Day 16 of 30: Why Low Carb?

[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #71CCD5;”] I[/dropcap]’ve been following a Low Carb approach for over 8 years.

And have no plans to introduce carbs again.

I love that this way of eating is delicious and allows me to manage my diabetes with ease.

It also enabled me to conceive my 2 boys naturally. When I was in my 40s.

With PCOS.

But I get it’s not for everyone.

Like my 3-year-old Finbar who has high energy requirements. And a distrust of any foods that aren’t rice, pasta or bread.

Or my friend who has problems with her gall bladder and struggles to digest fat.

Like everything in nutrition, it really comes down to the individual.

So if you already know what Low Carb isn’t for you.

You get a break today.

But if you’re not sure, this lesson is all for you.

Enjoy!

WHAT YOU’LL LEARN TODAY:

• 6 reasons carbs are problematic.
• Why you don’t need carbs (but have been told you do).

6 Reasons Carbs Are Problematic.

1. Blood sugar control.

When we eat carbs they are digested and broken down into simple sugars. Mostly glucose and fructose.

These sugars are absorbed into our blood stream.

Our blood sugar levels rise.

To stop the sugar level going too high, insulin is released.

This hormone helps our bodies store the excess sugar in our blood as glycogen (short term energy storage) and fat (longer term energy storage).

So the more carbs you eat, the bigger the influence on your blood sugar.

And the more insulin is released to store the sugar.

As the sugar is stored, our blood sugar levels decrease rapidly causing a ‘crash’ which makes you feel hungry.

You eat more carbs and the whole cycle starts again.

Like a roller coaster of highs and lows.

There are differences between the types of carbs and how quickly they are digested.

And how much they spike blood sugar.

The format in which you consume the carbs makes a difference as well.

But at the end of the day, all carbs eventually impact your blood sugar in some way.

2. Interfere with your hormones.

Apart from increasing insulin production, carbs also influence our hunger and satiety hormones.

The balance between our hormones is complex and I won’t go into the detail here.

You just need to know that Leptin, the hormone which regulates satiety (when you feel full) and Ghrelin (the hunger hormone) are influenced by the amount of insulin in your system.

If these are out of balance, it means you’re hormones are compelling you to eat more than you actually need.

And you know where that leads.

3. Carbs can be addictive.

You’re probably familiar with this but the less carbs you eat, the less you crave them.

There are two reasons for this:

i. The blood sugar ‘roller coaster’ discussed above.

ii. Carbs change the types of bacteria in your gut. The carb-loving bacteria then signal to our bodies that we need more carbs, resulting in cravings.

4. Impact your brain health

Glucose in the blood is used as fuel for your brain.

But when blood sugar levels are high for long periods of time the excess sugar actually causes damage leading to an increased risk of Alzheimer’s and dementia.

Which is why these conditions are now being referred to as Type 3. Diabetes.

For more on this I recommend reading a book called ‘Grain Brain’ by Dr David Perlmutter. Or this research paper.

5. Feed cancer cells.

It’s been known since the 1940s that cancer cells can only burn glucose for fuel.

So if you have cancer cells in your body and high blood sugar, the cancer is able to grow more quickly.

There is research happening now looking at using an extremely low carb diet (ketogenic) to help treat cancer in conjunction with other treatments and the initial results are promising.

That’s not to say that eating Low Carb will cure you of cancer, but it’s certainly a compelling reason for me to keep my blood sugars as low as possible.

6. Give you wrinkles!

One of the major causes of ageing and wrinkles in particular is when sugar binds with protein in your body.

I won’t go into the details but it’s nice to know that following a Low Carb approach is good from a beauty perspective too!

Why you don’t need carbs (but have been told you do).

We have evolved to run on two different sources fuel – carbs and fat.

Burning carbs for energy is the easiest pathway so whenever we have glucose in our systems, our bodies use that first.

But we’re also able to convert fat into things called ‘ketone bodies’ and use these ‘ketones’ for fuel.

There are people who follow a purely ketogenic diet where they eat tiny amounts of carbs and get their energy from fat and protein.

And many of them have lost massive amounts of weight doing so.

They are proof that you don’t need carbs to survive and even thrive.

There are still nutritionists out there who will tell you you need to eat a certain amount of carbohydrate to meet your energy needs.

But this isn’t true as long as you are getting enough fat to burn instead.

Here’s the thing, your body can actually make any glucose it needs from protein via a process called ‘gluconeogenesis’.

You literally don’t need to eat any carbs to survive.

Personally I find a ketogenic diet too restrictive from a pleasure perspective, which is why I choose a Low Carb approach.

This gives me a balance between minimizing the side effects of high blood sugar.

And actually being able to enjoy food and life.

SUMMARY:

Here’s what we’ve covered:

• Carbs are problematic because they cause the blood sugar ‘roller coaster’, interfere with your hunger and satiety hormones, they’re addictive, negatively impact brain health, feed cancer cells AND if that wasn’t enough they give you wrinkles!
• You don’t need carbs because you can make them in your body from protein. And because you can burn fat for fuel via ketone bodies.

ACTIVITY

Think about your current diet.

Are you happy with it? Or do you think moving to a more Low Carb approach might be helpful.

You don’t necessarily need to go completely Ketogenic to get the benefits we discussed above. Any reduction in your carb intake will help. So perhaps a gradual approach might be best for you? Just a thought.

Leave a comment below and share your thoughts.

LEARN MORE

See the Low Carb Love Program
Especially DAY 2. What to Expect and
DAY 3. How to Change to Low Carb.

Keep it simple (and Low Carb) in the kitchen!

With love,
Jules x