Is the low-carb process of gluconeogenesis more harmful than good?
When I was on my publisher’s web site last month looking up something in reference to the second book I am writing for them (due out this summer, by the way!), I stumbled across a book by one of my fellow Booklocker writers with the humorously-titled NUDE MICE: And Other Medical Writing Terms You Need to Know. Written by a dynamic freelance medical writer named Cyndy Kryder (who I was privileged to interview about this book last week and will be sharing that interview on my podcast show in August), I just knew I had to get my hands on a copy of this book as a reference tool for those blog posts that require a little more in-depth explanation of a medical term used. Today is the perfect occasion to do so!
If you’ve been following me for any length of time over the past few years, then undoubtedly the term “gluconeogenesis” will be quite familiar to you. I’ve blogged about it, recorded a podcast show about it, and even pulled in my wife Christine on the conversation about it in this YouTube video. Yes, I’ve talked and talked and talked about it early and often over the years, but did you ever wonder what each part of that word really means? Let’s turn to Cyndy’s informative new book to find out:
GLUCO–refers to sugar or more specifically to glucose
NEO–not the Keanu Reeves character in The Matrix, but means “new”
GENESIS–the beginning, or the origin or development of something
So, looking at the breakdown of the word part by part, gluconeogenesis is a new way for glucose to be developed in the body. And it really is a fundamental aspect behind why livin’ la vida low-carb works and is a natural, healthy part of restricting your carbohydrate intake for weight loss and disease prevention. Even still, there is continued confusion and misunderstanding about this process as evidenced by an e-mail I received from one of my YouTube viewers who happens to be a psychology student at her local university. She posed an intriguing question about gluconeogenesis that I wanted to share with you:
I stumbled across your gluconeogenesis video when researching gluconeogenesis because my reading in my psychology class mentioned it. While gluconeogenesis alows your body to have enough glucose when you don’t eat enough carbs, isn’t the process of why your body starts gluconeogenesis actually somewhat bad for your body?
It seems that an insulin decrease, which is what triggers the process of gluconeogenesis, robs your body cells of needed glucose for a while before the gluconeogenesis starts. So wouldn’t there be some negative health effects when you regularly allow your body to get to this point?
Intriguing questions from an inquiring young mind attempting to gain greater understanding and I admire that! One of the things I try to do is make complex issues easier to understand for the layperson. As someone without any education background in science, nutrition, or medicine, I look at these important subjects through a different prism than most health-related writers would and hopefully the people who are exposed to my work benefit from that unique perspective. I’ve educated myself and continue to learn as much as I can about these topics to intelligently articulate the key principles that can help people find the answers they need about their own health.
The great thing about what I am privileged to do for a living is that I have at my disposal a good many genuine experts in the world of science, nutrition, and medicine to reference whenever I am stumped about an issue and many of them are happy to offer assistance. One of these is biochemistry professor at SUNY Downstate in Brooklyn, NY Dr. Richard Feinman who also serves as the director of The Metabolism Society, a 501(c)3 nonprofit health organization providing research, information and education in the application of fundamental science to nutrition (they’re the ones who created that cool gluconeogenesis T-shirt design at the top of this post–GET YOUR OWN “Geeky Tee Shirt” to show off!). Dr. Feinman was kind enough to respond to this student’s concerns:
Some textbooks do imply that gluconeogenesis (GNG) is a last ditch effort after glycogen is exhausted. But this is not correct. Gluconeogenesis is a normal process that goes on all the time. When you wake up in the morning, depending on your diet, 30-70% of blood glucose comes from GNG.
Gluconeogenesis also supplies glucose for glycogen which is why, again, contrary to what many people say, glycogen is not depleted on a low carbohydrate diet. As I explain to my medical students, the cell does not have a sign in four languages, as in the old Checkpoint Charlie saying “you are now leaving the gluconeogenesis zone, Sie verlassen des Glukoneogenesis Sektor, etc.”
Gluconeogenesis is connected to glycogen metabolism, to the Krebs cycle and other parts of metabolism. This allows you to adopt to different environmental conditions in a continuous way. We do not know what an ideal state of humans was–all we know about the Garden of Eden is that there was at least one forbidden fruit.
Whatever this ideal state was, though, it was not likely to have been the high carb lifestyle recommended by some health agencies. If you do think in terms of how we evolved, it is likely that our ancestors were “designed” for extensive periods of living on gluconeogenesis and ketosis.
So the answer to the question “isn’t the process of why your body starts gluconeogenesis actually somewhat bad for your body?” is pretty simple according to Dr. Feinman–no, because it is happening pretty much all the time especially in the morning and is indelibly connected to normal metabolic function just as early humans experienced. THANK YOU for that explanation, Dr. Feinman, and for educating this student as well as my readers today on the role of GNG in our low-carb lifestyle. Don’t you feel so much smarter now?
Wow, thanks, Jimmy! More ammo against the exercise nuts who insist you need carbs for workout energy! Sheesh…