All carbs are not created equal
 

Well briefly all carbs are not created equal.

Some people have no problems what so ever with carbohydrates.
Others do.
About 1/3 of all people have problems with carbohydrates spiking blood sugar levels. When this happens insulin raises to accommodate the rise in blood sugar and insulin is a storage hormone.
Of all the hormones if there were a tug of war insulin would win. So insulin’s job is to store that last meal (high blood sugar) as fat.
The problem with that is this. When the insulin stores that last meal as fat the brain calls for more carbohydrates because the brain did not get any carbohydrates.
Your brain is the single biggest carbohydrate hog in the body. Carbohydrates store in muscle tissue and the liver but if the brain is starving for the carbs and the last meal stored them as fat then you will eat again.
Well guess what if you are spiking your blood sugars again with carbohydrates the insulin will rise again and store that meal as fat as well.

To slow down the spiking of blood sugars there are a number of things you can do like:

1. eat carbs low in the glycemic index.

2. eat a protein, fat and fiber with the carbs.

3. keep the carbs pretty low.

4. carbs exit the stomach really fast and if you eat a protein with it you will get more stable blood sugars.
By doing that you will not get sleepy after a meal, have more constant energy and get carbohydrate cravings which is not good. There is actually people that have an addiction to carbohydrates.
Now that can be a problem especially if the carbs are high in the glycemic index and you are prone to spiking of blood sugars. Also after prolonged periods of time the pancreas gets kind of worn out and you can be a candidate of Type 2 diabetes.
So if you are prone to that kind of condition modification of the diet might be in order if you want to keep the weight down.
Remember later on in life your metabolism will slow and some point in time you will need to modify it.

and again great article Robbie. I always knew about glycemic index of carbs and mixing protein with carbs but this remained me again to be on track.

Would be good to post an article with low and high glycemic index of carbs.

hows this ?

Food category

Breads
White bread 70

Wholemeal bread 69

Pumpernickel 41

Dark rye 76

Sourdough 57

Heavy mixed grain 30-45

Legumes

Lentils 28

Soybeans 18

Baked beans (canned) 48

Breakfast cereals

Cornflakes 84

Rice Bubbles 82

Cheerios 83

Puffed Wheat 80

All Bran 42

Porridge 46

Snack foods

Mars Bar 65

Jelly beans 80

Chocolate bar 49

Fruits

Apple 38

Orange 44

Peach 42

Banana 55

Watermelon 72

Dairy foods

Milk, full fat 27

Milk, skim 32

Icecream, full fat 61

Yogurt, low fat, fruit 33

Soft and sports drinks

Fanta 68

Gatorade 78





Theres plenty of others but thats arough guide any specific food then let me know and ill have a look what i can find!

Robbie