@LetTheRedeemed said in "Glucose Loading" protocol, a la Dr Stephens - A Critique:
@yerrag
That carbohydrates raise serotonin as a matter of certainty is dependent on the idea that carbohydrates always raise insulin, which I would say isn't always the case.
I agree, Ray has stated on multiple occasions that to reduce the insulin spike from protein, to consume a sugar item approximately 15 minutes before the meal (meal also well balanced with carbs).
So I would agree also that certain conditions be met for sugar to raise insulin, or indeed be problematic as I’ve described. I would assume Clearly there’s more to the mechanism than is being described here. Also, I don’t know that insulin itself is the only problem. When I did some “high insulin” experiments (eating the most “insulinergic” foods recorded in databases), I felt great. Ray himself has implied insulin can be good if I remember correctly (also if I remember Georgi correctly).
I’d like to know the mechanisms of action for excess sugar raising serotonin more specifically.
A keyword search with the DocSearch+ app in my phone shows much of what Peat has to say to say about insulin to be negative.
Perhaps you recalled Ray in his March 2021 newsletter saying this:
Many years ago Gaetan Jasmin (1956, 1968)
showed that low blood glucose intensifies abnor-
mal inflammatory reactions, and that increasing
blood glucose minimizes dangerous anaphylactoid
reactions. It’s the oxidation of glucose (producing
carbon dioxide), which is favored by warmth and
the right amount of insulin, that can prevent
inflammation (Razavi Nematollahi, et al., 2009;
Also:
W. Adamkiewicz showed that reducing blood
glucose with insulin greatly intensified aller-
gic reactions, while increasing blood glucose
prevented deadly anaphylaxis, but weakened
resistance to infection. Energy metabolism
governs the effectiveness of the immune
process, including the avoidance of autoim-
munity (Gaber, et al., 2017).
Metabolic energy is involved in every
aspect of the covid infection, but that has been
denied or ignored because of a traditional,
ideological understanding of immunity.
Sep. 2021 Ray Peat Newsletter
He qualified with "the right amount of insulin (first citation)" which I believe to not be the case when blood sugar is not well-regulated, with yoyos from high to low.
Although I have not heard Ray consider insulin as a stress hormone, I would consider it to be such, and the less of it the better although I would be hesitant to be deprived of it, in an emergency situation. But that is the nature of stress hormones, to be there in emergencies and only in emergencies, and not to be availed of regularly.
Re: serotonin and insulin, a search result:
At puberty, there is a sudden increase in the
incidence of depression, especially in girls.
Increased adrenaline, like increased cortisol, is a
feature of depression, stress, and inflammation;
mobilizing fats, it can become part of a vicious
circle, in which free fatty acids cause insulin resis-
tance, activating the stress reactions. Increased
serotonin is a feature of inflammation, shock,
stress, and depression, and, like histamine, is tied
very closely to estrogen's effects.
Feb 2001 Ray Peat Newsletter