All carbohydrates are not created equal.
Eating too many carbs can spike your blood sugar, which can lead to over-release of insulin
When you consume foods that contain carbohydrates your body digests and breaks down the carbohydrates to release glucose into your blood. Now, this glucose has to be transported to muscle tissues and cells in the body. For this to happen the body needs to release insulin.
Insulin helps in transport of glucose to all the cells in your body. If you consume carbohydrates that cause a dramatic increase in blood sugars your body needs to adapt by producing a large amount of insulin to absorb the glucose from blood. This is known as an insulin spike.
This insulin spike will quickly remove all the glucose from the bloodstream, which will then result in lower-than-normal blood sugar levels.
The body wants to be stable (homeostatic) at all times, so if you keep consuming carbohydrates that produce such sudden spikes of glucose then your pancreas are forced to respond by producing more and more insulin.
A spike in insulin causes all the blood sugar to be absorbed at a rapid rate and within no time your blood sugar plunges to a low. This causes low energy and increases your craving and makes you consume more food.
When this repeats over a long term it become a vicious cycle and has a negative effect on the body:
- It causes you to consume more calories than required.
- A high insulin state releases fat storing enzymes and transforms all the excess calories into fat.
- A high insulin state inhibits fat dissolving enzymes and prevents breakdown of fat.
- The sudden depletion of glucose from the blood due to insulin spike, cause you to feel dull, moody and hungry.
- This metabolic state can lead to serious health problems, such as diabetes.
Every carbohydrate source has a unique effect on blood sugar levels. The key here is to choose the right type of carbohydrates.