Does Drinking More Water Help Lower Blood Glucose Levels?

[annoymage]

i've been questioning that water helps to lower glucose level in blood,

if maybe 40grams of glucose is maximum per day and it need 3 liter of water..

but what if i ate 80grams of glucose and 6 liter of water to dilute it,

will it work?? where does the extra glucose go?

 

[Monique]

When the blood glucose levels are too high, the kidneys can no longer reabsorb the glucose and you get glycosuria: glucose in your urine. The only reason that drinking extra water helps to reduce blood glucose levels, is that you produce more urine (into which the glucose can leach).

This is NOT a good way to regulate glucose levels, if you have glucose in your urine you have untreated (or poorly treated) diabetes mellitus and need to see a doctor!

 

[annoymage]

i see, but i wonder too if, i like to eat sugar more than normal.. but i do drink a lot of water... is that ok? for my health?

 

[Monique]

If a person eats sugar (or carbohydrates, which are converted into glucose), the body responds to the elevated blood glucose levels by activating the endocrine system to start producing insulin in the pancreas. The insulin works by stimulating cells to take up the glucose, storing it as glycogen. Excess glucose can be converted into fat, but this is an inefficient process. What does happen is that the body stops using fat as a source of energy, increases the storage of fat, and instead starts to rely on the excess glucose.

Water has absolutely no role in this process. Eating excess sugars is not good for your body, it will cause you to store more fat and may ultimately lead to insulin-resistance (a form of diabetes, linked to a high-carbohydrate diet).

 

[annoymage]

i see, i get it now. thanks

 

[cjkimber]

Are all carbohydrates that are consumed converted into glucose? My research tells me that it is the major source of energy for the body's cells. However my confusion stems from the idea that glucose is predominantly from unhealthy sugary refined based products. If one eats good carbohydrates as the major source of energy, then where does this leave them with regards to the bodies major source of energy?

Many thanks,

Chris Kimber – Southampton UK

 

[Andy Resnick]

Are all carbohydrates that are consumed converted into glucose? My research tells me that it is the major source of energy for the body's cells. However my confusion stems from the idea that glucose is predominantly from unhealthy sugary refined based products. If one eats good carbohydrates as the major source of energy, then where does this leave them with regards to the bodies major source of energy?

Most, but not all: mannose, for example, does not get metabolised by the body. Galactose does get converted into glucose, but I don't think fructose does- it gets converted into other metabolically active molecules:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose

Disacchardies like sucrose and lactose are split into the monosaccharides (glucose, galactose, fructose).

 

[Ygggdrasil]

An important class of carbohydrates, dietary fiber (cellulose), is not converted into glucose despite being composed of glucose. Out bodies lack the necessary enzymes to digest cellulose.

 

[Jon Richfield]

If a person eats sugar (or carbohydrates, which are converted into glucose), the body responds to the elevated blood glucose levels by activating the endocrine system to start producing insulin in the pancreas. The insulin works by stimulating cells to take up the glucose, storing it as glycogen. Excess glucose can be converted into fat, but this is an inefficient process. What does happen is that the body stops using fat as a source of energy, increases the storage of fat, and instead starts to rely on the excess glucose.

Water has absolutely no role in this process. Eating excess sugars is not good for your body, it will cause you to store more fat and may ultimately lead to insulin-resistance (a form of diabetes, linked to a high-carbohydrate diet).

I agree with Monique, except that I think she has been putting it too gently. Several of the sugars that appear in your blood as a result of eating sweet or easily digestible starchy foods, actually are directly harmful to many of your tissues.

Apart from such direct harm, and the risk of late-onset diabetes, an unbalanced diet can ruin your quality of life in general. I am not speaking of handwaving about natural or refined or unrefined foods, nor about fads or diets, but about simple good sense in what you eat, how much you eat, and when you eat it.

Don't snack. Don't binge. Don't frowst.

Hard, but simple! Also rewarding.

 

[Jon Richfield]

Galactose does get converted into glucose, but I don't think fructose does- it gets converted into other metabolically active molecules

Actually Andy, fructose and glucose are fairly interchangeable in the body (this does not imply that it makes no difference which you eat!) For details, check the metabolic pathways involving fructose, particularly the early phases of glycolysis.

 

[Jon Richfield]

Are all carbohydrates that are consumed converted into glucose? My research tells me that it is the major source of energy for the body's cells. However my confusion stems from the idea that glucose is predominantly from unhealthy sugary refined based products. If one eats good carbohydrates as the major source of energy, then where does this leave them with regards to the bodies major source of energy?

Chris, without wishing to sound patronising, I think you need to check on some of the implications of your metabolic pathways with greater care.
Firstly, note that glucose is one of the major hubs of your carbohydrate metabolism. It is similarly, if not even more, important in many other species' metabolism. I could, but do not, refer to glucose in chemical combination, such as in sucrose or starch.
The fact that you find glucose (uncombined) in many refined foods has nothing to do with it. The mere fact that you find it in refined foods means that it was that part of unrefined food that remained after the process of refining. You find large quantities of free glucose, fructose and sucrose in fruits and vegetables in general, whether raw, cooked, dried, or pickled.
"Good" carbohydrates in our food are not nearly, not roughly, not at all, different from "bad" carbohydrates. It is no good blaming the molecules, they are the same molecules; the evil is in the user. There is no such thing as a molecule that is not bad for you if you take it in the wrong quantities, in the wrong contexts, or at the wrong times. All our best foods are bad for you if you abuse them.
As for your bodily sources of energy, your question demands a sizeable essay which I do not have time to produce at the moment. Check out the metabolic pathways of fats, carbohydrates, and amino acids. You will find that they meet at various hubs, in particular the acetic acid molecule (or acetate, if you like).
Avoid the use of "good" and "bad" in such connections. The good and the bad are to be found in our behaviour rather than our foods.
Bon appetit
Jon

 

[Andy Resnick]

Actually Andy, fructose and glucose are fairly interchangeable in the body (this does not imply that it makes no difference which you eat!) For details, check the metabolic pathways involving fructose, particularly the early phases of glycolysis.

Hmmm- phosphoglucose isomerase. Thanks!