Why Are Carbs A Big Fat Problem?

The body is in a constant state of trying to regulate things, including keeping blood glucose (blood sugar) at a stable level. There are various hormones and processes which counteract one another in order to achieve this stability. As I have been discovering, what we put into our body has a great impact on each of them and can have major consequences for individual hormones or processes to the point where you can lose the function of one of them, therefore, not being able to have the counteracting effect necessary to achieve a normal state of energy or bodily functions. Then, to live, you will need medication.

There are several things that affect the blood glucose level but some are more effective than others at maintaining stability. Avoiding spikes in your blood glucose is essential in maintaining consistent energy. This starts with eating the right foods which allow for a steady flow of energy for long periods of time and provide essential nutrients, in conjunction with your body being able to use stored energy later on, in the form of glycogen in the muscles and liver, as well as fat from around the body, to keep the flow of energy going.

Because carbohydrates come in many different forms, including fruit and vegetables, grains and grain products (bread, pasta, flour, rice, oats, quinoa, etc.), sugar and sweetened products, etc. it is important to remember that different items will have different effects in the body. Manufacturing and refining to produce a product can strip away much of a food’s nutrients making it have a longer shelf life or taste a certain way but it will usually mean it is digested quicker – therefore, it turns into glucose (sugar) in the body much quicker, causing spikes in blood glucose and, consequently, spikes in insulin – it upsets the normal metabolic functions and doesn’t allow for appropriate satiety or nutrients that your body needs.

In basic terms, what happens when you eat?

Ø  Food will be digested in the stomach and the necessary amount will be converted to glucose to become our energy source. However, carbohydrates only get converted to glucose but more on that below.

Ø   That glucose is then released into the bloodstream via the small intestine and travels through the pancreas.

Ø  The level of glucose present in the blood is assessed and the pancreas adds the necessary amount of insulin before the blood is distributed around the body.

Ø  The blood is sent to all parts of the body to feed glucose to cells for them to function.

Ø  The insulin is released from the blood, attaches to the cells and opens the cells to allow the glucose to go in.

Ø  When the cells are full, some excess glucose can be stored as ‘glycogen’ in the muscles and the liver. If there is no room for more storage as glycogen, the insulin will attach to fat cells to allow more of the excess glucose to be stored as fat.

Ø  The point of doing all this is to ensure vital cells can function firstly and also return your blood glucose level to a normal state. Therefore, insulin is used to rid the blood of the glucose which is causing it to be too high.

Also, when you eat and this process is taking place, the body has a hormone called ‘Leptin’ which is stimulated by eating and is there to tell us when we’re full and don’t need any more food. However, it has been discovered that sugar will suppress this hormone and its ability to provide the feeling of satiety. When you eat the right, nutrient dense foods your body will function correctly, allowing you to avoid the big dip in energy after the insulin has done its work because that process will take longer. The right foods will provide a slower release of energy into the blood with lower concentrations of glucose being present. 

Storing excess glucose as fat is very common in the general population because so many people have a high content of carbohydrate rich foods in their diet. Carbohydrates only really have the ability to be turned into glucose once digested and then go through the above process. Other nutrient dense whole foods such as meat and fish, eggs, dairy, nuts, fruits and vegetables contain other essential nutrients in the form of protein, goods fats, vitamins, minerals, anti-oxidants and fibre. These all serve purpose to various essential functions in the body. For example, protein is necessary for the repair and maintenance of muscle mass, while vitamins and minerals support many areas, not the least being the immune system.

Cereals, bread, pasta, items made from flour, other grains, sugar filled products, etc. all predominantly contain carbohydrates, particularly, the very common, highly processed, refined versions of those products which have been stripped of much of the essential nutrients they previously may have had. So, these types of foods don’t really serve any other function apart from being converted to glucose initially and eventually into fat because they simply have nothing else to do and they are not getting used anytime soon. Unfortunately, just exercising more is not the answer but I will address this separately in the future.

Of course, fruits and vegetables contain carbohydrates too but they are natural and unrefined and, as mentioned above, they contain many other essential nutrients. Basically, this is where your carbohydrates should come from because they will provide the other essential nutrients you require, allowing for a slower release of glucose into the bloodstream. However, it is important to remember that fruit does contain sugar and generally is quicker to digest. That is why only a couple of pieces per day are needed. If you eat a wide variety of colourful vegetables over three meals each day, an absence of fruit shouldn’t be an issue because your nutritional needs will be met by the vegetables.

Consider this; a red capsicum has over 4 times the amount of Vitamin C found in an orange while also having approximately 45% less sugar. Food is by far the greatest form of preventative medicine if you learn what is best, so, ditch those orange flavoured Vitamin C supplements when you feel a cold coming on and start munching on a capsicum.

Glucose being stored as fat is not a bad thing, to a degree, as the body is able to use it later when the blood glucose level is beginning to fall below normal. So, instead of eating again to receive more glucose from food, the following happens:- 

Ø  The pancreas detects the blood glucose level beginning to drop below its ideal level. 

Ø  It then produces a hormone with an opposite effect to insulin. This hormone is known as Glucagon. 

Ø  Glucagon allows the release of stored energy from liver and muscle glycogen and then from fat around the body.

Ø  The body is now producing its own energy in a steady flow to maintain a normal blood glucose level as opposed to when you eat sugar or refined carbohydrates which spikes blood sugar very quickly and then requires excessive insulin to bring it back down.

Ø  While this is happening, the hormone ‘Ghrelin’ is activated, which signals to the brain to begin looking for your next meal. Ghrelin is the cause of a rumbling stomach when you’re hungry.

Ø  Your body will continue to breakdown fat and even protein to maintain this process until you eat again in order to keep the brain and other organs functioning and/or alive.

Having high levels of insulin is not a natural state and we have not evolved to deal with huge spikes of the hormone. The excess carbohydrates and sugar hinder the brain and the appetite regulatory functions making you want to eat again too soon partly due to the insulin so quickly ridding the blood of so much glucose. This is where the big dip in energy comes in and all of a sudden you have a mad urge to eat again. Because you eat again too soon, your body hasn’t reached its point of needing to use glucagon to access the stored energy and fat. 

Over long periods where the pancreas continually produces high amounts of insulin to combat the high ingestion of carbohydrates and sugar which produce high blood glucose, the body’s cells can become resistant to the insulin’s constant attempts to keep pushing glucose into them. This is known as ‘insulin resistance’ which can then cause chronic ‘hyperglycemia’ (high blood glucose). This can, also, be accompanied by the pancreas being exhausted of its ability to continually produce high levels of insulin. It may then reduce its production, therefore, not producing enough to deal with the hyperglycemia. The hyperglycemia and the inability for the body to reduce it through its natural processes means the presence of type 2 diabetes. As you can see, the body needs the ability to use glucagon so the pancreas – which is a much smaller organ than most – can have a break doing the same thing over and over.

It is important to understand how many foods out there are manufactured and refined. It’s not too hard to notice these foods when you walk around the supermarket. Obviously, the fresh produce areas contain vegetables, fruit, nuts, eggs and meats in their natural form. Then you have refrigerated areas with dairy products where you may need to read a few labels to see if they are still very near to their natural state or not. For example, pure cream is just that. The ingredients list will read something like ‘pasteurised cream’ and that’s it. Other creams will contain extra things like vegetable gum, possibly a sweetener of some kind and/or other fillers.

Yoghurt is another great example. Natural Greek yoghurt has milk, cream and cultures. Other types, particularly flavoured yoghurts, will have those ingredients plus a sweetner like fruit juice concentrate or fruit flavouring through the use of fruit syrups or purees and some have preservatives.

Cow’s milk is pretty straight forward. Your standard full cream milk has been homogenised and pasteurised but you can buy some alternative milks such as lactose free, soy milk, almond milk, rice milk which can be a little more manufactured. Not all brands are but that’s why it is important to check the labels carefully because there is a good chance that they may contain additives and/or sweeteners which you want to avoid.

As for standard carbohydrate foods, it doesn’t matter if they’re Low GI, Wholegrain, Gluten Free or some other term trying to say that it is good for you, just check the ingredients list. Here are the ingredients of Helga’s Soy and Linseed bread as found on the Coles website:-

Ingredients:

Wheat Flour, Water, Toasted Kibbled Soy (10%), Linseed (5%), Yeast, Wheat Germ, Wheat Gluten, Iodised Salt, Vinegar, Vegetable Oil, Soy Flour, Vegetable Emulsifiers (481, 471, 472e), Mineral Salt (Calcium Carbonate), Rye Flour, Vitamins (Thiamin, Folic Acid).

Preservatives galore and a bunch of stuff that we don’t need and shouldn’t eat. This is an issue across the majority of packaged products that have been labeled and advertised as healthy.

I’m hoping that you are beginning to get a picture as to why there is such a problem with obesity and type 2 diabetes, for a start. People are eating foods (sugar and refined carbohydrates) which suppress their normal hormonal and metabolic functions and eating them far too often because their appetite hormones don’t work properly making them want to eat more and often. This means they never get to a state for their body to require glucagon to be produced by the pancreas and start drawing out stored energy from glycogen and fat. It also causes a constant state of high blood glucose levels and excessive insulin secretion.

This barely scratches the surface of these issues but let me leave you with this important point about fat baring in mind what I mentioned in my post ‘Where Did It All Go Wrong?’ about where the idea of fat being bad for us came from.

There has never been a study that proves dietary fat causes heart disease. In fact, there have been numerous large scale, long term studies performed looking to prove/disprove this point and there has always been a conclusion to these studies that there was no correlation between fat consumption and heart disease. It is a myth and the world has been lied to. However, some studies have found that those who consumed less dietary fat had higher rates of heart disease.

I look forward to providing more of this information in the future.

Cheers,

Lincoln.

Please note that I have gained my information from a variety of sources which I have aimed to condense for the purposes of this piece. They are as follows:-

‘Sweet Poison’ by David Gillespie.

‘Big Fat Lies’ by David Gillespie.

‘Toxic Oil’ by David Gillespie.

‘Challenging Beliefs: Memoirs of a Career’ by Professor Tim Noakes. I also, take information from presentations I have watched on YouTube by Professor Noakes about this topic.

‘That Sugar Film’ a documentary presented by Damon Gameau.

Dr. Jason Fung is a Nephrologist – kidney specialist – based in Toronto, Canada. Please see his work and presentations via the website Intensive Dietary Management.

Dr. Robert Lustiq is an American pediatric endocrinologist at the University of California, San Francisco where he is a professor of clinical pediatrics and has a presentation on YouTube called ‘Sugar: The Bitter Truth’.