Demystifying Carbs - Part 2
March 17th, 2008, 7:51 am · Post a Comment · posted by Michelle May, M.D.
We’ve all heard that carbs just turn into sugar when you eat them. That’s what they are supposed to do! To understand why that’s not bad, here’s a simple lesson in carbohydrate metabolism.
When carbs are eaten and digested, they are broken down to their simple form—glucose. Glucose then floats in your bloodstream (hence the term blood sugar), where it is ready to be taken up by your cells to be used for energy or stored. Under normal circumstances, your body closely regulates your blood glucose (or blood sugar) levels.
When your blood glucose rises after eating, your pancreas releases insulin. Insulin has two main jobs. It stimulates your brain, muscle, fat, and other cells to take up glucose to be used for fuel. It also stimulates the liver to make glycogen, the storage form of glucose. These functions keep your blood sugar stable and make sure that your body has glucose available for fuel when needed.
When you haven’t eaten in awhile your blood sugar levels begin to fall. Since glucose is the primary energy source for your brain and red blood cells, this triggers symptoms of hunger including moodiness, irritability, fatigue, nausea, headaches, and difficulty concentrating.
If you don’t eat enough carbohydrates to supply your brain cells with glucose, protein in your diet will be used to make glucose instead of making tissues and performing other vital functions. In addition, since your body will also break down protein from your muscles, heart, liver, kidneys, and other vital organs to be turned into necessary glucose, you may lose valuable lean body mass, which can have long-term damaging effects on your metabolism. Further, when you regain weight, you regain fat, not the lost muscle tissue. This results in a less healthy higher percentage of body fat.
Bottom line: Carbs are important for stoking the fire of your metabolism. Next post, I’ll talk about how to get the most from the carbs you eat.
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