Bioavailable Testosterone

[bmbrady77]

I’d do a little more research on that one bro…

Since we can’t post links, I’ll paste an exerpt from this article (sorry for the long read)

As part of the overall diabetes discussion, there lurks the misconception that somehow fructose does not contribute to diabetes. This is a major misunderstanding. Fructose is directly associated with diabetes, especially high-fructose corn syrup. When one is cellularly addicted to glucose, sucrose, and/or fructose, they become stuck in sugar metabolism for making energy.

For years, limited and conventional “wisdom” has held that fructose does not affect your blood sugar. This is accurate on a superficial level but unscientific in its assumption that because fructose does not raise blood sugar, it does not affect insulin resistance and cause many metabolic disease problems from the metabolic abnormalities associated with metabolizing an excess amount of fructose. It is therefore falsely deemed a safer sugar than glucose. None of this has been proven to be true. A primary difference is that fructose is metabolized differently than glucose. Fructose is metabolized much more rapidly than any other sugar into fat via the liver. It is also primarily metabolized in the liver. Because of this it has also been associated with a high level of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and a rapid accumulation of a particular kind of fat (triglycerides) that is stored in both the liver and general fat tissue. This is related not only to NAFLD but also to heart disease and hypertension. Glucose, when combined with fructose (as in sucrose and high-fructose corn syrup), accelerates fructose absorption. These metabolic differences are further enhanced in light of recent research reported in the March 2011 Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism, which found that cortical areas around hypothalamus in the brain responded differently to fructose than to glucose. They found that in brain scans, glucose raised levels of neuronal activity for 20 minutes, while fructose dropped neuronal activity for about 20 minutes. This is a significant and polar difference; again, making the point that simple sugars are not handled the same. In these two different areas, then, fructose and glucose are handled differently. As one goes a little further with this story, one begins to see some other pieces. The incidence of diabetes increased about 90 percent in the two years, which coincided with the introduction of high-fructose corn syrup into our collective dietary patterns in the 1980s. Another part of the metabolic difference is that fructose is more lipogenic than glucose. High fructose diets have not only been linked to NAFLD, but this rising amount of high-fructose corn syrup use has also been associated with the rising epidemics of obesity, diabetes, and metabolic syndrome.

One of the unique things about fructose metabolism, according to Elizabeth Parks in the Journal of Nutrition (2000), is the surprising speed with which humans make fat from fructose. Once the body is trained in the fructose metabolic pathways, it is difficult to turn it off. The body makes a decision when glucose enters the system whether to store it as fat or to burn it. Fructose does not get involved in this decision and bypasses burning, going directly to storage. More and more research is showing that high-fructose corn syrup converts more quickly to triglycerides and adipose tissues than blood glucose. Fructose also interferes with leptin and insulin signaling. That is a problem because insulin and leptin act, as previously discussed, as regulators of food intake. Fructose seems to mix up the signaling, resulting in increased food intake and weight gain. High-fructose corn syrup sweetened foods also contribute to diabetes because they have high levels of complex carbonyls (also high in people with diabetes). Fructose does not contain enzymes, vitamins, or minerals, so it ends up stealing nutrients from the body, particularly magnesium, copper, and chromium. Problematically, fructose has no effect on ghrelin, as compared to glucose, which suppresses ghrelin. Ghrelin is a hormone that signals us to eat. It is called the hunger hormone. Fructose does not turn it off, so it does not suppress the appetite, whereas glucose decreases ghrelin secretion in a feedback loop that decreases appetite. Naturally, if the appetite does not slow down, one will gain weight and become obese. In other words, fructose blocks the leptin message to stop eating and to decrease cravings for sweets. Instead, fructose signals our bodies to keep eating and store fat, which leads to obesity.

[bmbrady77]

Also, there are other fruits that DO raise BG levels besides bananas, like grapes and cherries.

In the strictest sense, according to my first post about the BG and HCT both causing thickening of the blood, I was off target by generalizing based on just fruits (it was mentioned strictly due to the context of the conversation however) concerning blood concentrations of glucose. And thank you for pointing that out. I hate having a misunderstanding of something and giving bad advice. At the same time, I don’t want create another misunderstanding that the long held belief that fruits are completely healthy and safe to eat is true. It simply isn’t.

And simply saying that “fruits do not raise blood sugar” is completely false as well. There are some that do. There are some that don’t, but even those can cause other problems in the liver that can contribute to diabetic issues.

Edit to add… I will take your word on the HCG. I have zero personal experience with it and only know what I have read. It would be interesting to study further about the effects of HCG on LH receptors.

[rb74]

So is it safe to say that eating fruit is not a healthy daily activity? I don’t eat any sugar really except for some Keto treats I get a local shop… they’re made with monk fruit for the sweetener. Anyway, I’m already underweight, I have to figure out a good diet without dairy and apparently grains which seems to be impossible because how else do you keep weight and / or gain weight. I also have to figure out if I’m going back to T injections… been feeling like crap for far too long.

thanks everyone for their help / insights.

[bmbrady77]

I would say that it’s completely dependent on the person, but generally no. Fructose is metabolized entirely in the liver, and can cause a build up of fatty tissue in that organ. That fatty tissue can cause a whole host of issues, including contributing to diabetes.

For sweeteners Erythritol and Stevia are a safer alternative.

[bmbrady77]

@rb74

how else do you keep weight and / or gain weight.

This one is pretty easy. I’m going to assume “keto” here since you stated that you have keto treats from the local shop, the fact that you said you try to avoid sugars. If you want me to run the numbers with another style of diet then I’d be happy to.

If you’re trying to gain weight (and I’m assuming that by “weight” you mean muscle), then eat .8-1g of protein per lb of your current lean body mass per day. Add to that 20g carbs per day. Add those together and multiply by 4. This will give you the caloric value of the total.

Then figure out what your RMR caloric requirements are (google it and you’ll find 10,000 calculators to get you in the ballpark). Add 10-20% to that number.

Then, subtract the number you got from the protein / carb calcs from the number above. Whatever the remainder is, divide it by 9. That will give you the number of quality fat grams (Omega 3’s, MCT oil, etc) you need to eat per day.

Viola. Eat a slight surplus everyday as described above and hit the gym…Hard! You’ll gain weight guaranteed barring any metabolic disorders or other unforeseen medical reasons.

Modified Keto (a little higher protein for building) style Example…

If you weigh 200 lbs and are at 20% BF, that means you have 160lbs of lean mass. Let’s say for example purposes that your RMR is 2000kcal.

2000 + 20% surplus = 2400 kcal
So 1 X 160 = 160g protein.
If you go with 20g of carbs then 160 + 20 = 180

180 X 4 = 720 cals

2400 - 720 = 1680 cals

1680 / 9 = ~ 187g of Fat.

So to gain weight, everyday you would need to eat…

160g Protein
20g Carbs
187g of Fat

And workout hard. Of course you could not work out and those surplus calories would put on the fat fairly quickly.

20% surplus is a little extreme and is only used for this example. I would realistically start with 10% and then work it from there.