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RE: What a No-Carb Diet Can Do To You

in #science6 years ago

Carbs are an essential energy source for the body. This is especially true of the brain, whose preferred source of energy is glucose (a type of simple carbohydrate). Though it's not all bad.

A lot of studies have proved that the above statement is patently wrong. For example:

Both short-term PET and arterio-venous difference studies in humans show that brain glucose consumption decreases as ketone availability to the brain increases. These results suggest that ketones are actually the preferred energy substrate for the brain because they enter the brain in proportion to their plasma concentration irrespective of glucose availability; if the energy needs of the brain are being increasingly met by ketones, glucose uptake decreases accordingly. This decrease in brain glucose uptake when both ketones and glucose are available supports the notion that ketones are the brain’s preferred fuel.

Source

Glucose is actually not a preferred source but convenient. Other cells, like the heart muscle cells, preferred acetoacetate (ketone bodies) over glucose for a stable energy supply.

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I see. Thanks for pointing that out. I had the idea when I was reading further that the brain actually was not being "starved" when carbohydrate supplies are low. This sheds a lot of light on my misconception. Thanks @conficker