Browse: Home / IR / Glycine in insulin resitance

Menu

Skip to content
  • About
  • Better Body Chemistry School
  • Book a health conversation
  • Speaking query
  • The “Big” Spoons
  • Donate
Header image

BBC

Small things can make a big difference to your health

advertisement

Menu

Skip to content
  • Home
  • START HERE
  • Free Resources
    • 31 days to Better Body Chemistry
    • Willpower Report
    • Better Body Chemistry for Expecting Moms
    • The ups and downs of insulin resistance
    • Candy Floss Boards
  • Meet the Team
  • Library
  • Lucky dip
  • Better Body Chemistry TV
    • Video gallery for Expecting Moms
    • Video gallery for people with metabolic syndrome
    • Video gallery of how to survive flu season
  • Sound bites
  • Contact

Glycine in insulin resitance

Posted by Dr Sandy on in IR | 827 Views | Leave a response

Click here to view the prezi.

Share Button

Click to listen to the audio…

When you’re insulin resistant, that is, you’ve got  metabolic syndrome, pretty much every chemical in the body is NOT QUITE RIGHT.  Some are up.  Some are down.  Few are actually at physiologically NORMAL levels.

Traditionally the focus is on the big guns.

  • Sugar
  • Insulin
  • And cholesterol

In this series, we  take a look at some of the other players.

Who they are, what they’re up to and how they’re part of the state of insulin resistance.

Glycine in insulin resistant

Now, glycine is DOWN, which in and of itself is a bit odd.

You see glycine, is one of the 20 amino acids, that are the building blocks of protein.  Now when you are insulin resistant, amino acid levels run high, NOT low.

glycine supply in metabolic syndrome

So glycine really is an exception to the rule….

So what do we know about glycine ?

Well when it comes to amino acids, glycine is the least sophisticated, of them ALL.    It’s got the pre-requisites to be an amino acid i.e. it has a carboxy and amine group, but the R group is NOTHING fancy.  It’s a hydrogen.

amino acid structures

Now thanks to this simplicity,  it is easy to make.

Making glycine

We have half a dozen different ways, that we can make it.  And of course,  when we eat protein, we eat it.

In fact, glycine is considered to be a non-essential amino acid.

This just means, officially at least, you  DON’T have to eat it.

That said, when people do the maths, it seems to be quite challenging to MAKE ENOUGH of it, so a better description of glycine would be, it is conditionally essential.

The state of your body chemistry, might mean you need to eat a little more of it, to run well.

Why  is glycine low ?

The short answer……………….. at this stage, no one really knows.  There are clearly two possibilities.

You’re making less and/or needing more.

What do you need it for ?

Glycine’s biology is BIG

glycine biology

You’re made of glycine

11.5 % of the total amino acid content of the human body is glycine – so you’re made of it.   Now most of that glycine is found, in collagen and elastin.   Collagen is a protein made up of a triple helix.  The individual strands have every third amino acid as glycine.

Now when it comes to collagen, SIZE MATTERS.

rat versus human collagen requirements

It is estimated that an average human, needs 630 times more collagen, than an average rat.

Of course, if you’re bigger than average, you need more than that.  And if your collagen is taking a hit, because of bad body chemistry, you’ll need a little extra glycine, to take care of the trouble.

Remodelling of collagen, is not the only time, glycine is involved in “fixing” things.

Glycine protects against oxidative stress

Glycine is one of the three amino acids,  that make up, glutathione, your body’s chief anti-oxidant.

Glutathione’s claim to fame…………

It plays a big role in cleaning up.

In particular it mops up reactive oxygen species, that are zooting around, up to no good.    And when you’re insulin resistant,  there is no shortage of these……

Thanks to oxidative stress.

But glycine is more than a building block of proteins and a defender, against oxidative stress………… it’s a messenger.

Glycine talking

Glycine is able to lock onto special receptors……………. when it binds,  it causes chloride ions to flood into cells.  This sudden rush of negativity (chloride ions are negatively charged),  depolarizes the membrane………..

which typically  impedes responses.

glycine as a messenger

 

A glycine shortfall

Which brings us back to the point, if you’re insulin resistant,  glycine levels are DOWN.   Now shortages are NOT life threatening, but they probably impact quality of life.

And potentially contribute to the bad body chemistry underpinning insulin resistance.

So improving your glycine status, will help create BETTER BODY CHEMISTRY.

Glycine supply management

 There are two ways to “eat” more glycine….

eat more glycine

The first and more natural approach, is to eat foods that are collagen-rich, i.e. eat bones, skin and the cartilage of animals.  This is something our ancestors did on a regular basis,  but  is often absent in modern diets.

NOTE :  Plants are not good sources of glycine.

 The second option, would to include a collagen or glycine supplement, in your health regimen.

Share Button
Serum and plasma amino acids as markers of prediabetes, insulin resistance, and incident diabetes. Critical Reviews in Clinical Laboratory Sciences (2018) 55(1):21-32.  Gar, M. Rottenkolber, C. Prehn, J. Adamski, J. Seissler & A. Lechner.

Multifarious Beneficial Effect of Nonessential Amino Acid, glycine a review.  Oxidative Medicine and Cellular Longevity  (2017)  Article ID 1716701.  MA Razak, PS Begum, B Viswanath and S Rajagopal.

Impaired “Glycine”-mia in Type 2 Diabetes and potential mechanisms contributing to glucose homeostasis.  Endocrinology (2017)158(5):1064-1073.  Richard Yan-Do and Patrick E. MacDonald.  

NOTE : Glycine  is just one of hundreds of chemicals in the body that are amiss when you’re suffering from metabolic syndrome.  To learn more about some of the other players, go to our “Ups and Downs” of Insulin Resistance series.

Further reading

strong lligaments

Toughen up your tendons and ligaments so you avoid injuries

We worry about bone health, but a bone break is a rarity, a tear in a tendons or ligament if far more likely. So what can you do to avoid these ?

sugar gremlin making a women look old

Sugar addicts WILL LOOK OLD before their time

Any time you eat or drink a high carb snack, your sugar level will rise, temporarily – if this happens often enough, you’ll look old before your time

 

bone ironing out skin wrinkles

Did you know skin wrinkles are a sign of bone wrinkles ?

Sagging skin is an outward sign of a collagen short fall. A collagen shortage extends beyond the outlayer to your bones. More wrinkles means less bone.

 

Want to discover more ways to create BETTER BODY CHEMISTRY ?

Posted in IR | Tagged collagen, glutathione, glycine, insulin resistance, neurotransmitter, oxidative stress

Connect with us

facebook you tube pinterest 40 google plus 40 Linkedin

FEELING….

sign posts then you need better body chemistry.

Grab our free E-course

“31 days to better body chemistry”

The advice is simple to follow and based on REAL science, not hype

Need more information ? Click here

  • Popular
  • Featured
  • Recent
  • oatmeal breakfast being beaten by egg

    Which is a better breakfast, egg or oatmeal ?

    17164 views / Posted
  • poop getting stuck

    The fix for constipation is to go on a low fibre diet

    16714 views / Posted
  • chewing gum relieving postoperative ileus

    A stick of chewing gum gets the gut going after surgery

    16194 views / Posted
  • carbonated water bubbles fill you up

    Fizzing up the water flattens your appetite

    14425 views / Posted
  • a see food diet

    It might be time to try the TRF see food diet – it works

    11547 views / Posted
  • sun extracting cholesterol

    Make sure you have your “annual” check-up in the summer time

    / Dr Sandy
  • sending your kid to bootcamp won't stop childhood obesity

    Moving more won’t stop your kid from getting fat

    / Dr Sandy
  • cholesterol at the scene of the accident

    Bone cells are stiffening up your arteries not cholesterol

    / Dr Sandy
  • brain size the problem in ADHD

    Are kids with ADHD just acting according to their brain age

    / Dr Sandy
  • plastering the blood vessel with calcium

    Calcium supplements are building bones and breaking hearts

    / Dr Sandy
  • thinking about ice cream

    Stop “exercising” and lose more weight

    / Dr Sandy
  • serve up dinner in bite size chunks

    The secret to eating less is to serve up a little more

    / Dr Sandy
  • take the itch out

    Histidine is an effective dietary work around for a bad filaggrin gene

    / Dr Sandy
  • compression stocking helping relieve sleep apnea

    A cheap way to breathe easier if you suffer from sleep apnea

    / Dr Sandy
  • fat cells creeping out while women is sleeping

    If you don’t include sleep in your diet – you won’t lose fat

    / Dr Sandy

RSS Recent posts

Dr Sandy Dr Sandy Evans, PhD

Located in Johannesburg, South Africa

Book an appointment with Spoonful of Science using SetMore
Disclaimer : The stories and articles are provided as a service. Dr Sandy's opinions are for information only, and are not intended to diagnose or prescribe. For your specific diagnosis and treatment, consult your doctor or health care provider.
 
 

Connect with Dr Sandy

facebook 40
you tube 40
pinterest 40
google plus 40
linkedin 40
meetup 40
 

Categories

Featured posts

  • oatmeal breakfast being beaten by egg

    Which is a better breakfast, egg or oatmeal ?

    17164 views / Posted
  • poop getting stuck

    The fix for constipation is to go on a low fibre diet

    16714 views / Posted
  • chewing gum relieving postoperative ileus

    A stick of chewing gum gets the gut going after surgery

    16194 views / Posted
 

©2011-2019 Spoonful of Science

Menu

  • Meet Dr Sandy
  • Disclosure/disclaimer
  • Privacy policy
  • Comment policy
  • Contact
Redirect Stakk
Thank You

Beat your SUGAR CRAVINGS, using biology, NOT psychology

Download our FREE REPORT entitled, "How to get the Willpower you Need to Trump Sugar's Power"

  • Do you have a sugar gremlin ?
  • Discover the biology behind sugar gremlins
  • Learn about the 10 weapons you can use to TAME YOUR SUGAR GREMLIN

Get instant access