On Eating - a row of smithereens about hunger and eating No 08

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fruit boxes with different kinds of apples: boscop, idared, golden delicious, pink lady c ignazwrobel

Yesterday: The just in case safety margin.

Today: constancy of the system

This news will certainly not contribute a lot to rise our level of hilarity. Our body has a complete different point of view towards weight than we have.

The instruction mother nature gave to our feedback control system is: keep and hold whatever you can get and try to get more.

Why an instruction like this? Our body has no idea of the invention of super markets.

To find food at the right time is a constant gambling between life and threat of death by lack of energy supply. – lack of food.

We might be lucky enough to kill the uggly saber-toothed cat – or not.

We all heard of a thing called set point. The body has a benchmark in it´s system saying: we are satisfied if the body weight is bobbing up and down a weight of NN.

To sustain the status quo of the system the body will give away the profusion of energy by developing heat, widening our blood vessels.

If there´s not enough energy on the other hand the body saves energy by constricting the blood vessels. But this is just a very weak mechanism, widely overframed by the tendency to store whatever the body can get.

The trap is: If there´s constantly an overflow of energy in form of food available, the body simply rises the benchmark of our setpoint.

We easily can imagine the consequences. If our body has the opportunity to store the experience our body fat storage magazines were filled at one point in time to 125 kilo there´s a hooray cry inside the system.

We can get more! So the old benchmark 81 kilo becomes obsolete, the new one is 125 kilo.

The system tries now to keep the substance. – by what means?

By challenging energy supply for 125 buddies instead of for troops of just 81 of our comrades.

With other words: if our weight is higher, we do indeed suffer from a bigger desire for a higher amount of energy supply.

Our body doesn´t judge between our "good" organs and muscles and our "bad" fat.

For our body everybody on board has the same rights. The right to get nourished in a satisfactory way.

Tomorrow: constancy of weight: the sparrows.

On Eating - a row of smithereens about hunger and eating No 07

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.German rolls: pretzel rolls, pretzel pigtails, pretzels, poppy rolls, sesame rolls, italian rolls with olives, kaiser rolls, grain rolls.

Today: Energy needs and body weight. Part II

There are two things about our feedback control system. The system tends to store a small additional security amount of energy – just in case. Just in case we might find exactly now our prey and this prey is a runner.

So we have to start running after the animal. Maybe 10, 20 , 30 kilometres. After that we have to wait and watch, and once again start running 5 kilometres - until our hunting spear sets the an end to the animals life.

No time to sit down and have a nice lunch. But – lucky – our body stored away yesterday and the day before energy, yes, also in form of the security margin of body fat. Maybe you remember the old days of endurance running.

After a run of six hours the body weight was up to two kilos less (yes, lesser water in the first place) and our waist shrinked up to the width of a palm.

The trap: although we don´t need the just in case energy storage no more today, our body keeps storing. According to our observation a body usually only feels like having had enough food, if we took in 300 Kcal more than we´d need when just sitting around.

The security margin our body is claiming by signaling hunger to built a security margin of energy storage is 300 Kcal a day.

Imagine, you´re just sitting, but you continue eating normally until you feel sated. Within 20 days living a quiet indoor life at our desks we will have stored an amount of 6000 kcal which equals exactly to one kilo of body fat.

So the consequence would be: we mustn´t eat until we are sated? Who does such a thing? Nobody.

Next: Energy needs and body weight Part III. Energy claim of the feedback system to keep the status quo - in any case. And: why do some people need just need the amount of food a sparrow would eat.

On Eating - a row of smithereens about hunger and eating No 06

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different kinds of bavarian meat and sausage on metal plates: pork hock, meat balls, debreziner sausage, liver loaf. c ignazwrobel

last: insulin and glucose

Energy needs and body weight, Part I

The energy management system of our body never heard of the industrial revolution. The biological status quo of our body is still the same like it was 10.000 years ago, when we were hunters and gatherers. A hunter must be aware of lacking hunting fortune over a period of maybe even weeks.

So mother nature invented a really miraculous mechanism. The regulatory circuit responsible to help the system to survive will turn adjusting screws to keep the system – our body – running in a state of power capacity without food intake.

The only catalyst the system needs is H2O – a dipolar solution medium to keep chemical reaction going- Better known as water.

Nevertheless our body will not forget the existence of periods with low or no energy supply in form of food. The system becomes wide wide awake listening to any prognostic symptom indicating a forthcoming period of low external energy supply – food. Every single body in the world undergoes this learning process.

So if a body witnesses a low supply of energy at the age of about twenty something, maybe we were students with a lot of hopes and no money in our pockets and had to survive for a while on roasted rice, - the body takes a livelong lasting record of this period.

Maybe in our late 30s we slim down for a purpose our mind is set to achieve for let´s say 29 kilogram.

The body takes the record of this. The logic conclusion of the body: My owner lives in an environment with low energy supply from time to time.

The body says: We have urgently to take care of any incoming calorie to store it for the next hunger period in form of body fat.

next: energy needs and body weight Part II

On Eating - a row of smithereens about hunger and eating No 05

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a shelf with different sorts of noodles and pasta, tomatoe sauce, pasta sauce, c ignazwrobel

O.k. We had our meal. Our digestive tract is extracting or producing all available glucose from the foodstuffs und places it into our blood.

A regulatory circuit always wants to get back to equilibrium.

If somewhere in the system a component is changed and the equilibrium of the system is out of balance, the regulatory circuit changes another component to reachieve balance.

The first change in the system is a change of the amount of glucose in the care system nourishing our cells: in our blood.

The second change is a rebalancing attempt. The glucose is supposed to vanish from our blood. Our hypophysis receives a message blood sugar level is rising to – let´s say – 200 ml /dl .

The hypophysis sends an order to the pancreas gland to produce a fleet of transport ships to bring glucose away from blood, into the storage rooms, our cells: The fleet of transport ships is called Insulin.

The fleet of insulin ships however is not just Robin and a few merry men, it´s a royal fleet of many many ships to do the job. Too many, to tell the truth. All these insulin-ships take glucose on board and store it away into the cells.

What now? No more glucose at all in our blood.

The message to our hypophysis is: very very low level of glucose in our blood. Code orange not enough energy fuel available for ongoing energy production in our muscle cells!!

Low level of glucose? The answer of the hypophysis is: low level of glucose!! Code red!! Low level of glucose!! All hands on deck!! Code: HUNGER!! HUNGER!! HUNGER!! Make our owner get up, run to the next food source and make him eat.

And thus…

…not the legend begins,

but: if our food supplied a high amount of stuff making it possible to release a lot of glucose into our blood, the insulin – reaction is far over the top.

The hypophysis orders to overflow our blood with a giant fleet of insulin ships.

So even after food intake we might be sitting here and become hungry again a very short time after our meal..

Tomorrow: energy needs and body weight.

On Eating - a row of smithereens about hunger and eating No 04

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oranges, apples, pineapples, mandarines , bananas c ignazwrobel

Yesterday: salivary production.

Today: insulin and glucose.

Whatever we may eat, the chemistry in our digestive system is set to produce the energy supplier number one our muscle cells are able to process: glucose.

Glucose is like the wood in a woodfire, like the fuel oil in the central heating of our house (outside temperatures today in Holzkirchen, Bavaria, Germany, Europe: -1,5 degree Celsius central heating very welcome), like the gas in our cars.

The glucose is being produced by splitting in our food long molecule chains into shorter ones or extracting glucose from food.

Let´s assume we ate, our digestive system produced glucose, now the fuel is in our system- our regulatory system.

But where is it? The walls of our intestine are permeable.

The glucose diffuses through theses walls into the medium available everywhere in our body, the medium that reaches every single cell of our body: our blood.

So we might imagine what happens.

The blood is a delivery system not only for nicotin, but also for glucose. Assume we ate, assume a tankful of glucose rushes through our blood vessels, but – what next?

The glucose molecules still haven´t found the combustion chambers in our muscle cells, the so called mitochondria. Mitochondria are like the combustion chambers in our cars (remember? engine, cylinders, valves, fuel, explosion: turning high energy liquid into motion energy of the piston rods…. ).

The glucose in our blood needs a door opener into our muscle cells: the door opener is a hormone called insulin.

Back to the fact our system is a regulatory circuit system. Our intestine releases the complete amount of glucose into our blood. No regulation here, no caring for tolerable amounts of glucose, the whole load.

Now insulin has to do it´s job.

Think of insulin as of transport ships. These transport ships patrol in our blood and take glucose as cargo on board, then sailing to our cells, open the doors and help glucose get into our cells.

now comes the trap:

The thing is, if there´s a very rich disposability of glucose, insulin addresses in first place another type of cells: our body fat storage cells.

Tomorrow: insulin and hunger.

On Eating - a row of smithereens about hunger and eating No 03

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A shelf filled with country chips, natural chips, oven chips, tortilla chips, taco chips. c ignazwrobel

Last: hypophysis and stomach wall extension reflex

Today: salivary production.

We sit in front of our meal and start eating. With the first bite our mouth has to do three major things.

The first is biting and chewing, the second is a task for the salivary glands in our cheeks: with the first bite the glands start releasing saliva into our mouth.

Saliva is good for two purposes: first it helps to make food slippery. Food has to glide down our esophagus and everybody who once tried to gulp a dry tablet will certainly remember that the tablet got stuck in the throat.

The second task is to fulfil the first step of digestion. An enzyme called ptyalin (nice word) starts to split long chains of molecules into shorter ones.

Now comes the trap:

there´s food that is challenging our salivary glands to continue with the production of saliva. ... for example when eating tacos or chips.

To swallow tacos or potatoe chips we need to change consistency of the food from dry and prickly with hard edges to a swallowable form: liquid. So far so good.

The trap is: as long as the salivary production of our glands is running our hypophysis doesn´t stop sending the message: you are still hungry. More food intake, please.

The rest is subject to your imagination….

Tomorrow: our regulatory circuit and insulin

On Eating - a row of smithereens about hunger and eating No 02

a shelf with bunches of grapes, different kinds of apples, bananas, lemon, sweet pepper. c ignazwrobel

Last: the regulatory circuit

Today: steering mechanisms of the regulatory circuit.

Part one: our hypophysis.

Our brain has – seen from a pov of biological development starting from ape arriving to human being (as Charles Darwin stated against many protests) – parts of different age.

Parts, manhood developed earlier and younger parts. The oldest part of our brain is the hypophsis.

It is a small gland deep in the middle of our brain.

http://www.pezz.ch/fileadmin/images/querschnittgehirnhormone.jpg

The hypophysis is, so to speak the BIOS http://benchmarkreviews.com/images/articles/introduction_to_overclocking/BIOS-PC-Health-Status.jpg of our body. - The system that drives all operating systems of our body.

One of these systems is steering the equilibrium of our energy level by steering the feeling of hunger.

The hypophysis is steering our feeling of hunger and feeling of satiety.

As the hypophysis has its place in the head and eating takes place in a completely different part of our body, there has to be – so to speak – a telephone line between our stomach, the place where food intake is being processed in the first place and the “steering wheel”, the hypophysis.

The feedback system telling the hypophysis that enough food has been taken on board during one meal is a reflex. The reflex the walls of our stomach are being extended. An extension reflex of our stomach walls.

If the walls of our stomach send a message about a certain amout of having been extended, the hypophysis says: stop eating. We´ve got enough energy intake for the next few hours.

...and thus the feeling of hunger terminates.

Tomorrow: hypophysis and twenty minutes.

yet on our list: physical acitvity, the release of adrenalin - and the feeling of hunger

On Eating - a row of smithereens about hunger and eating No 01

Bildquelle gefro.de a plate with zucchini, carrotes basil, white sauce and red meat

Hunger is a driving force in our lifes making us getting up and go searching for something that soothens the pain of desire: food.

The thing is our body is set to do absolutely EVERYTHING to keep our system alive and in balance.

The balance of our system is a regulatory circuit. We have to pursue input of high value energy in form of food and output in form of low energy material, stool.

In the middle, in between, mother nature wants the energy level of the system as constant as possible. To keep up that constancy we have to take in high value energy in form of food as soon as the balance of the system starts tipping over, which is several times a day.

To make us doing so nature installed hunger as the driving force to develop a wish to eat.

Tomorrow: the nature of hunger, which mechanisms makes hunger emerge?

Two hints: blood sugar, insulin and the size of our stomach.

Einwurf!

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Da stehen sie.

Direkt vor mir. Unglaublich.

Acht bunte Ritter auf argentinischen Polopferden, vier blaue, vier rote.

So richtig mit allem, mit Helmen, Visieren, mit ihren Schlägern, den Sticks, ihrer Unruhe, Anspannung, Erwartung.

Sie haben, vier und vier, eine enge Gasse gebildet. Ich stehe direkt davor.

Alle acht Ritter schauen mich an. Achtmal gespannte Erwartung.
Sie warten auf etwas, das sich in meiner Hand befindet. Der Spielball.

Mein Herz pocht gegen den Brustkorb, im Magen ein Gefühl, wie Schmetterlinge.

Jetzt!
Ich werfe den Ball flach zwischen sechzehn Pferdebeine, kurzes Gerangle, - und sie preschen davon, dem Ball hinterher, wie die wilde Jagd.

Pohh. Weg sind sind sie. Ich stehe wieder allein am Spielfeldrand.

Polo direkt. Zum Mitmachen. Beim Polotraining in Thann samstags Nachmittag und Sonntag am frühen Abend bin ich meist der einzige Zuschauer.

Heute haben nicht alle genug Pferde. Deshalb lange Pause zwischen zwei Chukkern. Ich vertreibe mir die Langeweile durch Raseneintreten. Bei 30 km/h reissen Pferdehufe die Rasennarbe auf. Das gibt Löcher. Gefährlich. Die müssen wieder weg. Deshalb ist Raseneintreten ist gern gesehen.

Ich taste mich vorsichtig heran, an den Club, bei jedem Besuch einen kleinen Schritt näher. Ein Sätzchen zu Nummer zwei (der Clubchef, glaub ich, jedenfalls ist er der Erfahrenste)
Ein Scherzchen mit dem gutgelaunten Zeitnehmer. Ein akklamierendes Lachen über ein Bonmot von Nummer vier.

Männer sind leicht einnehmbar, offene Tore. Frauen viel schwieriger. Eiertanz. Dominanzgeeiere. Konkurrenzgehechle. Was will denn die da? Stören, Stutenbeissen? Unsere Männer?

Die will das Spiel kennenlernen. Und redet nur, wenn sie gefragt wird.

Ein großer Schritt Terraingewinn - Vertrauensgewinn:

Am Schluss des letzten Chukkers richtet Spieler Nr eins rot, die Frau, die mich um den Einwurf gebeten hatte, das Wort an mich.

Sie ist eine ruhige, sichere, sehr erfahrene Spielerin, Österreicherin. Sie muss nichts erobern, nichts beweisen. Sich nicht und den anderen nicht. Deshalb, nur deshalb ist ihre Freundlichkeit größer als ihr Argwohn.

"Danke fürs Einwerfen" sagt sie, herüber von ihrem Pferd, auf dem sie noch in voller Rüstung sitzt, den Stick über der Schulter - , als ich gehe.

Ich bleibe stehen. Jetzt bitte die richtige Reaktion.

Antwort: Es war mir ein Vergnügen. (Korrektur - lachend:) Es war mir eine Ehre.

Die Frau lacht.

Gewonnen. (Du musst sie zum Lachen bringen.)

Zurück bei meiner Vespa werfe ich noch einen Blick hinunter zum Spielfeldrand: die Pferde werden schon abgesattelt.

Nächsten Samstag bin ich wieder da.

Heinz im Telefon.

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Er war eines Tages in meinem Telefon.

Er fragte, ob ich mit auf den Berg will. Ich will – ab und an, wenn ich Zeit habe.

Wenn ich keine Zeit habe, sage ich: diesmal nicht.

Heinz ist trotzdem immer wieder in meinem Telefon, er „bleibt dran“.

Ob er mich aquirieren will, so als Freundin oder Frau?

Die Sensation: Nein.

Er hat Familie, Frau, zwei prachtvolle Söhne, einer studiert der andere studiert bald.

Er ist einfach begeisterter Bergwanderer. Und deshalb fit. Fitter als seine Familie, die manchmal mitgeht, aber kämpfen muss, an ihrem Limit.

Heinz´ Bergweh wird deshalb auf mehrere Personen verteilt. Die Benzinkosten für die Bergfahrten ebenfalls..

Ich, Autonichtbesitzer, komme zum Berg und er, Bergsehnsüchtling hat Ansprache und Benzinkostenersparnis.

Nach Monaten rückte er damit heraus, dass er eigentlich Theologe ist. Nachdem ich eine ausufernde Interpretation der Bibelstelle von Kain und Abel im Film „The Ogre“ von Volker Schlöndorff vorgelegt hatte.

Geld verdient er mit Datenbank-Migration bei Midrange-Systemen. Komplizierte Sache. Heinz ist ziemlich intelligent. Mathematiker eigentlich.

Und ein bisschen sehr ..nun, sagen wir einmal Yin. Das Yang managed seine Frau.

Wir haben zwei Drittel des Berges unter uns gebracht. Wunderbare Weitsicht auf die umliegenden Voralpen und den Tegernsee. Jetzt verlassen wir den gespurten Pfad und müssen selbst unsere Fußstapfen treten.

Schnell wird das anstrengend. Der Schnee ist zuerst knietief. Heinz übernimmt die Spurarbeit, er hat Gamaschen dabei, ich dummerweise nicht. Der Schnee fiele mir bei jedem Schritt eiskalt in die Bergstiefel. Ich improvisiere, reisse den Saum des Schneefangs meiner Hose auf und verzurre ihn mit den Fangriemen der Steigeisen.

Ich muss also nur noch sorgfältig in die knie- bis oberschenkeltiefen Löcher treten, die Heinz gespurt hat. Manchmal gibt der Schnee nach, über Latschenkiefern, denn darunter befinden sich Luftlöcher. Ich sinke bis zur Hüfte ein, arbeite mich wieder heraus. Nächster Schritt.

Nach einiger Zeit fragt mich Heinz, wie es mir geht.

Ich weiss schlagartig, was er meint. Seine Frau wäre jetzt bereits wütend auf ihn, würde in beschuldigen, sie in eine unangenehme Situation gebracht zu haben. Er wäre schuld.

Ich also ganz bewußt: Prächtig, ich muss ja nichts weiter tun als nur in deine Spur treten. Du hast die ganze Arbeit. Wie gehts Dir? Du tust mir leid.

Ich weiss, dass er diesen Teil der Bergstrecke liebt. Ein Hauch Abenteuer, weg vom Geplanten, Glatten, Einfachen.

Ich reisse mich zusammen. Ja, es ist anstrengend, aber ich bin Schülerin und Expartnerin eines Hochtourengehers, da lernt man schnell Disziplin. Maul halten und weiter.

Die bange Frage nach meiner Befindlichkeit wiederholt sich dreimal, ich bin dreimal sorglos himmelblau fröhlich.

Endlich der Gipfel,

Wie üblich wünschen wir uns unter dem Gipfelkreuz Bergheil mit Handschlag.

Heute, nach Ypsilon Touren, zieht er mich - überraschend - an sich und gibt mir eine kurze kameradschaftliche Umarmung.

Ich lache gipfelvergnügt.

Ich weiss, warum er mich umarmt hat. Weil er glücklich ist, dass ihm seine Begleitung nicht die Freude am schwierigen Part durch Meckern und Schimpfen verdorben hat.

Irgendwie bin ich plötzlich auch ganz froh. Ein bisschen gerührt vielleicht.

Oben herrscht Windstärke sieben. Ich breite die Arme aus und lasse mich vom Wind halten, vorgebeugt, man fällt nicht um.

Wir laufen in der Gipfelhütte ein und genehmigen uns den obligaten Apfelstrudel und Südtiroler Geräuchertes.

Schmeckt prachtvoll, das Zeug.