On Wed, 20 Dec 2000 07:41:45 -0500, R Bartlett <[log in to unmask]>
wrote:

>The symptoms that I'm referring to occur 1 - 2 hours after eating, when
>blood sugar and
>insulin are still elevated (blood sugar usually peaks about 30 - 45 minutes
>after eating).
>
>Lower (but not necessarily hypoglycemic) blood sugar usually occurs 2.5 - 4
>hours after eating.  Still, many people suffer symptoms when their blood
>sugar does not dip below fasting levels (or 80 mg/dl).  If they did dip
>below these levels, a cascade of hormones (adrenaline enhanced by cortisol)
>is largely responsible for the symptoms associated with low blood sugar.

If symptoms arise so short after a meal, when blood sugar is still high
then the hypoglycemia can't be an explanation indeed.

.. I hesitate, but I'd like to mention that a low level of the pyruvate
dehydrogenase could be the reason for exactely that reaction (after 1 hour).
Since the enzyme resp. coenzyme wears off in the course of processing
pyruvate, the first phase after the meal could benefit from enzyme complexes
accumulated (up to the meal). While further energy extraction breaks down
after the reservoires are used up.

And most sensible is the brain, beeing dependent on glucose,
therefore on pyruvate/thiamin too.

Whatever reason could be thought of for the enzyme lack.
I think of
1.thiamin deficit
2.a deficiency of alpha lipoic acid if it's not in the diet and if the
  producing   mechanisms (of it) don't work for some reason
3.a toxic agens that destroys the enzyme complex or one of it's parts like
 e.g. what gut clostridia could produce (according to a linked article i
 encountered on this list). Cross-linking thiamin, niacin and more.

>I still haven't found a reliable explanation for why many symptoms occur 1
>- 2 hours after eating.  It seems like a less-than-clear combination of:
>* food allergies/sensitivities in some people
>* hyperinsulinemia (maybe)
>* opium-like stimulation of brain endorphins (maybe)

The allergies/sensitivities factor could of course explain a lot.

As Todd already pointed out, the explanation i offer could be easily checked
by supplementation of thiamin plus alpha lipoic acid plus maybe b-complex.
As the artificial forms may be not working, eating living yeast cells (of
brewers yeast and only for non-allergic persons) could serve as the test.

Regards, Amadeus S.