The Skeleton is an Endocrine Organ and Sugar Destroys It
Updated
Scientists have known for years that sugar is highly addictive. It is also factual that, despite being in almost all products consumed today, the body needs no added sugars—meaning those that aren’t naturally occurring—to survive. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) classifies added sugar as “Generally Recognized as Safe” (GRAS). Yet, evidence has existed for decades, proving that even for relatively short periods of a child’s life, elevated blood sugars are unsuitable for the growing skeleton. Bones, after all, are recognized as an endocrine organ that serves not only as a structural scaffold to support the human body but also as a regulator of several metabolic processes independent of mineral metabolism, including modulating glucose tolerance and testosterone production by secretion of a bone-specific protein called osteocalcin.
OK, so what exactly is osteocalcin and why isn’t it talked about? Besides regulating energy metabolism and male fertility, osteocalcin—found exclusively in bone tissue and highly conserved among species—affects brain development and functions. Scientists have known for years that, after birth, osteocalcin favors neurotransmitter synthesis and postnatal neurogenesis, prevents anxiety- and depression- behaviors, and enhances spatial learning and memory. Without getting too technical, osteocalcin is a 49-amino-acid peptide secreted by osteoblasts into the bone matrix and the blood. Vitamin K- and D-dependent studies show the protein plays a role in the building of bone matrix and, once secreted in the bloodstream, it acts on pancreatic B cells to enhance insulin secretion and thus has a profound influence on glucose, or energy, metabolism.
School teaches us that blood glucose, or blood sugar, is the principal sugar in our blood and the body’s primary source of energy, coming from the foods we eat. The body breaks down most of that food into glucose and releases it into the bloodstream. When blood glucose goes up, it signals the pancreas to release insulin, which is a hormone that helps glucose enter the cells to be used for energy. Of course, diabetes is a disease in which blood glucose levels are too high, and the body either doesn’t make enough insulin or can’t use it as well as it should, or both. Complications from diabetes, which is the eighth leading cause of death in the United States, can cause serious health problems. High blood glucose from diabetes can damage blood vessels and the nerves that control the heart and blood vessels. Over time, this damage can lead to heart disease, which is the number one cause of death in the United States. In fact, people with diabetes tend to develop heart disease at a younger age than people without diabetes.
But is blood glucose really the body’s most important energy source? We’ve been taught that carbohydrates, which break down into glucose, are the primary source of energy for our body’s cells, tissues, and organs and can be used immediately or stored in the liver and muscles for later use. A 2010 article in Nature focused on human energy metabolism notes that besides carbohydrates, lipids and proteins are the major constituents of foods and serve as fuel molecules for the human body. Of course, fats and proteins also provide energy to fuel the body. We know this to be true—look at the explosion and tremendous healing in those who have ditched carbohydrates—which break down into sugar—for a keto or carnivore diet. Sure, carbs, fats, and proteins make up most American meals (with ultra-processed foods gunning to take over), but why is the primary focus on glucose for essential energy? The article explained:
“We have long known that these three classes of molecules are fuel sources for human metabolism, yet it is a common misconception (especially among undergraduates) that human cells use only glucose as a source of energy. This misinformation may arise from the way most textbooks explain energy metabolism, emphasizing glycolysis (the metabolic pathway for glucose degradation) and omitting fatty acid or amino acid oxidation.”
Again, this leaves more questions, such as why are we taught that glucose is the commander in fueling the body? And why isn’t there a more concerted effort by the healthcare industrial complex to warn of the dangers of added sugars and ultra-processed foods? And what should one make of the tight connection that exists between energy metabolism and skeleton physiology, in this case, between insulin and the ostensibly under-studied but significant protein osteocalcin? Could diabetes be healed by increasing the level of osteocalcin in the body? Without being a doctor or a scientist, one can’t help but wonder why understanding how to be healthy has become so complicated.
A 2017 study examining the synergistic relationship between vitamins D and K for bone and cardiovascular health—remember, osteocalcin is dependent upon both—found that deficits in both are strongly related to osteoporosis and CVD, or cardiovascular disease. OK, we know bone health is essential, and we know sugar compromises it. If you’re following this and wondering why added sugar is considered safe, bravo. Because they (meaning the Big Pharma and Big Government collaboration that is spending billions of taxpayer money to conduct senseless and wasteful research instead of caring for us, the people) aim to confuse. And it works … the sheep follow.
To illustrate the insanity, here’s an example. A recent study published in the journal Nutrients, titled “Intakes of Added Sugars, with a Focus on Beverages and the Associations with Nutrient Adequacy in U.S. Adults,” undoubtedly aims to obscure the ease with which Americans can take their health into their own hands. In September 2023, News-Medical summarized the association the study found between added sugar intake and nutrient adequacy, boldly stating that, low and behold, consuming processed sugar just might be a good thing, declaring:
“The study finds that a higher added sugar intake from soft drinks can negatively affect the recommended nutrient intake. In contrast, added sugar intake from fruit juice, flavored milk, and the rest of the diet can be useful in terms of meeting the recommended threshold for nutrient adequacy.
Overall, the study indicates that the nutritional composition of different added sugar sources can significantly influence the association between added sugar intake and nutrient adequacy.”
Yet—and this key point is significant—the News-Medical author neglected to mention that the study was funded by none other than The Sugar Association. That’s right—The Sugar Association. We’ve previously written about the corrupt sugar industry’s calculated role in demonizing saturated fats. In 1977, the Sugar Research Foundation influenced scientific research to shift the blame for heart disease from sugar to saturated fats. Yes, indeed, they paid off Harvard researchers to produce a paper that downplayed the dangers of sugar and instead emphasized the dangers of saturated fats.
As previously mentioned, evidence has existed for decades, proving that even for relatively short periods of a child’s life, elevated blood sugars are unsuitable for the growing skeleton. After all, the skeleton is the structural scaffold necessary to support the human body and also a regulator of critical metabolic processes, including modulating glucose tolerance and testosterone production facilitated by osteocalcin. This critical knowledge begs the most basic of questions, such as why corn syrup is in so many infant formulas in America or why ultra-processed foods haven’t been banned. Moreover, why has osteocalcin, a key element in the skeletal endocrine organ, been overlooked for decades, and is it crucial to overall health? A recent study published February 16, 2024, titled “Current knowledge of bone-derived factor osteocalcin: its role in the management and treatment of diabetes mellitus, osteoporosis, osteopetrosis, and inflammatory joint diseases,” highlighted the overall lack of information from clinical studies about osteocalcin. Like the scheme to downplay the destructiveness of most sugars, was this oversight and confusion on purpose? One can’t help but wonder since osteocalcin treatment was recently shown to suppress addiction and reduce depressive behavior in alcohol-dependent patients. And sugar is addictive. Hmm.
The greed behind the enterprise to deceive and poison the American people is disgusting. For far too long, it has overrun our nation and devalued our principles, leaving us compelled to repeatedly ask—who is looking out for our health and the health and well-being of our children?