Type 2 Nutrition #468: Drink SuperBeets® for a “boost”?

SuperBeets®? Have you seen the TV commercial? Dana Loesch, a radio and TV host, pushes a powdered beet juice concoction that promises to make you “more healthy.” “Beets contain a nutrient that increases your own natural energy,” she says, but she doesn’t say what it is. It’s sugar. Fact: the body can only get its energy from either sugar (glucose) or fat (fatty acids and ketones from triglycerides), plus protein by gluconeogenesis. But you can bet your sweet bitty that the “natural energy” you get from beets is sugar, not fat or protein.

Don’t you think it’s curious that the TV commercial doesn’t even mention “sugar”? Neither energy source (fat nor sugar) is mentioned in the 1-minute TV commercial. Instead, the commercial extols the alleged benefits of the “boost” you’ll get from “increasing your nitrous oxide level.” It suggests, by inference, that this compound is one that your body lacks and needs more of to be healthy. Did you know that? No? It’s news to me, too.

I did some research, however, and discovered that 20% of the world’s sugar production is derived from beets. Sugar beet production is mostly from temperate climates. Russia, France and the U.S. are top producers, with the U.S. accounting for about 12%. The remaining 80% of world sugar production is from cane sugar, grown in tropical places like Brazil, India, China and Thailand. The U.S. produces about 1.5% of the world’s sugar cane.

Nitrous oxide (N₂0), known as “laughing gas,” is an analgesic and a weak anaesthetic. The inhaled gas has a half-life of 5 minutes. I was unable to learn how long a “nitrous oxide level” persists in the blood, but glucose persistence in your bloodstream, a much more important fact, depends on your degree of Insulin Resistance.

With normal blood sugar metabolism, the pancreas will produce insulin as needed to convey glucose (the “sugar” in the blood) from the food you eat to the cells. Insulin receptors are supposed to open up to receive the glucose. This quickly produces a spike of energy, and your blood sugar level soon returns to normal.

If, however, you have any degree of Insulin Resistance, the receptor cells will resist opening. The pancreas will then send more insulin until the cells eventually open, your blood sugar crashes, and you need a “boost.”

So, if you have insulin receptors that have been conditioned by a lifetime of eating processed carbs and sugars – both cane and beet, and you drink SuperBeets® for a “boost,” your blood sugar will go and stay high for a long time. But with SuperBeets®, who cares? Your nitrous oxide will be high for 5 minutes. Woo hoo!

“Within 30 minutes of taking it, I felt the difference,” one online testimonial said. That makes sense. That’s the sugar, stupid! Sugar IS a source of quick energy. It gets into your bloodstream in minutes. And with Insulin Resistance, it will cause blood sugar to “boost.” You will feel “the difference” You’ll also feel the crash!

Thus, Dana says she takes SuperBeets® multiple times a day: “in the morning, at the gym, in the afternoon as a pick-me-up.” Can you imagine? If she has any Insulin Resistance at all – and most of us do – her blood sugar curve would be a rollercoaster of ups and downs all day long. Spike, crash, spike, crash, spike, crash…endlessly, for so long and as often as she gets a concentrated hit of beet sugar “as a pick-me-up,” and for whenever she wanted to “feel the difference.” Is that what you want? To be more of a “sugarholic” than you already are?

If not, you could try a “lifestyle modification” and give your pancreas a rest. If you eat less “sugar,” your pancreas will not need to send a double dose of insulin to make the receptor cells work. This will help preserve the pancreatic capacity for years to come, and your energy level will not fluctuate as much. It will remain stable and flat while your body burns fat for energy. Fat doesn’t need insulin to give you energy. It’s actually absorbed through the lymph system and then into your blood to keep your energy level high and level.

If you feel the need for a “boost,” ask yourself, am I already addicted to sugar? If you answered “yes,” then, ask yourself, why on earth would you choose to add more sugar to your diet? Think about that.