kscans

Chapter 175 - Episode 9: Part Two - The Fourth Nutrient

Despite glucose supplying half of the human body's energy, the amount of it in the blood, the blood sugar level, is extremely low. For a healthy person, it is around 100 mg/dL. That is just one gram per liter. For comparison, a liter of a soft drink should contain 100 grams or more.

About eight percent of the human body is blood, so a person weighing fifty kilograms has four liters of blood. This means that at any given moment, the total amount of glucose present in their entire bloodstream is a mere four grams. Of course, this figure is just for "that moment," and it is constantly balanced by consumption and supply.

Including that fact, it means blood sugar is adjusted to the absolute minimum necessary amount with extreme precision.

On the other hand, how much glucose is absorbed into the blood from the digestive tract through staple foods? In my past life, a single bowl of rice with a set meal was about 200 grams. That is about 330 kilocalories. Since ninety percent of that is starch, which is to say glucose, a single bowl of rice contains about 75 grams of glucose. In other words, one bowl of rice provides nearly thirty times the amount of glucose present in the entire bloodstream.

To put it another way, the human body possesses the ability to rapidly store the majority of the sugar consumed during a meal. The hormone that controls this is insulin. Insulin directs about half of the ingested sugar to the liver, most of the remainder to the muscles, and what is left to the fat cells for storage.

This process is extremely swift. In a healthy person, the post-meal blood sugar level rises only to about 100 to 140, returning to around 100 in less than two hours. For comparison, lipids, another energy source, take nearly twelve hours to process. I once heard that the reason university health checkups require a fasting blood test, meaning no breakfast and more than twelve hours since the last meal, is to prevent lipids from being affected by food.

The problem is that this entire strict and rapid system is dependent on a single type of hormone, insulin. It is a system that serves as a cautionary tale for crisis management without a backup. It is a one-man show.

Thanks to this, problems can arise even if the insulin-secreting cells do not work themselves to death. Just a little fatigue that throws off the timing of secretion is enough. If insulin secretion is even slightly delayed relative to sugar intake, the large amount of ingested sugar cannot be processed in time, causing the blood sugar level to rise.

Then, to bring it back to normal, a large amount of insulin is secreted late. The result is a phenomenon much like a stock market bubble bursting, an overshoot. The large amount of secreted insulin is too effective, causing a temporary, excessive drop in blood sugar.

This is the reason my classmate from my previous life said he did not eat lunch, because it made him lose focus. I remember asking him, "Doesn't being hungry make it harder to concentrate?" and was surprised when he told me, "You only ‘feel’ hungry because you eat carbohydrates." If you eat properly, the minimum required glucose is synthesized and supplied by the human body. Essentially, he was saying that sugar can be supplied without causing fluctuations in blood sugar, as if being administered slowly through an IV drip.

Of course, I cannot judge now whether his words were correct. And on top of that, things like this are bound to vary from person to person. What is more, I have not actually measured Maytyl's blood sugar fluctuations.

That is why today, I tried testing it with a salad, however crude the experiment was.

"...This is so complicated, my head is spinning. But we eat more bread than Maytyl-denka, and we don’t get sleepy, you know?"

"Yes."

"That’s normally the case. However, in Maytyl-denka’s situation, several unfortunate conditions have overlapped. First is that she doesn’t eat breakfast. Second is the high proportion of sugar in her meals. The last is that the carbohydrates she consumes are easily absorbed."

Even for someone who eats regular meals, stored glucose does not last for even half a day. By the time of breakfast, half a day after dinner, the stored glucose is calculated to be gone. A person would die if they ran out of glucose, so the human body synthesizes it in a process called gluconeogenesis.

In other words, until breakfast is eaten, the body is in a mode of producing sugar. It is trying to raise the blood sugar level. Skipping breakfast only pushes this state further. And then lunch arrives. Just as the body is desperately trying to increase its sugar, a large amount of sugar arrives. It is like having to slam on the brakes while flooring the accelerator. Might this not make blood sugar levels more likely to spike?

Even when taking in the same number of calories, the proportion of those calories from sugar is naturally much higher when eating mostly staple foods compared to eating meat as well. This means the amount of sugar the body has to process increases. Maytyl dislikes meat, so the proportion of sugar in her diet was high to begin with.

Another factor is the speed at which sugar is absorbed into the body. Even if the same amount of sugar is eaten, liquid sugars like those in soft drinks are absorbed in an instant. Starch is also broken down and absorbed very quickly. However, this digestion speed is highly dependent on what is eaten alongside it. Dietary fiber is what slows down digestion and absorption.

"The bread Maytyl-denka ate in the Empire, which contained beans and buckwheat, has a lower proportion of sugar in its total calories and more dietary fiber than bread made only from wheat. It’s a type of bread that makes it harder for blood sugar to rise. The white bread in the Kingdom, on the other hand, is the complete opposite."

"So that’s why Maytyl-denka feels sleepy."

"That was my prediction. If this is correct, then slowing down the absorption of sugar should prevent the sleepiness caused by the rapid rise and fall of blood sugar. That’s why I had her eat the salad first this time. An ingredient in vegetables called dietary fiber wraps around the sugar inside the body. It makes the food get absorbed slowly in the stomach. You can think of it like wrapping this bread in vegetables."

I explained the meaning of today's experiment.

"What was especially important was having the dietary fiber in the stomach before consuming the sugar. The sugar in the Yokan is very easily absorbed, so there was a chance that eating it at the same time as the vegetables wouldn’t be fast enough."

This is just my personal opinion, but I have faith in the role of this dietary fiber. First, its effect is a physically simple action, delaying absorption. Second is the fundamental nature of the human body’s ability to cope.

I believe a major point in health problems related to diet is when substances flow into the body at a quantity and a "speed" that it cannot process. To take an extreme example, even a harmful substance will cause less damage if it enters the body slowly. With alcohol too, consuming the same amount slowly makes you less likely to get drunk, and it puts less strain on the liver.

Of course, this would not apply to things like heavy metals that accumulate in the body, or to poisons that the human body cannot deal with in the first place. But sugar is an important molecule that is originally used by the body.

"Well, I won't know for sure without strictly examining the amount of sugar in her blood."

Actually, I did think of one method. But marking sugar with magic to see if it gets "expelled from the body" is just a bit too much…

"I thought a salad and dessert were a strange combination, but that was the reason. ...You know the most incredible things, as always. But still, to think vegetables have such power…"

Sherry looked a little happy as I explained. Well, vegetables are important. In my previous life, they were even called the fourth nutrient, following carbohydrates, proteins, and fats.

"So you had thought that far ahead, Ricardo-kun. But in that case, wouldn’t it have been better to explain it properly from the start…?"

"For one, the experiment’s results could be skewed without an unbiased subject. This matter is urgent. But now, Maytyl-denka has experienced for herself that as long as she eats a salad, she can eat a full lunch without any problems. So, I’ll give her this explanation on the way back."

Maytyl should be able to understand what I am saying.

"...Um, Ricardo-kun. About that explanation, it’s all right if I join you, isn’t it? This was my request in the first place."

"Of course."

"...Yes, you have to explain it very, very clearly."

Sherry said worriedly. Come on, this is Maytyl we are talking about. Wouldn't she be excited by this knowledge instead?

◇◇

Back at the lab, I explained the meaning of today's experiment to Maytyl. Her research today had apparently not gone well, and she wore a sour expression, but she listened to my explanation with interest. As my explanation moved into the latter half, however, Maytyl’s expression clearly began to cloud over.

"...So, in other words, you deceived me."

Then, as my words came to an end, she completely lowered her head and spoke in a low voice.

"Was my explanation hard to understand? The point is, if you eat a salad, you can eat a proper lunch without any issues… Oh, of course, there are other possibilities, but in that case, we’ll just do another experiment…"

"Maytyl-denka. Ricardo-kun was simply concerned for your health. I asked him about this suddenly, so there wasn’t enough time, which is why he resorted to this method."

Alfina, in a rare move, cut off my words to speak to Maytyl. She explained that she was the one who had discussed it with the duchess.

"Basically, you went out of your way to look into my affairs and meddle where you weren't wanted. When did I ever ask you to interfere in my life?"

Maytyl shot her head up and glared at Alfina. Whoa, she is really angry.

"No, that’s why…"

"I understand. It’s important to you people whether or not I function properly. It seems my being a hostage has caused you extra trouble. Don’t worry, I understood what you said. I will be careful from now on so I can fulfill my role properly. That should be good enough for you."

With that, Maytyl turned and walked back to the carriage without a single glance behind her. Apparently, that went badly. Well, it seems she accepted it, more or less. I will just have to pray that once she starts eating properly, her anger will subside. People tend to be more relaxed on a full stomach…