in this dietary approach, I tend to omit dairy products, which otherwise seems to be the darling of low-carb, “keto” and paleo approaches. I believe this to be a mistake, since we are poorly genetically adapted to the consumption of dairy proteins (this isn’t about lactose intolerance), which are also very commonly cross-reactive with gluten. In fact, roughly 50% of everyone that has gluten immune reactivity also has dairy protein as a cross-reactivity—meaning that some sensitive immune systems literally cannot tell the difference between them. Their effects on immune function, inflammatory response and also potentially triggering autoimmunity are literally the same in some people. Unless a person has undergone Cyrex Labs testing (literally the only lab I trust for this) to ascertain a verified lack of immune reactivity, I urge people to avoid all of the butter and cheese, etc. commonly consumed within these dietary approaches. Dairy proteins— particularly casein— are poorly digested by humans in any case, if at all. The potential for antigenicity is quite high. Most of the research vilifying animal protein is focused on casein, in fact (something T. Colin Campbell used in his specious and frequently unscientific arguments in his overly popular book, The China Study, which has since been summarily debunked).
I also advocate for the strict moderation of protein intake, to no more than 0.8 g/kg of estimated ideal body weight per day, consumed in divided doses of no more than 20 g per meal. This recommendation does not include those that are pregnant, seeking to become pregnant, lactating, or growing babies, children or teens. Certain allowances are additionally made for elite athletes.
Of course, you telling me that you have been both “low-carb” and “keto” really tells me nothing, other than some of your macronutrient ratios. I think the emphasis on macronutrient ratios has been overly focused upon in these genres, often at the expense of quality nutrition and other important considerations.
I don’t know which documentary you watched, but I’m guessing it was something like “Forks Over Knives”, “Cowspiracy” and/or (the most abhorrent, unscientific and absurd of the lot) “What the Health”. I could fill a book with all of the problems and reasoning inherent in adopting an exclusively plant-based diet long term, but if you read my books— particularly Primal Body, Primal Mind and especially my newest book, Primal Fat Burner, I believe a fairly solid case is made for why vegetarianism and especially veganism leads to doomed health outcomes long-term. In my book, Primal Body, Primal Mind (and I believe also Primal Fat Burner) I also touch upon some of the reasons why raw food veganism offers certain short-term benefits. But (depending on which study you are looking at) you should know that anywhere from 75 to 85% of all avowed vegetarians and vegans literally abandon this way of eating within 10 years of starting— and almost always due to health related issues. I believe I cite this research in my newest book. In any case, you don’t have to adopt something as entirely unnatural to human physiology as a solely plant-based diet to drive every imaginable benefit from copiously consumed, fibrous (i.e., non-starchy/sugary) plant-based foods, without the long-term risks and detriments.
In your case, you were unfortunate enough to develop Crohn’s disease. Autoimmunity is not always triggered by dietary inclusions, but that certainly is a common factor for the initiation and advancement/exacerbation of autoimmune illnesses. Environmental exposures, heavy metals, GMO’s (and glyphosate), vaccine adjuvants, blood sugar dysregulation and even stress are also established as potential triggers. By far the most common triggers are those foods of post-agricultural origin— including grains, legumes of all kinds and also dairy products. Dr. Steven Gundry (also a former vegetarian) recently published a new book, titled “The Plant Paradox” devoted to the topic of plant-based lectins and how these almost invariably compromise the health of those that consume them. I essentially covered what he wrote about in my first book (Primal Body, Primal Mind) years ago already. Anti-nutrients in not just wild, but even modern day cultivated plants are a very real concern and source of health compromise for many.
That said, one of the so-called “acceptable” and extremely popular paleo, low-carb and keto-friendly foods that I also sometimes urge caution with are eggs. When you think about it, even though our prehistoric ancestors likely consumed eggs from a variety of birds and reptiles from time to time, we would have done so only seasonally, and in a fairly limited way. Today, eggs tend to be greatly over consumed, especially in these dietary approaches. All too commonly, people are consuming eggs with every meal in one form or another. If you want to develop a food sensitivity the best way is to over consume a particular food. The Cyrex Labs Arrays’ 4 and 10 can both help you clarify whether or not this might have been one of your problems.
In any case, there is far too much to go into to squeeze into this type of response. I strongly recommend reading both of my books, and also watching both my AHS 16 and AHS 17 talks online (they’re free). After exhaustively researching this topic over the last 20 years I am firmly convinced there can be no more natural metabolic state than one that is fat-adapted (as a primary source of fuel). But the focus needs to extend beyond mere ancestral considerations and/or macronutrients; and both human longevity research, as well as the unprecedentedly compromising world that we live in today both need to be taken into account. I also believe the exploding rates of autoimmunity worldwide need to be a central concern in the equation.
I would never say not to eat fibrous vegetables and greens. These are perfectly compatible with a quality ketogenic/Primalgenic® approach. I probably eat more of those than most vegetarians do, and I urge others to do the same. —NOT because plant foods are somehow ‘essential’ in terms of actual human nutritional requirements (something that has actually never been scientifically established—ever), but because we are living in a different world today, beset by toxic exposures, pesticides/herbicides and antibiotic overuse, and severe genetic compromise that requires us to stay ahead of these health and microbiome-comprimising factors by supplying extra antioxidants, beneficial phytonutrients and added fodder for our embattled internal wildlife. And it is entirely possible to benefit from these plant foods without adding foreign lectins in a manner that is likely to undermine your immune system or— worst of all— trigger it to turn on itself.
In my more than 20 years of clinical work and advising others to adopt a quality, ‘Primalgenic®’ lifestyle I have not encountered the kinds of problems you are presenting. By the way, you should know that the need for full-spectrum salt (i.e., something like Himalayan sea salt) becomes greater with this dietary approach, so as to avoid issues with constipation, which it sounds as though you suffered unnecessarily. Early on, added potassium and magnesium supplements are also recommended for period of time, until a person is fully physiologically adapted to a fat-burning metabolism.
I hope this limited response is at least somewhat helpful. You might want to consider signing up for my year-long educational/certification program, Primal Restoration®, where I cover issues like blood sugar, ketosis, digestion, detoxification, autoimmunity and much, much more in considerable depth (in ways I don’t doubt would be helpful to you).