The role of carbs in weight maintenance & loss

When we eat carbohydrates, like bread and pasta our bodies release insulin.

This insulin is in our system means we are in fat-storing mode. It’s actually impossible for us to burn fat for fuel when insulin is around.

But when the insulin subsides, we start burning our fat cells for energy. Yay!

This means that when we eat carbohydrates and have insulin in our system, we aren’t physically able to burn our fat for fuel. All we can do is store the carbohydrates as fat in our fat cells.

So too many carbohydrates = too much insulin = fat bodies.

Of course it’s not that simple.

Different factors effect the rate at which carbohydrates change our blood sugar and insulin. I’ve covered these in Factors governing the effect of carbs in our bodies.

so what is insulin?
Insulin is a hormone that regulates our blood sugar levels.

Too much sugar and too little sugar are both bad things. So when our blood sugar gets too high, insulin is released to facilitate the storage of the excess sugar in our bodies as fat.

isn’t insulin what diabetics inject?
Correct. People with type 1 diabetes aren’t able to produce enough insulin to regulate their blood sugar levels. So they are encouraged to manage their blood sugar by diet and also by injecting insulin.

what other factors can influence whether we get fat?

cortisol:
Blood sugar levels and insulin play the major part in controlling whether we store or burn fat. But there can be other factors. When we are stressed or anxious, our bodies produce the hormone cortisol. Cortisol can work to both burn fat and store fat.

When insulin is present, cortisol acts to magnify the effect of insulin in storing fat. When insulin is absent, cortisol magnifies our ability to burn fat. So by keeping insulin low, we minimise the negative impact of stress on our waistline.

other hormones:
Other hormones such as growth hormones, sex hormones and adrenaline have the ability to help us use our fat cells for fuel. The thing is when insulin is high, it trumps the action of the other hormones, making it difficult for them to facilitate fat burning. So they aren’t important compared with insulin.

our personal insulin sensitivity:
Some people are naturally more sensitive to insulin than others.

This means that for the same amount and type of carbohydrate, the less sensitive people produce more insulin and so spend more time in Storing Fat mode (one of the reasons why some people are more likely to put on weight than others). Also as we age, we become less sensitive to insulin (hello middle-aged spread).

carbohydrates for weight maintenance v’s weight loss

In simple terms, eyeryone is different and has different goals around healthy eating.

If your goal is weight maintenance and you’re achieving that goal, there’s no need to restrict or change the types and amounts of carbohydrates in your diet.

If, on the other hand, you’re not getting the weight loss results you’re after, it’s important to look at reducing your carbohydrate intake. And choosing carbs that are less likely to cause blood sugar spikes. So focus on eating vegetables and ‘slow carbs’ such as beans and lentils.

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