Can fat be converted to glucose?

[Guest guest]

Hi, all,

I know amino acids can be converted by the body to

glucose, but I need to know if fats be converted by to

glucose? I hope somebody here knows this.

Thanks

Roman

__________________________________________________

[Guest guest]

>>>I know amino acids can be converted by the body to

glucose, but I need to know if fats be converted by to

glucose? I hope somebody here knows this.

****Yes, glycerol molecules (a component of fatty acids) can be converted to

glucose. I think it takes 2 glycerol molecules to make one glucose molecule.

Suze Fisher

Web Design & Development

http://members.bellatlantic.net/~vze3shjg/

mailto:s.fisher22@...

[Guest guest]

> >>>I know amino acids can be converted by the body to

> glucose, but I need to know if fats be converted by to

> glucose? I hope somebody here knows this.

>

>

> ****Yes, glycerol molecules (a component of fatty acids) can be

converted to

> glucose. I think it takes 2 glycerol molecules to make one glucose

molecule.

>

> Suze Fisher

--snip--

Well, yes and no. The fatty acid as a whole cannot, but the

glycerol backbone can. Check this out from Indiana State:

http://www.indstate.edu/thcme/mwking/gluconeogenesis.html

Portland, OR

>>>Glycerol:

Oxidation of fatty acids yields enormous amounts of energy on a

molar

basis, however, the carbons of the fatty acids cannot be utilized for

net

synthesis of glucose. The two carbon unit of acetyl-CoA derived from

b-oxidation of fatty acids can be incorporated into the TCA cycle,

however,

during the TCA cycle two carbons are lost as CO2. Thus, explaining why

fatty

acids do not undergo net conversion to carbohydrate.

The glycerol backbone of lipids can be used for gluconeogenesis.

This

requires phosphorylation to glycerol-3-phosphate by glycerol kinase

and

dehydrogenation to dihydroxyacetone phosphate (DHAP) by

glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase(G3PDH). The G3PDH reaction is

the same as that used in the transport of cytosolic reducing

equivalents into the

mitochondrion for use in oxidative phosphorylation. This transport

pathway is

called the glycerol-phosphate shuttle. The glycerol backbone of

adipose tissue

stored triacylgycerols is ensured of being used as a gluconeogenic

substrate

since adipose cells lack glycerol kinase. In fact adipocytes require a

basal level

of glycolysis in order to provide them with DHAP as an intermediate in

the

synthesis of triacyglycerols.<<<<<

[Guest guest]

Thank you, but this is too complex for me to answer a

question I have in mind. What made me ask this

question is an argument on another list whether

dietary carbs (he stresses carbs from plants, for some

reason) are essential (or at least desired) for life

and health. A person who says they are says that brain

prefers glucose as a fuel, even though, it can run on

ketones. While this doesn't prove that carbs are

essential since the brain can run on fat metabolism

byproducts, carbs are a desired part of diet. And he

cites Okinawa Japanese as an example -- they are the

longest living people and are healthy, cognitive, etc.

They have about 65% or so carbs in their diet.

I know Masai and Eskimos didn't consume much plants,

and Eskimos didn't consume much carbs at all (Masai do

get a lot of carbs from milk), but I haven't heard

that either Eskimos or Masai are famous for their

mental performance. I hope no Eskimo or Masai read

this. How does brain do on ketones compared to

glucose? Is there data for that?

Roman

--- sraosha87 <sraosha@...> wrote:

http://www.indstate.edu/thcme/mwking/gluconeogenesis.html

>

>

> Portland, OR

>

> >>>Glycerol:

>

> Oxidation of fatty acids yields enormous

> amounts of energy on a

> molar

> basis, however, the carbons of the fatty acids

> cannot be utilized for

> net

> synthesis of glucose. The two carbon unit of

> acetyl-CoA derived from

> b-oxidation of fatty acids can be incorporated into

> the TCA cycle,

> however,

> during the TCA cycle two carbons are lost as CO2.

> Thus, explaining why

> fatty

> acids do not undergo net conversion to carbohydrate.

>

> The glycerol backbone of lipids can be used for

> gluconeogenesis.

> This

> requires phosphorylation to glycerol-3-phosphate by

> glycerol kinase

> and

> dehydrogenation to dihydroxyacetone phosphate (DHAP)

> by

> glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase(G3PDH). The

> G3PDH reaction is

> the same as that used in the transport of cytosolic

> reducing

> equivalents into the

> mitochondrion for use in oxidative phosphorylation.

> This transport

> pathway is

> called the glycerol-phosphate shuttle. The glycerol

> backbone of

> adipose tissue

> stored triacylgycerols is ensured of being used as a

> gluconeogenic

> substrate

> since adipose cells lack glycerol kinase. In fact

> adipocytes require a

> basal level

> of glycolysis in order to provide them with DHAP as

> an intermediate in

> the

> synthesis of triacyglycerols.<<<<<

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Roman-

>A person who says they are says that brain

>prefers glucose as a fuel, even though, it can run on

>ketones.

Actually, Atkins says the opposite -- the brain prefers ketones, and I

believe he has supporting documentation, though I don't remember what it is.

>And he

>cites Okinawa Japanese as an example -- they are the

>longest living people and are healthy, cognitive, etc.

>They have about 65% or so carbs in their diet.

The higher the carb content of one's diet, the more careful and rigorous

one has to be with the proteins and fats in the diet.

>How does brain do on ketones compared to

>glucose? Is there data for that?

Well, this isn't data, but I didn't notice any degradation in mental

performance when I was in weight-loss ketosis a few years ago.

-

[Guest guest]

>And he

>cites Okinawa Japanese as an example -- they are the

>longest living people and are healthy, cognitive, etc.

>They have about 65% or so carbs in their diet.

http://www.vegan-straight-edge.org.uk/foodproc.htm

This reminds me of something that's been bothering me. About a week ago, I

stumbled across the article above, which suggests that low-carbohydrate

diets promote superior health by accelerating growth, which has the

unfortunate result of shortening lifespan. Now, as the domain name suggests,

it's pure vegan propaganda (though ironically based on Price's research),

but this does resonate with some things I've heard before, which makes it

hard to dismiss out of hand.

First of all, it is widely believed--with good cause, in my insufficiently

educated opinion--that humans have a finite lifespan. Even in the primitive

societies which consumed healthful, traditional foods, people who weren't

killed in one way or another eventually grew old and died. If I'm not

mistaken, the so-called " programmed cell death " is generally accepted as the

explanation for this--that is, because of the way in which DNA is copied

when cells divide, each time a cell divides, its DNA is slightly truncated,

which--after a certain number of divisions--results in certain genes being

deleted, making it impossible for the body to produce necessary proteins.

Now, it seems to me that anything that results in cells dividing faster

would result in a shortened lifespan, all else being equal. The rapid muscle

growth and repair of existing health problems on traditional, high-calorie,

low-carbohydrate diets would seem to suggest that something along the lines

of accelerated cell replication is going on.

Similarly, calorie-restricted diets have been shown to increase lifespan in

lab animals while decreasing their health and vitality, causing such

problems as low body weight and sterility.

So...does anyone else have any thoughts on this? Is there anything to it, or

is it just more anti-meat scaremongering? Are we trading quantity of life

for quality--burning the candle at both ends, if you'll pardon my abuse of

the metaphor--or is it possible to have both?

To go off on a slight tangent, does anyone know how true " death by old age "

occurs? That is, if cancer and heart disease and all the other modern

degenerative diseases don't kill you, what does? I mentioned " programmed

cell death " above, but how does that manifest itself on a human scale?

Thanks.

_________________________________________________________________

Send and receive Hotmail on your mobile device: http://mobile.msn.com

[Guest guest]

--- Berg <brberg@...> wrote:

> Similarly, calorie-restricted diets have been shown

> to increase lifespan in

> lab animals while decreasing their health and

> vitality, causing such

> problems as low body weight and sterility.

>

I actually read or heard on TV that the experimental

lab animals were more agressive and active. It's seems

that there's some informational confusion regarding

this.

Roman

__________________________________________________

[Guest guest]

you have excellent questions!

Saddly you would think by now we would have analyzed the human bodies needs and

be able to predict the best fuel and maintenance for never depreciating... yet

all I see are conflicting studies and rules and " data " that still doesnt even

have a basic idea of anything!

Its somewhat maddening isnt it.? Seems that there is enough data of some kind

for everyone to " prove " there foundations.

The real sad part is that true true unadulterated data maay not even be

available since so many folks skew to get the results they wish.

remember again the " ancient " people in some mountain town were later discovered

to be no where near what they claimed as far as age.

Now many people swear by the Okinawans becaue of record keeping of the Japanese,

but perhaps their sub specie of humans are acclimated to that diet and anyone

else from african, arctic, european stock would not anywhere as well...same goes

for any of the sub species of humans...acclimated to their environment and their

results dont transfer to others.

Agh! What to do!

bob

SLF