The Heart Scan Blog - Glycation

Good short article by Dr. Davis on glycation (sugar molecules binding to proteins in the body) - not a good thing.

 

A simple blood test can tell how much glycation there is on your blood cells, it's called HbA1C (glycated hemoglobin) test, and can be order by your doctor. Since blood gets recycled about every 120 days in the body, this test tells you how much carbohydrates/sugars you have been ingesting over the long term (120 day period). The more carbohydrates eaten (especially wheat), the higher your test results will be, and the more likely you will end up with Type 2 diabetes, athersclerosis, cancer, and other heart-related, age-related health issues.

 

It's worth being tested for the next time you get a physical (you may have to ask the doctor for the test) and then getting this number as low as possible thru your diet.

The Heart Scan Blog

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A glycation rock and a hard place Posted: 12 Jan 2011 04:38 AM PST Advanced Glycation End-products, or AGEs, the stuff of aging that mucks up brains, kidneys, and arteries, develop via two different routes: endogenous (from within the body) and exogenous (from outside the body). Endogenous AGEs develop via glycation. Glycation of proteins in the body occurs when there are glucose excursions above normal. For instance, a blood glucose of 150 mg/dl after your bowl of stone-ground oatmeal causes glycation of proteins left and right, from the proteins in the lens of your eyes (cataracts), to the proteins in your kidneys (proteinuria and kidney dysfunction), to skin cells (wrinkles), to cartilage (brittle cartilage followed by arthritis), to LDL particles, especially small LDL particles (atherosclerosis). At what blood sugar level does glycation occur? It occurs even at "normal" glucose levels below 100 mg/dl (with measurable long-term cardiovascular effects as low as 83 mg/dl). In other words, some level of glycation proceeds even at blood glucose levels regarded as normal. There's nothing we can do about the low-level of glycation that occurs at low blood sugar levels of, say, 90 mg/dl or less. However, we can indeed do a lot to not allow glycation to proceed more rapidly, as it inevitably will at blood sugar levels higher than 90 mg/dl. How do you keep blood sugars below 90 mg/dl to prevent excessive glycation? Avoid or minimize the foods that cause such rises in blood sugar: carbohydrates. What food increases blood sugar higher than nearly all other known foods? Wheat.

 

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Carl