[ExI] Carbohydrates and energy

[J. Stanton]

[Once again, this reply disappeared.  Resending.  I believe the pattern 
is that if I haven't posted in a day or two, the list eats my first 
message but posts subsequent ones.]

I'm very busy right now and owe a couple other replies, but I couldn't
let this go by:

Harvey Newstrom wrote:
> Given all this, it is clear that the body evolved to eat carbs for
> energy.  Eating anything else is just an inefficient way to get carbs
> for energy.  Nothing else can provide any energy without first being
> converted to carbs.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beta_oxidation

Please have some understanding of basic metabolic pathways before making 
such pronouncements.

Therefore, it is ludicrous to deny that carbs are
> the primary macronutrient for human nutrition.

Recall that the amount of glucose in your bloodstream at any one time is
about a teaspoon. Much less and your cells die for lack of energy: much
more and they're slowly poisoned (the complications of diabetes are
simply long-term glucose poisoning of your tissues).

Therefore, unless your high-carbohydrate diet is based on an intravenous
glucose drip carefully metered to keep exactly a teaspoon in 
circulation, it is clear that most of the 'carbohydrates' (sugars) you 
eat will be converted either to glycogen or to palmitic acid before you 
use them.

As the glycogen reserves of sedentary people tend to be full, most 
dietary carbohydrate is converted to palmitic acid -- a horrible, evil, 
artery-clogging saturated fat!  And fructose is either converted 
directly to liver glycogen or to fat.

A high-carb diet is a high-fat diet.



My approach is to eat an amount of glucose more proportional to my
body's actual use for it: ~20% of calories, more if I'm doing hard
aerobic work. Much of the remainder is fat, which is both the body's
most efficient energy source and a necessary delivery matrix for crucial
fat-soluble vitamins like A, D, E, and K2...not to mention choline and
other important nutrients in which most of us are deficient.

Also keep in mind that glycemic index is far more dependent on the fat
content of the meal than on the "complexness" of the carbohydrate:
http://www.gnolls.org/1029/fat-and-glycemic-index-the-myth-of-complex-carbohydrates/
Shortlink: http://www.gnolls.org/?p=1029

JS
http://www.gnolls.org