Hello, this is Fusubon owner. This time, I will explain what glycation is.
What is glycation? What are AGEs?
I'm sure many of you have heard of the term AGEs.
AGEs is an abbreviation for Advanced Glycation End Products, which refers to the end products of glycation that are formed when proteins and sugars are heated.
Although glycation is generally referred to as such, there are two main types of glycation .
These are " glycation that occurs during the food manufacturing process " and " glycation that occurs within the body ."
The former is called in vitro glycation reaction, and the latter is called in vivo glycation reaction. I will explain each one.
In vitro glycation reaction
This occurs when you cook sugar with proteins and fats at high temperatures.
About 30% of glycated proteins and lipids are digested and absorbed into the body. The browning of donuts and golden brown pancakes are evidence of glycation (known as the Maillard reaction).
During cooking, glycation reactions also produce acrylamide, a precursor to carcinogens.
Until recently, the impact of glycation on health was thought to be negligible, but recent research has shown that it is very significant.
Much research has been conducted on diabetes, but glycation reactions are also said to be closely related to the development of retinopathy, heart disease, and other conditions.
Glycation in the body
Glycation reactions in the body occur mainly when monosaccharides (the smallest unit of sugar) absorbed into the blood bind to proteins.
Many people may be familiar with the blood test item HbA1c (pronounced hemoglobin A1c, unit is %). Hemoglobin is a type of protein, so if blood sugar levels remain high for a long time, glycated hemoglobin will be produced.
Glycated materials are slowly eliminated from the body, but the half-life of glycation products is approximately twice the average lifespan of a cell: red blood cells have the shortest lifespan in the body, at approximately 120 days, while glycated hemoglobin has a half-life of 240 days.
This system makes it possible to diagnose diabetes by measuring glycated hemoglobin/total hemoglobin without relying on blood glucose levels, which tend to change throughout the day.
When AGEs bind to the receptor for advanced glycation end products (RAGE), they act as strong oxidants, causing inflammation in cells and leading to diabetes, heart disease, Alzheimer's disease, cancer, peripheral neuropathy, hearing loss, blindness, etc.
Damage accumulates over time in long-lived cells such as nerve cells, long-lived proteins such as collagen, and DNA. It is also known that damage is easily accumulated in metabolically active cells such as the glomeruli of the kidney, retinal cells of the eye, and β cells in the islets of Langerhans.
In addition, vascular epithelial cells can be directly damaged by glycation, which can lead to atherosclerosis and other conditions in areas with high blood flow, such as the entrance to coronary arteries.
Glycation is attracting attention not only from the perspective of anti-aging as the main cause of the aging phenomenon, but also because, as mentioned above, it is the cause of various diseases and is deeply related to the maintenance of health.
How to prevent glycation and AGEs?
AGEs are substances that are formed when proteins and carbohydrates combine, so preventing the two from combining is the way to prevent them. AGEs can be reduced by shortening the heating time of meat and fish as much as possible.
Fish that can be eaten raw, such as blue fish, is recommended because it also contains omega 3. In order to prevent glycation in the body, it is not possible to reduce the amount of protein in the body, so the only solution is to lower the blood sugar level in the blood.
In other words, "carbohydrate restriction" is the key. Fusubon does not use sugar or wheat flour, so it keeps outside the body's glycation to a minimum, and because it is low in carbohydrates and contains a lot of dietary fiber, it hardly causes glycation in the body.
Why not try using Fusubon to practice a low-carb diet that is less likely to produce AGEs in the body?
