Wise Up and Stop Eating Your Muscles for Fuel

[Guest guest]

Wise Up and Stop Eating Your Muscles for Fuel

Source: _Wise Up and Stop Eating Your Muscles for Fuel_

(http://www.mercola.com/2005/jul/7/muscle_fuel.htm) , by Ron Rosedale, MD.

Some of you may be thinking, **I may eat a lot of starchy carbohydrates, but

at the same meal, I am also eating protein and fat. Why am I just burning

sugar and storing fat?** It's a good question, and it gets to the heart of the

vicious cycle.

Let*s assume that you are following the current dietary recommendations that

tell you to eat more than half of your daily calories in the form of

carbohydrate. You fill your plate with a cup or so of pasta, topped with

meatballs,

some tomato sauce and cheese.

From the minute the pasta is in your mouth, it begins to be broken down into

simple sugar. Your body can only store a small amount of sugar at a time in

the form of glycogen that is stored in muscle and liver. What's not stored as

glycogen is burned off as quickly as possible, forcing you to burn sugar,

but your cells can only burn so much off at a time.

What happens to the rest of the sugar that isn't being stored or burned? It

is converted into saturated fat. What about the protein and the fat in the

meal that you just ate? Some of the protein is taken up by the cells for repair

and maintenance, but your cells can only utilize a small amount of protein

at a time. The rest, largely, is turned to sugar and stored as saturated fat.

That leaves just the fat that is not burned when sugar is around to burn,

which gets stored away as more fat.

Why isn*t the protein and fat burned as fuel? Because you must first burn up

sugar if it is available. If you eat sugar and fat together, you have to

burn sugar first before you burn the fat. Furthermore, your cells get used to

burning a particular fuel, in this case, sugar.

When you are younger, your metabolism is more flexible, and you can switch

fuels more easily. As you get older, your cells get stuck in a rut, and if

they are used to burning sugar, they will look for more sugar to burn when they

need fuel.

You have to burn almost every gram of available sugar before fat burning

kicks in.

Your Cellular Addiction to Sugar

Being a sugar burner is not a good thing. Your cells begin to crave sugar,

and they don't care where the sugar comes from. If you go to sleep and you*re

still in a sugar-burning mood, your body is going to continuing look for

sugar to burn as you sleep. You won*t like where it gets it.

When your cells are **hungry,** they will quickly go through the starchy

glycogen in your liver and muscle to get sugar, however, your body would prefer

to save your stored sugar (glycogen) for anaerobic) emergencies, such as

sprinting away from a lion, and therefore will only give up a small portion.

Do You Really Want to Use Your Muscles as Fuel?

Thus, your cells will continue to look elsewhere for sugar to burn by

breaking down protein in your muscle and even bone, which it can also burn as

sugar. This is a far more significant cause of osteoporosis than not taking

calcium supplements.

Here's the kicker: As long as there is sugar to be had, and your hormones

are telling you not to burn fat, your cells won*t go into your fat stores. You

can have pounds of excess fat just waiting to be burned, and your cells will

bypass it to get to sugar. As long as you continue to eat a

high-carbohydrate, high-sugar, or excess protein diet, your body will keep on

burning sugar

and storing fat.

As long as you are leptin-resistant, you will stay hungry because of the

brain's inability to **hear** leptin. When you are leptin-resistant, your brain

is telling your body to make fat, store it and, importantly, to conserve the

fat that you have. You then have no choice: You must burn sugar.

Stop Eating Your Muscles

In order to break the vicious cycle, you need to retrain your brain to

instruct your cells to burn fat as your body*s primary fuel. When you are a

true

fat-burner, your cells eat fat even when you*re not eating. When your cells

need energy, they can get it from your fat stores. You*re burning fat all the

time, even when you*re sleeping, and you don*t eat your muscles and bone. Your

brain doesn*t care whether the fat just came from what you eat, or whether

it comes from deep in your viscera by delving into your fat stores.

Your arteries will also be allowed to burn their own fat stores -- the

plaque that ultimately can plug them up. If you start burning the fat you've

stored, you feel satisfied and you won't get hungry because your cells are

being

properly nourished.

Our prehistoric ancestors actually ate a lot more fat than we do today, and

did not routinely eat grains or much fruit because they weren*t often

available. They had no choice but to be fat-burners, and not surprisingly, their

bodies were leaner, their bones stronger, and they did not appear to suffer from

the same chronic diseases we do today.

I*m not suggesting that they ate an optimal diet. They had limited choices,

but ironically, they probably ate better than most of the world*s population

does today.

Once you become a proficient fat-burner, when your cells need energy, they

will get it from your fat stores. Your brain doesn't care whether the fat

comes from the food you just ate, or from the fat that is embedded in your

abdomen, arteries or other places in your body. It will start burning off the

excess fat you have stored by feeding your cells the healthy fat they need.

And, you will not be hungry: You will get healthier and you will slow the

rate at which you age.

Dr. Mercola's Comment

I could not agree more strongly with Dr. Rosedale*s elegant and eye-opening

explanation of how our metabolism works. Understanding these principles will

help us choose our foods more wisely.

Just to remind you about Dr. Ron Rosedale*s credentials, 10 years ago I

listened to his lecture on insulin and it transformed my entire understanding

on

nutrition and was largely responsible for my first NY Times best-selling

book.

He is also one of this country*s leading experts on leptin, a hormone whose

appreciation is where insulin*s was 10 years ago. Over the past few months,

he has been kind enough to expand on the new appreciation of leptin a number

of times on my Web site.

The original draft of his book, The Rosedale Diet, had the best explanation

of the science of leptin written. However, publishers are under pressure to

sell books to the masses to make money, thus his book was edited to do so, and

some of the science did not make it past the scissors.

The public*s loss is your gain in this case, as you are now able to read

some excerpts of his original version that have not been previously published.

In addition to sharing nutrition interests, Dr. Rosedale and I both share

photography as a hobby. Later this summer we are getting together so he can

teach me some of his landscape photography insights.

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

I thought eating fruit was a good idea. so eating fruit with protein

is a no-no?? just curious

 

 

, bestsurprise2002

wrote:

>

>

> Wise Up and Stop Eating Your Muscles for Fuel

> Source: _Wise Up and Stop Eating Your Muscles for Fuel_

> (http://www.mercola.com/2005/jul/7/muscle_fuel.htm) , by Ron

Rosedale, MD.

> Some of you may be thinking, **I may eat a lot of starchy

carbohydrates, but

> at the same meal, I am also eating protein and fat. Why am I just

burning

> sugar and storing fat?** It's a good question, and it gets to the

heart of the

> vicious cycle.

[Guest guest]

I have read that is seveal places. Usually it seems that eating

fruit alone is best. Or a little while after a meal.

I know just from personal experiance that many people under rate

just how much the sugar in fruit really effects us. I have found that

I lose weight effortlessly on a high fat and high protein diet. But

if I eat fruit too, it doesn't work at all - instead of the fat being

used as energy it always just gets stored as fat if I eat any fruit

at all. I didn't think an apple a day would have that much effect,

but it does. This article explains how that works.

 

blessings

Shan

 

, " ealaara "

<wardrobewiz wrote:

>

> I thought eating fruit was a good idea. so eating fruit with

protein

> is a no-no?? just curious

>

>

> ,

bestsurprise2002@

> wrote:

> >

> >

> > Wise Up and Stop Eating Your Muscles for Fuel

> > Source: _Wise Up and Stop Eating Your Muscles for Fuel_

> > (http://www.mercola.com/2005/jul/7/muscle_fuel.htm) , by Ron

> Rosedale, MD.

> > Some of you may be thinking, **I may eat a lot of starchy

> carbohydrates, but

> > at the same meal, I am also eating protein and fat. Why am I

just

> burning

> > sugar and storing fat?** It's a good question, and it gets to

the

> heart of the

> > vicious cycle.

>

[Guest guest]

I have read some good sources in the past that recommend not mixing

fruit with protein in the same meal. I have not done it for years and I

am still alive, so it must be true. :0)

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

There is a school of thought that says that fruit should be eaten alone

because it passes faster than everything else and when eaten with other

stuff it stays in the stomach and rot. Do you know what I am talking

about? There is a name for it.

 

Maria

 

, Alobar <Alobar

wrote:

>

> How does if follow that " it must be true " ? I used to mix fruit and

> protein all the time before I became diabetic and had to stop eating

> fruit, and I am also still alive. But that does not " prove " that the

> admonition not to mix fruit and protein is false.

>

> Alobar

>

> On 11/18/08, Jim Clark <huuman60 wrote:

> > I have read some good sources in the past that recommend not mixing

> > fruit with protein in the same meal. I have not done it for years

and I

> > am still alive, so it must be true. :0)

> >

> >

>

[Guest guest]

This is an interesting topic because for quite a while I have not

been able to digest food. I ahve reflux sometimes, but mostly, the

food burns and doesn't digest, unless I eat my papaya enzine soon

after eating.

 

Well, the other day I decide to eat oranges after my meal and for the

first time in many months I didn't have problems with the food in my

stomach. Needless to say that I am now eating oranges after every

meal, though the side effect is not pretty: a lot of mucous.

 

Go figure.

 

Maria

 

, Alobar

<Alobar wrote:

>

> Not much in the way of living bacteria or yeast in the stomach to

> ferment anything. Stomach acid takes care of that. And it is not

> like food sits in the stomach for days. More like an hour or two

> unless one grossly overeats.

>

> Alobar

>

> On 11/27/08, deborah_j_thorpe <deborah_j_thorpe wrote:

> > As sugar is carbohydrate it breaks down in the mouth first and

then in

> > the duodenum (first part of intestine). Protein breaks down in the

> > stomach. If you eat a diet heavy in protein, the sugar sits in

the

> > stomach whilst the protein is being broken down. Only when the

protein

> > is broken down do the sugars move on to the intestine.

> > So it is possible to have fruit/sugar fermenting in the stomach

whilst

> > it is waiting for the protein to be processed.

>

[Guest guest]

Thanks Alobar.

Do you think this is a good idea seeing that my stomach is way too

sensitive and I cannot digest food naturally?

 

I will try it, anyway. Thank your friend for me.

 

Maria

 

 

, Alobar

<Alobar wrote:

>

> Maria,

> I showed your post to a friend who asked me to pass this back to

you.

>

> Alobar

>

> Tell Maria to eat a tiny piece (about the width and length of your

> thumb) of the whole peel (white part included) of the orange after

she

> finishes her oranges. Yes it is bitter but the mucus will be

resolved.

> Tangerine peel works even better. She could also just be allergic/or

> just sensitive to oranges too.

>

> Re food combining in general:

> I always say try it and see what works for you. I do find some items

> wholly incompatible for my digestion such as a traditional american

> sandwich with white bread, meat, cheese, vegetable, and fruit

(tomato)

> just make a lumpy mucus ball in my stomach. Dairy with just about

> anything is incompatible for me as well as tomatoes. Some people can

> eat this stuff just fine though. When i am sick, I find food

combining

> more useful than when i am not. So i'm not sold on it as a way of

life

> but i find the principles sometimes useful.

>

>