Thursday, December 18, 2008

Questions addressed

Recently I have received a couple questions regarding the zone/paleo diet, and I wanted to address one of them here today. I was asked, "Why does eating large amount of veggies give me such horrible gas?"

The reason it is recommended to eat a large variety and quantity of veggies on the zone/paleo diet is because: 1) they are loaded with vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients
2) They are loaded with fiber and help keep us regular
3) They act as filler in a since (very low calorie density)
4) Fiber helps regulate blood glucose and resultantly, blood insulin levels
So this brings us back to our question, whats with the gas? Well its because of the fiber.
Fiber, termed cellulose, is rare form of carbohydrate in which the molecules that make up cellulose are arranged in such a way that we as humans can not break them down. For instance, Dextrose is whats called a dissaccaride which means its the product of two glucose molecules linked together. Now we can break dextrose down all day long, as is evidence by the spike in blood glucose we get after eating a candy bar. The reason we are able to do this is because we have enzymes in our bodies (mainly our mouthes) called amylases that can break down the ALPHA blond between the two glucose molecules in dextrose thus releasing them for available use.

On the other hand, cellulose is arranged such that two molecules are arranged in a BETA bond. They linkage can not be cleaved by amylase, but requires the enzyme cellulase. We as humans do not have very high levels of cellulase which is why being a strict vegiatarian is a terrible idea and causes a great deal of intestinal stress.

So what does this all mean? When we eat broccoli for instance, our bodies can not break it down very well and thus is passes right through us. This is how fiber works. Unfortunately while beings moderately broken down in the stomach, cellulose emitted methane gas which can lead to bloating and the eventual passing of gas.

So will I even become better at breaking down the cellulose in fruits and veggies and will I even stop producing gas? The real answer is no. Cows break down grass because in their rumen they have bacteria that secrate cellulase to help break down the cellulose. We do not have this luxury and nor do we want this. Cellulose is an excellent way to help us keep regular which is extremely important in maintain digestive health. By eating more cellulose our bodies may begin to move it through the digestive tract quicker which may result in more pooping by less gas. I have been eating broccoli for a long time and I still get gassy at times but I can directly correlate my athletic performance and digestive regularity to my consistent intake of cellulose.


The next question was about fat utilization and toxin release. I address this in my next post.

Cheers

No comments:

 
Watch the latest videos on YouTube.com