3) THE BASIC CAUSES OF TYPE 2 DIABETES
f) Poisoning of Body Protein
Excess blood sugar produced by type 2 diabetes poisons the proteins in the body. As mentioned above, diabetes is defined as a condition where the levels of blood sugar get too high. While the results of too high of blood sugar are actually many, the major damage route is a chemical reaction known as "glycation". "Glycation" is a process by which simple sugars react with and cross link body proteins and make these proteins very insoluble, stiff and non-functional. It is basically a poisoning of the proteins of the body. There is a growing body of evidence that aging is caused by this protein poisoning. For instance, as one ages the skin proteins becomes stiff and inflexible, forming wrinkles. The lower the amount of protein poisoning (glycation) that has occurred throughout a person's life, the younger they look because they have fewer wrinkles. This is one of the reasons that couples who have been married for long periods of time tend to "look alike", the amount of protein poisoning that has taken place is identical because the diets typically are identical.
Proteins make up the bulk of muscle cells, blood cells, organ cells and nerve cells throughout the body. Poisoned glycated proteins don't work like they should; indeed they don't work at all. Since proteins are at the very core of every process in the human body, the poisoning affect of diabetes on proteins can literally negatively affect every single function in the human body, from immune response to blood clotting to digestion to nerve conductance to blood vessel function. This is why the consequences of diabetes are so complex and so far reaching. Literally every part of the body is affected by diabetes. One consequence of both diabetes and aging is "hardening of the arteries", i.e. the artery wall proteins become cross linked and stiff. The higher the concentration of sugars in the blood and tissues the faster this protein hardening ("glycation") takes place. Since diabetes is characterized by high sugar levels which cause protein poisoning, diabetes can easily and simply be viewed as just a metabolic disorder which results in premature aging if it is not controlled properly. If you want to get really technical:
Makoto et al:
"Endogenous glycations occur mainly in the bloodstream to a small proportion of the absorbed simple sugars: glucose, fructose and galactose. The balance of the sugar molecules are used for metabolic processes. It appears that fructose and galactose have approximately ten times the glycation activity of glucose, the primary body fuel (McPherson et al 1988). Glycation is the first step in the evolution of these molecules through a complex series of very slow reactions in the body known as Amadori reactions, Schiff base reactions, and Maillard reactions; all lead to advanced glycation end products (AGEs). Some AGEs are benign, but others are more reactive than the sugars they are derived from, and are implicated in many age-related chronic diseases such as: type II diabetes mellitus (beta cell damage), cardiovascular diseases (the endothelium and collagen are damaged), Alzheimer's disease (amyloid proteins are side products of the reactions progressing to AGEs), cancer (acrylamide and other side products are released), peripheral neuropathy (the myelin is attacked), and other sensory losses such as deafness (due to demyelination) and blindness (mostly due to microvascular damage in the retina). This range of diseases is the result of the very basic level at which glycations interfere with molecular and cellular functioning throughout the body and the release of highly oxidizing side products such as hydrogen peroxide.
Glycated substances are eliminated from the body slowly, since the renal clearance factor is only about 30%. This implies that the half life of a glycation within the body is about double the average cell life. Red blood cells are the shortest lived cells in the body (120 days), so, the half life is about 240 days. This fact is used in monitoring blood sugar control in diabetes by monitoring the glycated hemoglobin (GHb)level. Consequently, long lived cells (such as nerves, brain cells, eye crystalline cells, and collagen) may accumulate substantial damage over time. Metabolically active cells such as the glomeruli in the kidneys, retina cells in the eyes, and beta cells (insulin producing) in the pancreas are also at high risk of damage. The epithelial cells of the blood vessels are damaged directly by glycations, which are implicated in arteriosclerosis, for example. Damage by glycation results in stiffening of the collagen in the blood vessel walls leading to high blood pressure. Glycations also cause weakening of the collagen in the blood vessel walls, which may lead to micro- or macro aneurisms; this may cause strokes if in the brain."
Protein poisoning appears to be responsible for most of the consequences of type 2 diabetes: nephropathy (kidney problems), retinopathy (blindness), peripheral neuropathy (lack of feeling, impotence) and atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries). And it is well established that the protein poisoning of diabetes interferes with tissue healing, meaning that a person with poorly controlled type 2 diabetes can take twice as long to heal after an injury. Protein poisoning also interferes with the immune system and makes it easier for infections to invade the body. Poisoned proteins are very insoluble and are thus eliminated from the body very slowly. It can take years for the body to remove poisoned proteins from such cells as the nerves. This is why recovery from the effects of uncontrolled diabetes takes time. The poisoned proteins need to be flushed from the body. Note that there are a host of drug companies working on anti-arteriosclerosis drugs that interfere with glycation (protein poisoning) and in one case, actually reverse it, so the effect is real.
This protein poisoning mechanism is very important to consider when the subject of high carbohydrate diets is raised. Protein poisoning is caused by excessively high levels of blood sugar. Excessively high levels of blood sugar are caused by eating too much carbohydrates. It is that simple. So how any professional medical organization can argue that a person with type 2 diabetes should consume relatively large amounts of carbohydrates is somewhat of a mystery to the author. There is no research the author could find which supports a person with type 2 diabetes eating large amounts of any type of carbohydrates.
Current Chapter: THE BASIC CAUSES OF TYPE 2 DIABETES
a) Underlying Mechanism of Type 2 Diabetes
b) Symptoms of Type 2 Diabetes
c) Tests for Diabetes
d) Insulin Resistance
e) The Complexity of Diabetes
f) Poisoning of Body Protein
g) Diabetes, Protein Poisoning and Cognitive Thinking
h) Protein Poisoning and A1c
i) Well Cooked Meat and Protein Poisoning
j) Beta Cell Death in Type 2 Diabetes
k) The Hypoglycemic Spike Effect
l) The "Dawn Phenomenon"
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