The Individual Metabolic Personality
(Chapter 7)
People often mix individual metabolism with biochemistry but it is not the same. Biochemistry is the study of all chemical reactions happening inside living things. It is the broader subject. It covers everything. How DNA is copied, how proteins are built, how cells communicate, how energy is made. It is essentially the chemistry of life.
But Metabolism is a chapter inside biochemistry. It specifically covers how human body breaks down food to get energy and builds new molecules from that energy. Metabolism is the food and energy supply system of human body. Here we will discuss this metabolism.
Metabolism has two functions:
Catabolism is breaking things down. Digesting a fatty acid to release energy is catabolism.
Anabolism is building things up. Using that energy to build a new cell membrane or store fat is anabolism.
To achieve these objectives Human body has various organs which process the food as discussed in detail in Chapter 6. Discussion on metabolism means discussion on identification of metabolic personality of an Individual. The way every person has a hair, style, complexion, eye colour or height, every person also has unique set of organic personality. That is individual metabolism.
We have read about body organs in previous chapter. Now we have shall deal with symptoms of each organs to determine which one has capacity to handle its load optimally and which one needs to be relieved of its burden as far as possible by making the changes in diet. As always, liver comes first.
Liver Efficiency
We know that the liver processes fatty acids after digestion. Some people’s livers convert stearic acid into oleic acid quickly and efficiently. Others do it slowly. This changes how saturated fat affects their blood.
Some people naturally produce more LDL receptors. More receptors means the liver clears LDL from blood faster. Fewer receptors means LDL builds up even on a moderate fat diet.
In other words some livers are sprinters. They run like professional runners. Other livers are normal who handle the walk fine but can not carry weight or sprint. If they are burdened they fatigue after meals. Some may feel nauseous or bloated after fatty meals.
Another symptom is recovery from jaundice. It is fairly common illness, especially in India. How long did it take to recover? A week or ten days is a sprinter. It it took long long time or if a person had to be hospitalized for support. He has a Nawab or Prince for liver. Do not burden such liver too much.
There are other signs worth watching. Some people wake up with a bitter taste in the mouth every morning. They assume it is nothing. It is the liver speaking. Some notice their urine is darker than normal even when they are drinking enough water. Some feel a mild heaviness on the right side under the ribcage after a heavy meal. That is where the liver resides and is working harder than it should.
The whites of the eyes are another honest indicator. A slight dullness or faint yellow tint that is not full jaundice but not quite white either. Do not ignore it. Reduce burden on liver.
Alcohol is perhaps the most direct test of liver efficiency. A person who cannot tolerate even small amounts of alcohol without feeling unwell has a liver that is already carrying a full load. It has no spare capacity. That same liver will also struggle with heavy fats.
Before moving on to the Intestine, let us be clear that Intestine and Gut are two different organs. Let there be no confusion about it.
Intestine means small intestine mainly. It absorbs with enzyme production. It does lactose processing as also bile dependent fat processing.
Gut is large intestine and colon. It is fermentation of useful fatty acids from waste and fiber is processed. This is the place of struggle between constipation and bowel movement. This, the place and movement, we do not like to discuss in public.
So back to intestine and its personality.
Intestine
Papaya is fruit I hated my entire childhood. It was fed to children whenever their stomach was upset. But hate was due to its taste. It was never sweet. At best it was not raw like pumpkin but certainly softer than pumpkin.
The technology changed in 1990s or so. Now there are hybrid papayas everywhere. These are sweet and red inside. It has not many seeds and taste better than melon in off season. In New Delhi it is available around the year. Some vendor sell it as cut fruit and they have a crowd ready to buy.
Papaya contains papain. It is a natural enzyme that helps break down protein in the small intestine. People with weak intestinal enzyme production find papaya genuinely helpful after meals. It does the intestine’s job for it. It is so effective that their are capsules made from it which are sold for medicinal purpose. Once I met a brewer and he told me that they use papaya capsule sometime to manage the brew.
Fruits, in general have digestive enzymes. Addition of fruit to the daily diet is a healthy decision which no one will regret. In fact many nutritionists advise that daily food intake should have 40% fruit component.
But do not let enzyme take your eyes away from the real thing. Acid. Human body produces acid and uses it to digest food. All the hyper-acidity, people feel is the making of the human body itself to deal with the food thrown into it. If hyper-acidity is one end of problem, low acidity is another problem which may manifest in pain in intestine or may manifest as constipation in large intestine and colon.
Lactose intolerance also happens in intestine. Pain, if happens within few hours of eating, it is in intestine. Sometime people have a sprinter intestine but a weak gut which creates a big problem. A person can have a strong intestine and a weak gut or the other way around.
Acidity, bloating, hiccups all that happens in intestine. Discomfort within one hour of eating points to stomach or upper intestine. Two to four hours later points to small intestine working hard.
Eat a meal cooked in coconut oil or any other oil one want to test. Note when and where discomfort starts. That timing tells exactly where the intestine stands with that particular fat.
Meal combinations also matter. Some people have problem with something as innocuous as cauliflower. Other have problem in eating meat with rice together.
Lactose tolerance is well known but real story is not know. Many person who complain intolerance for milk will have no problem in drinking freshly milked milk. The problem is in packaged milk. Fresh milk from a cow within an hour contains live enzymes including lactase that help digest the milk itself. Pasteurization and packaging destroys those enzymes completely. Often intolerance is caused by this robbery of enzymes.
A good vomit immediately after eating is a sign of a sensitive intestine which could take a decision to purge immediately. That is a sign of smart intestine. But an intestine which chose to suffer pain in digesting is again Nawab Wazid Ali Shah trying to put on shoes in Lucknow. (look up for reference). Do not burden this Nawab.
Gut Microbiome Matters
Colon surgery today is generally reserved for specific medical problems, not ordinary constipation. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, doctors were of the opinion that long intestine causes constipation. To correct the problem bowel surgery was often performed to reduce the size of colon. The idea was part of a broader historical obsession with constipation as a major cause of illness.
Constipation is now understood to have many causes, including low fibre intake, low fluid intake, inactivity, medication effects, stress, and sometimes underlying disease.
The length of the large intestine actually reflect the storage and processing capacity of this vital organ. The gut bacteria determine how much butyric acid gets produced from fiber fermentation. People with diverse gut bacteria produce more butyric acid, which protects the colon. People with poor gut health produce very little. However orally taking ghee helps. The microbiome in gut also affects how well you absorb and break down long chain fatty acids like erucic acid (C22).
There are researchers who are researching gut and poop. Barry Marshall and Robin Warren won the 2005 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discovering Helicobacter pylori and showing it causes gastritis and peptic ulcer disease. Their work overturned the old medical view that ulcers were mainly caused by stress or acid alone. Their discovery showed that a bacterium can drive major stomach disease.
David Hu and colleagues were honored for studies including how wombats produce cube-shaped feces and the physics of defecation.
Thus, it can not be disputed that gut is the test of health. The time it takes after waking up for bowel movement to happen is the ultimate test. If it happens immediately or within the hour is a sprinter colon. Afternoon or evening means the colon is sluggish. No movement for days is the Nawab who is unable to wear his own shoe. It need helps. Start with light but fibrous food. Avoid processed food altogether.
I have noted a strange coincidence. Misers are often miser to disgorge too. Nothing scientific about it but this happens.
While papaya is digestive if taken after or alongwith meal. It often induce bowl movement if taken on empty stomach. But for colon the real fruit is a salad called cucumber. Over decades it has turned out to be a wonder medicine for colon. Tried and tested over various situations.
As a child, I came across a loofah. My father looked at me and laughed. Do you know what this scrubber is made of? I could not guess anything. Cucumber, he answered. Yes a cucumber has so much fiber that a dried cucumber can act as scrubber. This is what cucumber taken in salad along with meal does. It scrubs the colon from inside too. It also has properties which tells the colon to calm down and do not rush things. Remember recycling and disgorgement is a serious business which can not be delayed but it also can not be rushed. Why?
Because smell and consistency tell that story. Strong unpleasant smell indicates poor fermentation, unhealthy microbiome or just a rushed job. That is something awful to talk and worse to discuss.
When the colon rushes it does not complete fermentation. The gut bacteria do not get enough time to produce butyric acid from fiber. The colon wall does not absorb water properly. Nutrients that should be reclaimed are lost. The whole recycling system produces poor output because the factory was shut down before the shift ended.
And when it is too slow the opposite happens. Fermentation goes too far. Gases build up. Toxins that should have left the body get reabsorbed. The factory ran a double shift on material that should have been dispatched.
Cucumber regulates the pace. Neither rushing nor delaying.
Pancreas
Pancreas perform two jobs. One is digestive by producing enzymes that break down fat, protein, and carbohydrate in the small intestine. Without these enzymes food passes through largely undigested. This is the exocrine pancreas.
Second job is metabolic. It produces insulin and glucagon. These two hormones manage blood sugar. Insulin brings sugar down by converting it to fat. Glucagon brings sugar up. They work as a pair keeping blood sugar in a narrow safe range. This is the endocrine pancreas.
Metabolic job is like that of traffic controller. The traffic flows from Fat to Blood. Insulin builds fat. Glucagon burns it into sugar. Malfunction can cause obesity to skeleton body, apart from other life threatening consequences.
People with insulin resistance process fat very differently. When cells resist insulin, the body keeps releasing fatty acids into the bloodstream. Triglyceride levels stay elevated longer after meals. The same meal that is harmless for an insulin-sensitive person can spike triglycerides dangerously in a diabetic or pre-diabetic person.
All those bloating signs could be a lazy functioning of pancreas which is not able to build enzymes for food to digest.
A specific heavy fatigue. Craving for sweet things urgently and frequently. Blurred vision temporarily after eating. Excessive thirst. Frequent urination. Trembling or weakness if meal is delayed even slightly.
Too little Insulin cause Hyperglycemia. Slow damage to blood vessels and nerves over years. Too much insulin cause hypoglycemia. Immediate emergency. Body screams for sugar instantly.
Often overweight people do not realize why all that walk and exercise is not working. It was more so in post-covid recovery when pancreas become trigger happy. Small amounts of sugar produced large insulin spikes. Large insulin spikes produced disproportionate fat storage. When measured one kg of sweets taken over 2 months multiplied into 6 kg of body weight.
Meet the sharpshooter of insulin. How trigger happy is the pancreas? Know and act accordingly.
Kidney
Common misconception is that kidney is a kind of water filter installed in the body which filters the water we drink. It is not so simple.
Human bloodstream is like that Express Highways. Everything travels on it when it is not transported through body cells. Fat, Acid, Sugar, Hormones, and water all is riding on blood cells. So who is managing the Expressway by keeping it clean from litter?
Kidney processes all the waste that fat metabolism produces in bloodstream. When fatty acids are burned for energy they leave acidic waste products in the blood. Kidney filters these out.
When body burns fat heavily, especially during fasting or low carbohydrate eating, it produces ketones as byproduct. Kidney has to excrete these through urine.
Morning puffiness around eyes is the earliest sign which becomes normal in old age when whole body is slowing down.
Ankle swelling is caused by gravity. It pulled down the fluid that kidney failed to process during the day. Frequent urination at night is another symptom. Kidney working overtime to catch up on what it could not process during the day.
I have met people with swollen ankles and totally oblivious of their kidney problem. They have assumed that it happens in old age. The person was not some rustic villager but from Canada where healthcare is state duty but Allopathy does not have treatments to renew the kidney as Ayurveda has. But discussion on treatment is beyond the scope of this writing.
Persistent mild lower back pain on both sides of spine could be caused by distress of kidney. Dark urine without any cause of dehydration also indicates kidney stress.
Foamy urine indicates protein leaking through kidney. Cut down on protein intake or increase body activity.
High fat diets often come with high salt. Processed food always has more salt. This salt makes kidney retain water. Water retention raises blood pressure. Raised blood pressure damages kidney filtration slowly over years.
Kidney decline is painless until very late. No pain means no urgency. No urgency means no action. Swollen ankles are uncomfortable but not frightening. So people wait.
Do you wake up puffy around eyes? Do your ankles swell by evening? Do you wake up at night to urinate more than once? How much water do you actually drink daily? These four questions tell a person their kidney personality without any blood test.
Age and Hormones
Human organs slow down with age. First turn happens at 36. Second slowdown happens at 56. It may not be same for everyone. But slowdown happens and is visible to the observer. This is biological gospel truth.
This is why children metabolize short and medium chain fats very efficiently compared to older adults.
Estrogen drops after menopause and LDL rises without any change in diet. Testosterone declines in men after fifty and fat storage shifts toward the belly. Thyroid slows and metabolism follows. Cortisol deregulates and sleep suffers. One by one the hormonal orchestra loses its musicians.
Activity
A body that is asked to walk 5 kilometer daily finds ways to maintain insulin sensitivity that no hormone replacement can fully replicate. A body that lifts weight thrice a week holds on to muscle mass that aging would otherwise quietly dismantle. The hormones decline but the body adapts around that decline if given reason to.
Hormones are the government. They set the policy. But activity is the ground level worker who gets things done regardless of what the government announced. Understand hormonal shifts by age. Adjust fat intake accordingly. But never stop moving. Walking, stretching, and exercise, all matter in long run.
The bottom line is that the human biochemistry is unique. One has to learn to handle it. Human body is a vassal we are in command of. Maintain it too. Do not expect the Doctor to do it. Medical books do not have this manual. They may not believe a thing that has been written in all these chapters. They will say that it is all written out of context.
This is no advice either. Just my observation. An epistemological biography.
We started with study of cooking medium used in Moti Mahal Deluxe Restaurant in Delhi. We will conclude this analysis of health and Fats in Food by concluding about the quest for right cooking medium in chapter 8.
References:
- Constipation and Gut: https://time.com/7027908/history-constipation-gut-essay/
- Civilization and Colon: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC1071203/
- Cube shaped feces: https://physics.gatech.edu/event/cube-shaped-poo-and-georgia-techs-second-ig-nobel-prize
- Poop knives: https://www.dw.com/en/poop-knives-narcissist-eyebrows-win-ig-nobel-prizes/a-54971133
- Helicobacter pylori: https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/2005/7693-the-nobel-prize-in-physiology-or-medicine-2005-2005-6/