DESPERATELY SEEKING GLUCOSE

Carbohydrates are controversial when it comes to dieting.?

But from the brain's perspective, what differentiates " good carbs " from " bad carbs " is actually the food's specific glucose supply. Your brain needs it.?

?No matter how many diabetologists, doctors, or journalists tell you that carbohydrates are bad for you, the brain runs on glucose, and glucose is a carbohydrate.?

The problem is, when most people say carbs, they think of white food: sugar, bread, pasta, and baked goods. As sugary as these foods might taste, they are not good sources of glucose. So where can we find this precious sugar??

There are foods that we wouldn't have necessarily thought of as sugary, such as onions, turnips, red beets, and rutabaga, which turn out to be the best natural sources of glucose.?

The red beet in particular is " Nature's candy. " A small red beet alone contains 31 percent of all the glucose you need for the day. Fruits like kiwi, grapes, raisins, and dates are also excellent, as honey.?

Whether we're speaking generally or looking for a brain pick-me-up, these foods are much better natural sources than others because they provide us with our precious glucose while minimizing the total amount of sugar ingested.?

Instead, sugary foods like candy, cookies, and even orange juice contain plenty of other sugars but hardly any glucose. For comparison.??

white table sugar is 100 percent sucrose, a different type of sugar. This brings us to the next question. How much glucose do we need? Believe it or not, you won't find the answer on the Internet.??

In fact, as of today, there are no dietary requirements for glucose ( or for carbohydrates, for that matter ).?

We need to turn to science to find the answer. The best way to look at brain metabolism is through PET scans. For many years,?using PET to study the way the brain burns glucose to produce energy ( glucose metabolism ) and its relationship to cognitive functions such as memory, attention, and reasoning While everybody is more or less familiar with MRI scans, not many people know what a PET scan actually is.?Have you ever seen one of those pictures of the brain painted in bright red and yellow or the darker hues of blue and green? Those are PET scans. The brightly colored areas are the more active of the brain, while the darker ones show a lower brain activity. Since the brain uses exclusively glucose from our diet to stay active and produce energy, we're actually looking at the brain burning glucose from our foods.?This procedure involves injecting a small amount of glucose into the bloodstream. The glucose then rapidly enters the brain and flows straight to the most active regions in the brain, since that's where fuel is needed most. But they've done something special with this glucose. It is attached to a unique, radioactive ingredient called fluorine 18, which glows as it's deposited into the brain. They used a brain scanner to detect its light, which, thanks to its varying intensity, demonstrates the degree and location of metabolic activity taking place inside your head.?Scientists have used this method to discover the exact amount of glucose a healthy brain consumes on a daily basis. In technical terms, the brain burns an average of 32 micromoles of glucose per 100 grams of brain tissue per minute. In plain English, this means that to stay active and healthy, a vital adult brain needs about 62 grams of glucose over twenty - four - hour period. Some brains need a bit more; some need a bit less to function at their optimal level. Do 62 grams of glucose sound like a lot of sugar???

In fact, it is less than 250 calories a day. And more important it can't be just any sugar. It has to be glucose.?

For example, 3 tablespoons of raw honey will give your brain all the glucose it needs for the day a comparison, you'd need to eat 16 pounds of chocolate chip cookies to achieve the same goal.