On Tue, 8 Sep 1998, Gregg Carter wrote:
> EXcept for the "anger" portion of the set of Type A
> personality traits (the underlying mechanism presumed to be the rise in
> cortisol that comes with anger, and the subsequent wear and tear that it
> incurs on our blood vessels, heart, and immune system; for one Web
> reference, see http://www.americanheart.org/Whats_News/AHA_News_Releases/
> NR1551.html).
Levels of cortisol and other stress hormones are also triggered
by drops in blood sugar, which is why some people can get very
cranky or anxious when they miss meals. This raises another
point about ketogenic diets in general, and all-meat diets in
particular. These diets cause blood sugar levels to fall, which
is good if they are typically elevated. What keeps them from
falling too far, however, is gluconeogenesis, by means of which
amino acids are converted to glucose. In fact, the stress
hormones instruct the liver to step up its gluconeogenesis, so
it's a feedback loop. If the liver is not up to it, the loop is
broken and the stress hormones will accumulate.
Why shouldn't the liver be up to it? In a non-ketogenic diet,
gluconeogenesis demands on the liver would be modest and of short
duration. In a ketogenic diet they would be continuous. My
hypothesis is that there are genetic differences in
gluconeogenesis capabilities, resulting from different selection
pressures on different populations.
I recall reading (I think it was in one of Atkins' books, but I
can't find the passage now) that the Inuit when on their all-meat
diet are only in trace ketosis, whereas most of the rest of us
would be in deep ketosis on this diet. If this is true (Does
anyone else remember reading such a thing?) it would be very
suggestive of an enhanced gluconeogenesis ability.
Todd Moody
[log in to unmask]
|