Sugar Me Up – Watch My Insulin Response!
Every time I try reading an article explaining the low carb diet and its benefits, I see the words InSuLiN and BlOoD sUgAr being thrown around, and my brain just starts to spin (didn’t I mention that I sucked at biology?). So, here’s my explanation of what these terms are and how they affect our diet and health.
When you consume carbohydrates or sugars (e.g. when you eat a cupcake), the carbohydrates or sugars are digested in your stomach and pass into your blood. This then raises your blood sugar levels. High blood sugar levels can be dangerous as they affect various other body functions, and so your body produces a hormone called insulin to lower your blood sugar level down to a healthy level.
Unfortunately, when you keep eating foods containing a lot of processed carbohydrates, such as pasta, bread, and cakes, your insulin level remains continuously high hour after hour, day after day. This then causes your body to not recognize insulin well (it’s like getting used to all the tourists in New York city, oh wait, it isn’t because it still bothers every New Yorker you ever meet!). Basically, your body gets so overwhelmed by the insulin that’s always around that it stops noticing it. And so your body produces even more insulin to compensate because it has to keep your blood sugar level down still. Type 2 diabetes occurs when your body pretty much stops recognizing insulin, which is why type 2 diabetics have to battle with high blood sugar levels continuously.
How does the low-carb diet help you lose weight then? Well, that’s also linked to your insulin levels (surprise!). Your body can only store fat in fat cells when you have insulin in your blood stream, and you (generally) only have insulin in your blood stream when you eat carbohydrates. So, if you’re eating a bagel for breakfast, a pizza for lunch, and a pasta with a chocolate cookie for dinner, then your body is going to have insulin from dawn til dusk, which is a heck of a long time to keep storing fat in fat cells.
Conclusion: don’t eat carbs if you want to lose weight.
