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By Daryl Conant, M.Ed


Are You a Sugar Burner or a Fat Burner? T


o build muscle you must have an adequate supply of protein in the blood stream to nourish the cells of the body. The more muscle tissue you tear down from training the more protein


you must ingest to help repair the damaged tissue. Protein is the most important substrate for the body. Protein is the only substance that repairs and rebuilds the cells of the body, carbohydrates and fats only provide energy.


Muscle Metabolism


Fat and carbohydrates are two fuel substrates that provide short to long term energy. Fat can be divided into the following categories:


Simple Lipids: Commonly referred to as triglycerides. Triglycerides are esters of fatty acids and glycerol.


Compound Lipids: Phospholipids that include lecithin, cephalins, and sphingomyelin.


Derived Lipids: Phospholipids that include glycerolize, sterols, carotenoids, and the fat soluble vitamins A, D, E and K. Sugar is categorized into the following: Carbohydrates: Complex: Commonly known as long chain sugars. Complex


carbohydrates are made up of many glucose molecules that are strung together which take longer to digest, depending on the length of the chain. Simple: Simple sugars are one to three glucose molecules bound together. Simple sugars are absorbed very fast in the intes- tines.


Sugar comes in many different forms; sucrose, lactose, glucose.


All carbohydrates are broken down in the body to form glucose. Glucose is an important energy source for the body. Without proper glucose metabolism the body can develop serious problems. When glucose enters the blood stream it first goes to the central nervous


22 Essential Living Maine ~ January/February 2015


system to supply energy. Excess glucose that is not needed for the CNS is immediately stored in the liver or muscle in the form of glycogen. If the liver and muscle storage depots are full then the excess glucose will then be converted to fat and stored in the fat de- pots throughout the body. It is important to maintain proper glucose levels in the body but if you ingest too much sugar, you will store too much fat and, possibly develop diseases associated with high levels in the bloodstream. Among these are diabetes, heart disease, and high cholesterol.


Sugar metabolism can be affected in a negative way if the


body gets depleted of its glycogen stores. When the glycogen stores become depleted the body has to resort to burning muscle proteins to be converted into glucose (gluconeogenosis). Burning muscle protein means burning valuable muscle tissue resulting in loss of muscle size. If the body is burning muscle proteins for too long of a period it could potentially damage the liver. The reason why the body converts protein (muscle) into glucose is because the CNS, brain and heart must have glucose to survive. For people who restrict calories usually end up in a catabolic state, resulting in the loss of muscle tissue and the ability to burn fat.


Putting It All Together


When the muscle begins to heat up (increased respiration) and if the oxygen demand is not too high then fat is released and is allowed into the muscle cell to be utilized as energy. As long as oxygen is present in the muscle cell then fat can be burned. This is an aerobic process, known as aerobic metabolism. The thermogenic effect of the muscle results in a triggering effect of the fat cells receptor sites, the “doors” to the fat storage opens and allow fat to enter into the muscle via transporters. Once in the cells, the fat must pass through a series of aerobic enzymes that breakdown the fatty acids into single molecules followed by a couple more enzymatic reactions. Ultimately the fat molecule is burned up by the mitochondria of the cell and ATP is formed for energy. As long as oxygen is present in the muscle cells, then cell fat can be burned. This is an aerobic process known as aerobic metabolism. When the intensity becomes greater than the oxygen demand sugar metabolism takes over. Sugar metabolism starts when the intensity of the exercise exceeds the demands of aerobic metabolism. Weight training, and


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