Glucose is essential for the brain to function properly and it is best to obtain it naturally through a balanced diet, said a specialist at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM).
“Glucose is the essential fuel for the brain to work properly,” Lourdes Massieu Trigo, a researcher at the Institute of Cellular Physiology (IFC) of the UNAM, said in a statement.
The specialist explained that the brain is an organ that works all the time “even when we sleep” and because it sends and receives signals permanently, glucose production must be guaranteed.
“That’s why you should have a balanced diet, and especially diabetics, should not be fasting for a long time,” he said.
The specialist explained that the brain is energetically very expensive because although its weight only represents 2% of the total weight of the body, it takes advantage of 20% of the total metabolic energy and consumes 25% of all the glucose we eat.
The expert pointed out that if the energy consumed in the brain could be compared, it would be equal to that expended by the muscle of a leg of a marathon runner.
Massieu explained that when we have a specific visual stimulus and pay attention the cerebral area of the occipital cortex receives those visual stimuli and uses more glucose.
“The brain is dependent on the glucose supply, and when it is interrupted by the presence of a clot, or if the blood glucose level is reduced by the administration of insulin, selective neuronal death occurs,” he said.
The researcher added that together with a group of colleagues try to investigate the various causes of neuronal death and one of the axes refers to the effects of the absence of glucose in this organ.
He said that in his most recent research he has found that cellular oxidant stress and endoplasmic reticulum stress are put into operation during the absence of glucose and contribute to apoptotic death.
Apoptosis is a type of cell death in which a series of molecular processes in the cell lead to cell death. efe
