“Why Carbs Make Us Fat” is the second part to Dec. 14th’s blog entitled “Why Not Wheat?” If you remember, wheat spikes our blood sugar and all of those blood sugar spikes are ultimately what makes us fat. Read on to learn why carbs make us fat and what to do about it.
A common misconception is that fat will make you fat, but the real culprit is sugar (carbohydrates). Carbohydrates are digested into glucose (a simple sugar), which is delivered to your blood stream for energy. Insulin is released into your blood and is responsible for delivering that glucose to the muscle cells that need energy.
When we have continually high blood sugar our muscles simply can’t use all of that glucose. Insulin will deposit the un-needed glucose into “storage units” in our muscles. Once these storage units are full, the excess glucose is transformed and then stored as body fat. Before the day of grocery stores and obesity, this was a benefit. You could eat in excess when food was available and your body would store it for times of famine. However, in this day in age, this mechanism is why carbs make us fat.
Carbohydrates (remember, these are the precursor to glucose) are found in a variety of foods including cakes, cookies, candies, grains, flour products, beans, and even in fruits and vegetables. The carbohydrates range from simple to complex. Simple sugars are foods that contain sugar (sugar, honey, agave, maple syrup, etc.) such as cakes, cookies, candies, and sweetened beverages. And it’s my opinion that wheat, even “whole wheat” falls into this category as well, because of its tremendous impact on blood sugar.
More complex carbohydrates contain more fiber and are more complex molecules. This means the digestion of complex carbs into glucose will take much longer, hence releasing sugar into your blood at a much slower rate. Some examples of complex carbohydrates include vegetables, beans and whole grains (with the exception of whole wheat… again, this is my opinion). Fruits are unique in that they contain simple sugars, but their effect on blood sugar is more similar to that of a complex carbohydrate. The fiber in fruit slows digestion and therefore slows the release of glucose into the blood stream.
My recommendation for controlling blood sugar, thus controlling weight is to reduce your carb load. I’m not recommending that you adhere to an extremely low carbohydrate diet unless your doctor has instructed you to do so. There are instances where this type of diet, a ketogenic diet, can be hugely beneficial, but that’s beyond the discussion of this post.
Steps to Reducing Carb Intake
1. Crowd out your carbs with proteins. Make sure you eat a protein at every meal. Focus more on getting protein rather than getting carbs. For example, eat a ¼ cup of nuts with a piece of fruit. Or have some veggies with hummus. Yes, the hummus and fruit have carbs (and therefore sugar), but remember that I’m not recommending you reduce your carb intake entirely. Some good protein options include:
- Nuts and nut butters
- Seeds and seed butters
- Beans, lentils and other legumes
- Tofu and tempeh (non-GMO)
- Eggs from happy chickens (I like to keep hard boiled eggs around for quick snacks)
- Dairy from happy cows
- Meat from happy animals
2. Eat quality carbs. When eating carbohydrates, choose complex carbs such as whole grains (try something other than just wheat/whole wheat products), starchy vegetables (winter squash, sweet potatoes, plantains, etc.), and fruit. Choose carbohydrates that take longer to digest.
3. Make small reductions in carb portions. If you follow step 1 & 2, this will come naturally. Focus more on the proteins and less on the carbs. But when you do eat carbs, try slightly reducing your serving size. Don’t go overboard.
4. Listen to your body. Notice that I didn’t give you a magical number to strive for when calculating your carb intake. It’s different for everyone. Some people feel great eating just 1/2 cup of brown rice everyday, while others need 2 or 3 cups. It depends on your genetics, body size, activity level and age. Learn to hear what your body is telling you.
I know that there’s a lot of hype surrounding why carbs make us fat, so hopefully I didn’t add to the confusion. If you only take away one message from this post, it’s that you should listen to your body. Don’t listen to me or anyone else for that matter. YOU are your own expert when it comes to YOUR body. Happy discovering!
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