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You should burn sugar when you get out of bed – do you ?

Every morning, just before dawn, brown fat cells burn sugar, to warm you up. They’ll do it, even if you’re insulin resistant, as long as they’re there.

If you can’t keep your sugar levels in check – YOU’RE IN TROUBLE.

It’s imperative you match SUPPLY & DEMAND.

So who burns sugar ?

The biggest (and most important) user is the brain. Next is the skeletal muscle, then the liver.

Now the way that things work, when glucose supplies are low, the brain MUST be supplied. It stands to reason – no brain, no life.

For this very reason, the other power hungry cells of the body, all have to wait their turn.

Now insulin decides who gets sugar deliveries…..

Insulin resistance keeps sugar circulating

Here comes the catch, in people with metabolic problems, the big sugar users, become insulin resistant. This means, the glucose gates don’t swing open……………

Glucose doesn’t get delivered.

Instead it keeps circulating…………

Causing hyperglycemia and T-R-O-U-B-L-E !

Oh dear ! The curse of insulin resistance…..

Another glucose user

But hang on a minute……… the brain is not the only “privileged”, power user of glucose.

Researchers from Australia have found, brown fat tissue (BAT) is also able burn sugar. They found BAT cells take up significant amounts of sugar, and just like the brain, they do so, without any help from insulin.

And BAT burns sugar, every morning …….

Helping to warm you up, so you get out of bed – literally.

BAT a glucose guzzler

Using skinny healthy volunteers, the team established, glucose was definitely being used, by BAT cells, to generate heat, in humans.

And people with more BAT, were much better at keeping their glucose levels in check.

Next, they studied what got these BAT cells in a sugar burning mood.

In the mood to burn sugar

To do this, they headed into the lab, where they studied gene expression patterns in explants. Explants are chunks of “fat”, in this case, the chunks came from the tissue surrounding the thyroid gland.

Ouch ! No one actually volunteered to donate these.

The team “borrowed” them (with permission), from people having bits and pieces of thyroid, surgically removed for medical reasons.

The team found, the BAT cells in these explants, were following a definite rhythm.

BAT cells burn sugar to the beat

Of the body’s clock.

Gene expression patterns revealed the BIG sugar burn happened at dawn.

Which is exactly the moment in the day, you need TO BE WARM.

The BAT heater, makes sure you GET OUT OF BED and go …………… to work HUNTING ! In eons past, failure to get going, especially in mid-winter, would have put you at risk of STARVATION aka. death.

So, it HAD to fire !

Glucose had to get in, no matter what. Insulin could not be the GO signal.

So Mother Nature MADE A PLAN. Isn’t she SMART ?

BAT a sugar regulator

Not a big one, but big enough to count.

These researchers found, sugar levels are better controlled in cooler weather.

Get BATting, burn sugar

Keeping sugar levels in check is MANDATORY if you want BETTER BODY CHEMISTRY. When you’re insulin resistant and beta cell challenged, it’s tough to burn sugar (and fat).

Your BAT cells could help burn sugar.

Assuming of course, you have BAT tissue. Unfortunately, not everyone does. Luckily, you can get more BAT by freezing your toosh off.  Click here, to find out how.

PS.  You might also want to work at keeping your body clock, ticking in time with the sun.

Further reading