Diabetes ranks among the top ten causes of death in Taiwan. Nearly 10,000 people die from diabetes every year. According to statistics from the National Health Administration, Taiwan are more than 2 million patients with diabetes in the country, and the number continues to increase by 25,000 every year. Diabetes and its associated The resulting complications affecting the health of Taiwanese people cannot be underestimated.
Sugar affects the occurrence of metabolic diseases
It is well known that excessive sugar intake can lead to type 2 diabetes or other diseases, and that excessive sugar intake by cells can lead to the occurrence of metabolic diseases. One of the main reasons for the progression or worsening of diabetes is that the body's pancreatic islet B cells, which are responsible for secreting insulin, cannot continue to compensate and overcome insulin resistance, resulting in an increase in blood sugar levels. Mild to moderate hyperglycemia does not produce obvious symptoms in the early stages, so a large number of diabetic patients have to rely on routine blood tests to diagnose diabetes, and often their blood sugar levels have been abnormally elevated for several years. The scary thing is that the high blood sugar in the patient's blood has already caused a lot of damage and lesions to the vascular endothelial cells in direct contact or the tissues and organs they supply: small vessel lesions, including damage to the eyes, kidneys, and nerves, will appear relatively quickly; large vessel lesions Although the disease takes longer, it may lead to fatal consequences, such as myocardial infarction or stroke.
A team led by scientists at the Van Andel Institute in Michigan recently discovered that excess sugar may cause our cells' power source, mitochondria, to become less efficient, thereby reducing their energy output.
The findings, published in Cell Reports, highlight the effects of excessive sugar intake on cells and provide an important new model for studying the initial metabolic events that may lead to the development of diabetes. Although the body needs sugar, or glucose, to survive, too much glucose in the cells can affect the lipid composition of the entire body, which in turn affects the integrity of the mitochondria. Glucose is directly related to the amount of sugar consumed in the diet. The immediate impact is loss of body function.
Excess glucose affects mitochondria
Through their new model, the PhD and her colleagues demonstrated that excess glucose reduces mitochondrial efficiency by reducing the concentration of polyunsaturated fatty acids in the mitochondrial membrane that support the mitochondria. Cells play a significant role in functioning and guiding many other biological processes, such as inflammation, blood pressure, and how cells receive messages. And the study also found that excess glucose will be synthesized into a different form of fatty acid, which is less efficient and flexible than unsaturated fatty acids. This subverts the composition of body lipids and brings additional stress to the mitochondria. Stress causes damage to mitochondria, affecting their function.
The dangers of eating too many carbohydrates
Later, the PhD and her colleagues reversed this adverse effect by feeding a mouse model a low-glucose ketogenic diet. This shows that reducing glucose and restoring normal lipid composition can completely restore damaged mitochondria to health and fitness. Functionally, they also found that consuming too many carbohydrates reduces the beneficial effects of unsaturated fatty acids. Although the difference in mitochondrial performance may not be noticed immediately, our bodies will be changed unconsciously. If the lipid balance is disrupted long enough, we may start to feel subtle changes, such as feeling tired easily. So restoring damaged mitochondria is definitely a major battleground that diabetics must focus on.
By activating mitochondria, it gradually improves the basal metabolic rate that decreases with age. At the same time, it is undoubtedly the latest way to substantially control or even improve diabetes for people with low muscle mass and high fat mass who have a relatively low basal metabolic rate.
Just imagine, with the same eating habits, why do you not have the problem of high blood sugar when you are young? In fact, the key lies in the imbalance of mitochondria, which indirectly leads to metabolic imbalance. If the mitochondria of the body restore the vitality of youth, metabolic problems will also disappear. It will naturally decrease or even be cured without medication.
