Curated Paper 1 Buckley

 Curated Paper 1

I think the idea of body and mind being connected is completely valid. I’m sad we aren’t discussing the spiritual part as I think that it is just as important as the body and mind, and that it could find room for discussion in a biological science class, but I understand that modern science doesn’t really care for spiritual things. Putting the spiritual aside though, I think one’s mind has much greater control over the body than we realize, and that the body has a much greater impact on the mind than we realize. Especially recently, I’ve been studying a lot on esoteric cultures and practices that focus on particular diets and activities that affect the mind and body. I’m taking a yoga class this semester and in the past I would’ve laughed at the idea, but recently I’ve come to the point where I think I would get out what I put in, so I went into the class with complete enthusiasm and I actually felt incredible during the yoga session and afterwards throughout the day. My body felt looser and I felt like my posture was better. I’ve also been trying to eat more eggs, meat, dairy and honey to mimic the diets of some viking cultures, and I’ve been feeling pretty good from that too. I don’t know if it's placebo or not, but the idea of placebo kind of fits with the connection of body and mind so I guess whatever I’m doing is working out whether it is actually benefiting me or I just believe it is. 

A simple definition of metabolism is the process of converting food into energy. This energy is used for breathing, blood circulation, repairing cells, and other processes. Catabolism is the process that breaks down macromolecules such as carbohydrates, fats, and proteins to release energy. Anabolism is the process that uses that energy to build and repair tissues. There are many enzymes used in metabolic processes such as oxidoreductases which catalyze oxidation-reduction reactions. Transferases which transfer functional groups between molecules. Hydrolases that break bonds using water. Lyases that add or remove groups from double bonds. Isomerases that rearrange atoms within a molecule, and Ligases that join two molecules together using energy from ATP.

I like to think that I have a fast metabolism that I got from my mom. My dad has a bit of a belly but my mom’s as thin as a bone. I spend most of my time sitting down at computers and I eat nothing but garbage, and yet I’m still super skinny and light for how tall I am. I should easily be one ninety to two hundred pounds but I have yet to break one seventy five. I’ve started going to the gym again and have tried to improve my diet and increase my protein and calorie intake, so perhaps I will finally be able to gain some weight. In the past when I went to the gym and had a very high caloric intake, I was unable to break one seventy five, but since I’m older maybe my metabolism will be slowing down. I have a very similar metabolism to my oldest brother, and he works as a website developer so he’s usually sitting down while working. The next oldest brother is more like my dad with his body type and metabolism. My oldest brother however turned thirty two this year and he is now starting to gain weight, so I guess I will be able to eat all the garbage I want for a while still until I turn thirty two.

Diabetes is a metabolic disorder that disrupts the body’s ability to regulate glucose, lipid, and protein metabolism through defects in insulin production. Simplified, this prevents effective conversion of food into energy. Type 1 diabetes causes an autoimmune response of the destruction of pancreatic beta cells which results in total insulin deficiency. This prevents glucose from entering cells, so the body breaks down fat and muscle for energy. Type 2 diabetes is the resistance to insulin, leading to compensatory hyperinsulinemia, increased fat storage, and weight gain. Type 1 diabetes usually is genetic but can be triggered from environmental factors such as viruses or reduced vitamin D exposure. Type 2 diabetes can develop from obesity, physical inactivity, and some genetic influences.

Diabetes affects people not only physically but economically, socially, and mentally. The cost of care for diabetics is $16,752 or 2.6 times higher annually than those without it. Out of pocket expenses for people with insurance ranges from $3,330 to $4,600 per year. They also may need to spend more money on certain foods that are required to maintain their balance. With the costs of everything going up recently, these economic disparities will only increase. Individuals with diabetes also may suffer economically due to the inability to work if they fall ill or have to leave to maintain their blood sugar levels. Some jobs may not hire them if that is too big of an issue at the workplace. The social effects could also be a problem if people are stigmatized for having diabetes. Whether it is type 1 from genetics or type 2 from diabetes, people could create stereotypes or think less of people that suffer from the diseases. Even if those with diabetes got it from factors outside their control such as genetics or a rough upbringing where good food wasn’t available, people will still be prejudiced towards diabetics even if they don’t realize it. The mental effects also can have a big impact on diabetics causing them stress of needing to always balance their blood sugar levels by watching what they eat or making sure their insulin pumps are full and working.

Diabetes hasn’t been a problem within my family and I’ve only known one person who was a type 1 diabetic, so I don’t fully understand the costs for a person with diabetes. The person I know who had type 1 diabetes has had some scares in his life with his insulin pump malfunctioning, and his family not having enough money to pay for his coverage. I can’t imagine how hard that would be for myself or my family if we were in the same conditions. My family is quite lucky with none of us inheriting any genetic diseases, and we’ve been lucky to have healthy upbringings during our developmental years, so we’ve never had to deal with any of these metabolic disorders. With my small pool of data from my personal life, I like to think that my balanced lifestyle growing up on a healthy diet plus an active body and mind has granted me a strong metabolism and immune system. I think that a healthy body creates a healthy mind. It reminds me of the quote from Thucydides, “The society that separates its scholars from its warriors will have its thinking done by cowards and its fighting done by fools.” 

A microbiome is an ecological community of commensal, symbiotic, and pathogenic microorganisms within a body, space, or other environment. There are many microbiomes across the body that are made up of many smaller microbiomes. Each person has unique microbiomes depending on various factors such as their diet, activity, environment and hygiene. Microbiomes can change depending on those factors as well.

A couple microbiomes that have big effects are the ones associated with pregnancy, childbirth, and breastfeeding. The womb was previously thought to be sterile, but bacteria has been found within it. These bacteria influence the microbiome of the baby. Different bacteria have been found colonized within babies born through vaginal birth and c-section. Breastfeeding is one of the largest influences of infant gut microbiome development. Some research suggests that about thirty percent of the beneficial bacteria in a baby’s intestinal tract comes directly from breastmilk. The infant’s microbiome stabilizes at 1-2 years of life, and this microbiome is the structure that follows the person into adulthood.

The gut microbiome is one of the most important microbiomes in our bodies. It is believed to affect the body overall and the mind. Many diseases may result from a dysregulated gut microbiome including Irritable bowel syndrome, inflammatory bowel disease, and even Parkinson's disease. Diet is the biggest contributor to the gut microbiome, with different diets providing different gut microbiomes. Many Japanese people have enzymes within their gut microbiomes that help with the digestion of seaweed. People with high carb diets have more prevotella which help in the digestion of complex plant fibers. They have lower levels of bacteroides, which are found more commonly in people with high amounts of fat and animal protein in their diets. The bacteroides help digest polysaccharides. These bacteria help with digestion that human enzymes can’t handle on their own. 

I probably have a really bad gut microbiome considering I eat fast food very often. I’ve been trying to diversify my diet and add healthy options, so perhaps I’ll see a great effect on my body and mind. I have definitely noticed that when I eat large amounts of greasy, fatty foods, I tend to feel a lot more sluggish not just physically but mentally as well. I don’t know if our food consumption has any actual effect on how quickly and effectively our brains can function, but it makes sense if the idea of ayurveda is to be believed. It would make sense that an unhealthy body or gut microbiome could impact the capacity of the brain’s functions because that’s what happens to the rest of the organs in the body. An unhealthy person’s organs get covered in fat and lose their efficiency, so I wonder if the same could happen to the brain. I never know if my gut microbiome is bad because even though I have a horrible diet, I rarely get sick. I like to joke that my gut microbiome has been so thoroughly devastated from the years of fast food, that no pathogen can survive within my body. The physician Hippocrates is known as the father of medicine, and he said, “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.”  The philosopher Socrates also said, “Thou shouldst eat to live; not live to eat.” These quotes suggest that food is meant to be life giving and disease preventing, not a pursuit of pleasure. It fits with the idea that a healthy gut microbiome is able to strengthen the body’s defense against diseases and improve the mind and its faculties.

With the topic of metabolism and microbiomes, they both seem to fit with the idea of ayurveda. A healthy gut microbiome leads to a healthy body and seems to impact the efficiency of the mind as well. It also appears to be connected to a healthy metabolism. These two together seem to nurture a healthy mind, which leads to healthy thoughts. It becomes a positive feedback loop with healthy thoughts leading to healthy habits, which lead to a healthy body which in turn creates a healthy mind and so on.