Body mechanisms controlling blood glucose and dietary fiber in homeostasis

Mechanism's For Controlling Blood Sugar Levels:

The blood glucose level is the amount of sugar or glucose in the blood that is also referred to as plasma glucose level and expressed as millimoles per litre. While blood glucose levels are measured in order to diagnose and monitor diabetes, it's also important to monitor these levels in certain situations, especially with increasing age and during pancreatitis and pregnancy. Under normal circumstances, blood sugar levels usually stay within a daily narrow limit of between 4 and 8 millimoles per litre. In addition, the levels of blood glucose in the body are usually higher after meals and lowest in the morning. Nonetheless, the body has certain mechanisms that help in controlling blood glucose levels under normal and stress conditions.

The body basically maintains a minimum level of glucose in the blood and also limits surges of glucose after a meal by about 70 mg/dl and not to exceed 140 mg/dl respectively. Generally, the level of glucose in the blood is regulated by hormones secreted through the islets of Langerhans in the pancreas. Islets play a crucial role in this process since they consist of alpha cells and beta cells that produce glucagon and insulin respectively (Zamora, 2012).

When the blood glucose level increases after a meal, the beta cells discharge insulin to enable the conversion of glucose to glycogen and fat. As a result, the blood glucose level returns to normal after the glucose has either been burned or stored as fat or glycogen. However, when the blood glucose level drops below normal levels, the alpha cells within the islets produce glucagon that helps in converting stored fat into ketone bodies and fatty acids that can be used for body energy.

Dietary Fibers:

Dietary fiber can be described as all parts of plant foods that the human body cannot absorb or digest. In addition to being known as bulk or roughage, dietary fibers cannot be digested by the body unlike other food components like carbohydrates, fats, and proteins. The dietary fiber instead passes relatively unbroken through the stomach, colon, small intestine, and out of the body. These food components are divided into two major categories i.e. soluble fibers and insoluble fibers.

As the name suggests, soluble dietary fibers dissolve in water to create a gel-like substance that helps in lessening the blood glucose and cholesterol levels. The most common food sources of soluble dietary fibers include beans, some fruits and vegetables, oat, nuts, barley, peas, lentil, and psyllium. While the certain kinds of soluble fibers help in lowering the level of cholesterol, its effect on heart disease is still uncertain. On the contrary, insoluble dietary fiber is a type of fiber that enhances the movement of substances through the digestive system and increases stool bulk. As a result, insoluble dietary fiber can be beneficial to people with problems of constipation or irregular stools ("Dietary Fiber: Essential for a Healthy Diet," n.d.). The most common food sources for insoluble dietary fibers include wheat bran, whole-wheat flour, green beans and potatoes, nuts, and beans and vegetables. Unlike the soluble dietary fiber that produces a gel-like substance when combined with liquid, the insoluble fiber does not as it passes through the intestines while largely intact.

Soluble and insoluble dietary fibers have a significant effect on gastrointestinal tract function since some of these fibers create a matrix with fibrous attributes in the gastrointestinal tract. The amount of substances in gastrointestinal tract is greater since the dietary fibers cannot be digested and remains during the transfer of digesta via the small intestine. As a result, these fibers affect the gastrointestinal tract function through affecting the emptying of gastric in various ways including slowing gastric filling and delaying the emptying of gastric liquids through enhancing the thickness of gastric contents.

The Process of Fat Hydrogenation:

The process of fat hydrogenation is a chemical procedure used by food manufacturers to interfere with some of the monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats in the items they manufacture. The hydrogenated fats are in turn known as functional ingredients by the food industry because they serve other purposes except improved product quality and nutrition (Sandoval, 2011). As compared to unaltered unsaturated fats, the hydrogenated fats tend to be more stable, which contributes to their ability to enhance the shelf life of foods.

The process of fat hydrogenation is an important aspect in the food manufacturing procedures and the food industry since it consists of some advantages and disadvantages. The major advantages of this process include the ability of unsaturated fat molecules to accept oxygen atoms easily. As the oxygen atoms are combined with the fat molecules, the food becomes inedible since fat breaks down. Secondly, this process increases the shelf life of prepared foods, which in turn saves food companies money.