Posted by IsoM on June 12, 2002, at 0:59:28
In reply to I get really depressed when i dont eat, posted by jonh kimble on June 11, 2002, at 17:42:40
John, reading up on blood sugar levels, I came across one doctor's idea that when the body switches from its available blood sugar to a stored source like glycogen (stored in the liver), certain people are very sensitive to this switch-over. Kind of like vehicles with two gas tanks, when it switches from the empty first tank to the second full one. Some people notice the difference & react to it, feeling somewhat like they're having a low blood sugar reaction but it's not low.
You may be one of those people. The doctor didn't suggest a little sugar but instead a small amount of "food" to even out the switch over. Protein in your diet gives a much longer sustained blood sugar level - far longer than just carbohydrates & that's possibly why you feel better from eating protein. It's possible if you ate something that was only protein (like egg whites) you wouldn't feel as good.
Incidently, for anyone else that may be reading this - even though tryptophan is an amino acid (part of protein), it doesn't readily cross the blood-brain barrier. It crosses into the brain easiest when insulin levels are high. So after a meal containing carbohydrates & the insulin level rises to store the excess glucose as glycogen in the liver, any tryptophan circulating in the blood will make it to the brain more readily to be converted to serotonin. Hence that sleepy feeling after eating something starchy or sweet.
poster:IsoM
thread:109271
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020609/msgs/109545.html