When cells say “NO” to sugar: Where health care should begin

by Barb Jarmoska

Freshlife Founder

Sugar. You know it’s not good for you. Heck, by third grade, most kids are aware of that truth, and most also choose to ignore it every chance they get. The average adult isn’t much different. That’s why over 80 million Americans suffer from a condition known as insulin resistance.

It’s a fact. When you can’t say “no” to sugar – your cells do it for you, and that’s a bad thing. A discussion of how easy it is to think of “you” and “your cells” as separate, with the cells having the final say, is a vast and fascinating subject, but one I’ll skip for now.

Cells are built for action, action requires fuel, and your cell’s choice of fuel is glucose, a simple sugar molecule. Cells need sugar the way a car needs gasoline. Because of this, they (you) are good at conversion. You eat food, and all of the food you eat — fats, proteins and carbohydrates — is broken down during digestion into amino acids, essential fats, micronutrients, and glucose. The body uses the nutrients for things like cellular metabolism, immune function, and cell replacement. The glucose is used (or stored), as fuel.

Although our demand for fuel varies from moment to moment, the brain requires blood sugar levels to remain stable. Providing the cells with the energy they need without changing blood sugar levels is where the problem begins, the problem of balance (or homeostasis in biology terms). Excessive fuel intake, especially eating too much sugar in the form of refined carbohydrates, is always a threat to the community of the 100 trillion cells that are you.

When you take in too much fuel, storage becomes a problem. The body will, of course, lay down layers of fat, make lots of triglycerides and cholesterol from all that sugar, and convert some to glycogen for storage. Nonetheless, with excess consumption, excess remains. The pancreas, knowing its job (as all organs inherently do) is to get the glucose out of your blood before the sugar sends you into a coma, produces mass quantities of insulin. Insulin is a hormone, and its job is to attach to the glucose molecules circulating in your blood and escort them to the cells of your body where they can be welcomed inside, popped in the cell’s furnaces (mitochondria) and burned for fuel.

Insulin resistance occurs when cells say “No” to sugar and the insulin taxicab that delivers it. The cells are fed up, have had enough, are tired of dealing with the excess, and simply turn out the light, lock the door, and go to bed. Problem is, most cells aren’t really supposed to sleep. (Here I go again, when you sleep, who’s asleep?)

Cells with their doors locked are actually cells with receptor sites (locks) for which insulin (the key) no longer fits. So, cells are hungry but refusing food. Blood sugar is rising, and the pancreas is desperate to do its job and so continues to produce more and more and more insulin in a frantic attempt to bring glucose levels down. Meanwhile, the oblivious person who IS these cells drinks another Big Gulp and eats another Snickers bar. Welcome to America. Do you see what’s happening here?

“But I don’t eat sugar!” you say. OK, good for you. How about stress? Have any of that in your life? When you’re stressed for any extended period of time, your body produces an excess of cortisol. This stress hormone, produced by the adrenal glands, converts protein to energy and releases stored sugar, called glycogen, so your body has the fuel needed to respond quickly. Stress, therefore, increases blood sugar. Excess blood sugar demands excess insulin. Too much insulin will always lead to insulin resistance.

Left uncorrected, insulin resistance is a precursor to a long list of chronic symptoms, conditions, syndromes and diseases. You and your cells will take your pick, based on your thoughts and fears, your genetic predisposition, your choices. The line-up is vast. The short list includes: obesity, fatigue, depression, anxiety, arthritis, high blood pressure, inflammation, pain, high cholesterol, PMS, infertility, heart disease, and of course – diabetes.

Shouldn’t the health care debate that is raging in Washington over who will pay for the medicine to force cells to open their doors and take in more sugar begin by introducing the average U.S. citizen to herself? Who loves your cells more than you do? Who ever can or will? No body.