@the-MOUSE said in thpoughts this thread on AGEs?:
Here are some health problems that sugar has been shown to cause or exacerbate:
Heart disease
Type 2 Diabetes
Cancer
Cellular aging via telomere shortening
Depression
fatty liver
inflammation throughout the body
source: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8839066/
www.healthline.com
I'd like to point out that your sugar consumption needs to be in sync with your thiamine status. Burning sugar for cellular energy requires thiamine because thiamine acts as an enzyme cofactor in the citric acid cycle (Krebs cycle). I suspected that all of the negative health issues in the list above are tied in with thiamine deficiency. I think that the core issue is thiamine deficiency, not sugar itself.
Heart disease: searched for "heart disease and thiamine"
this one: Thiamine and Cardiovascular Disease: A Literature Review
"Thiamine plays an important role in energy metabolism in the human body. Deficiency in thiamine has high prevalence in certain at risk populations, and it can lead to serious morbidity and mortality. The role of thiamine deficiency in causing endothelial dysfunction, vascular diseases, and systolic HF are well documented in the current literature. "
Type 2 Diabetes Searched for "diabetes and thiamine"
this one: Thiamine and diabetes: back to the future?
"The first reports of a link between thiamine and diabetes date back to the 1940s. Some years later, a role for thiamine deficiency in diabetic neuropathy became evident, and some pilot studies evaluated the putative effects of thiamine supplementation. However, the administration of thiamine and its lipophilic derivative benfotiamine for the treatment of this complication gained consensus only at the end of the ‘90 s. "
Cancer: searched for "cancer and thiamine"
this one is interesting: The Role of Thiamine in Cancer: Possible Genetic and Cellular Signaling Mechanisms
"A significant association has been demonstrated between cancer and low levels of thiamine in the serum. Genetic studies have helped identify a number of factors that link thiamine to cancer, including the solute carrier transporter (SLC19) gene, transketolase, transcription factor p53, poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase-1 gene, and the reduced form of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate. Thiamine supplementation may contribute to a high rate of tumor cell survival, proliferation and chemotherapy resistance. Thiamine has also been implicated in cancer through its effects on matrix metalloproteinases, prostaglandins, cyclooxygenase-2, reactive oxygen species, and nitric oxide synthase. However, some studies have suggested that thiamine may exhibit some antitumor effects. The role of thiamine in cancer is controversial. However, thiamine deficiency may occur in patients with cancer and cause serious disorders, including Wernicke’s encephalopathy, that require parenteral thiamine supplementation. A very high dose of thiamine produces a growth-inhibitory effect in cancer. "
In other words, low dose thiamine may be carcinogenic, medium dose thiamine is a wash, and high dose thiamine is anti-cancer. Further study revealed that low dose = probably below 50mgs, medium dose = 100mgs-2500mgs; high dose = 3500mgs. But this could certainly vary between people. I cannot tolerate greater than 2000mgs of thiamine hcl daily; I got shooting electrical zapping pains in my thighs at night after trying 2500mgs of thiamine hcl.
Cellular aging via telomere shortening: searched for "telomere shortening and thiamine"
this one: Drinking makes you older at the cellular level
"We also found an association between telomere shortening and thiamine deficiency (TD)," said Yamaki. "TD is known to cause neuron impairments such as Wernicke-Korsakoff Syndrome. Although how exactly TD can cause neural impairments is unclear, it is well known that oxidation stress cause telomere shortening and, thus, it is possible that oxidation stress may also cause neuron death." edit: I think they mean Oxidative Stress, not oxidation stress.... A search for Oxidative Stress and thiamine yielded this: Thiamine leads to oxidative stress resistance via regulation of the glucose metabolism
"In conclusion, these findings suggest that extracellular thiamine leading to oxidative stress resistance have an impact on the regulation of glucose metabolism by shifting the energy generation from fermentation to respiration. "
Depression: searched for "depression and thiamine"
this one: Neurological, Psychiatric, and Biochemical Aspects of Thiamine Deficiency in Children and Adults
"With glucose being the primary fuel for energy production in the brain, it is not surprising that mitochondrial dysfunction and the consequent impaired glucose metabolism have been associated with several neurological and neurodevelopmental conditions (97) and major psychiatric illnesses, such as depression (98) and schizophrenia (99). The neurological symptoms in thiamine deficiency are similar to defects of PDH, which most frequently present as Leigh-like syndrome with basal ganglia involvement. Therefore, the nervous system, which is highly specialized in the use of glucose for energy generation, seems to be most vulnerable to PDHC deficiency due to TPP depletion. In the brain, the lower mitochondrial ATP production will limit the maintenance of membrane potential via the action of the Na+,K+-ATPase, thereby compromising nerve conduction and chemical synapses. Moreover, the increased oxidative stress due to the lower TKT activity will damage critical biomolecules, initiating lipid peroxidation and oxidative damage to proteins resulting in fragmentation, posttranslational modifications, and cross-linkings."
fatty liver: searched for "fatty liver and thiamine"
this one: High-dose vitamin B1 therapy prevents the development of experimental fatty liver driven by overnutrition
"Here, we tested the hypothesis that treatment with thiamine (vitamin B1) can counter the development of hepatic steatosis driven by overnutrition. Remarkably, the thiamine-treated animals presented with completely normal levels of intrahepatic fat, despite consuming the same amount of liver-fattening diet. Thiamine treatment also decreased hyperglycemia and increased the glycogen content of the liver, but it did not improve insulin sensitivity, suggesting that steatosis can be addressed independently of targeting insulin resistance. Thiamine increased the catalytic capacity for hepatic oxidation of carbohydrates and fatty acids. However, at gene-expression levels, more-pronounced effects were observed on lipid-droplet formation and lipidation of very-low-density lipoprotein, suggesting that thiamine affects lipid metabolism not only through its known classic coenzyme roles. This discovery of the potent anti-steatotic effect of thiamine may prove clinically useful in managing fatty liver-related disorders."
inflammation throughout the body: searched for "inflammation and thiamine"
this one: The importance of thiamine (vitamin B1) in humans
"In the cells of the immune system, the induction of an immune response (inflammation) is associated with a switch of metabolic energy production from glucose, from oxidative phosphorylation to aerobic glycolysis. Thiamine has general anti-inflammatory properties by dephosphorylating pyruvate dehydrogenase, which intensifies the conversion of pyruvate into acetyl-CoA; in addition, thiamine inhibits the breakdown of pyruvate to lactate. "
