Are carbohydrates causing an increase in insulin levels, and, as a result, the formation of fat? Read this article and you You’ll find out whether they get fat from carbohydrates or not!
Content
- Are carbohydrates getting fat or losing weight?
- Where did this myth about insulin and carbohydrates come from?
- How is insulin involved in the work of the liver, muscle and fat tissues
- Insulin and muscle
- Insulin and adipose tissue
- What research was done
- Insulin and protein
- conclusions
Are carbohydrates getting fat or losing weight?
Super-handed athlete: “Hey man, you need to lose weight – eat less carbohydrates! ”
His friend: “Why?”
Super-handed athlete: “Because carbohydrates cause increased insulin production, and insulin contributes to the formation of fat. If a if you eat little carbohydrates, your body will only burn fat, and you will lose weight. Look at me how slim I am not eating carbohydrates for 2 years “(he lifts a T-shirt and proudly demonstrates his puny bony body).
His friend: “Damn, then I need to stop eating in the morning oatmeal if I want a flat stomach. ”
Such conversations can often be heard in sports halls, locker rooms.
Low-carb diets act on the principle: reduced carbohydrate intake – insulin levels drop. And that means the mechanism of burning fat starts, because carbohydrates are the main cause of the occurrence and accumulation of fat.
Where did this myth about insulin and carbohydrates come from?
The emergence of concepts such as “good” and “bad” calories society shook. Now all polls began to calculate calories and actively lose weight. Black Nutrition Books White says that insulin is the main cause of obesity. Not, Of course, there is some truth in this: the hormone does participate in regulation of subcutaneous fat. But do not make it the main thing the culprit of your excess weight.
Why? Our endocrine system is a very complex mechanism, whose coordinated work depends on the activity of many hormones. Insulin plays an important role in the metabolism process (including fats and carbohydrates), but it’s just a small part of this system.
To understand how insulin works, it’s worth a bit to move away from generally accepted facts, look at it from the other side.
How is insulin involved in the work of the liver, muscle and fat tissues
First, let’s take a look at what insulin is and what it does. Insulin is a hormone of the endocrine system, that is, it is important for normal functioning of several tissues, not just fat and muscle.
Most of us think that insulin is such a hormone, which pushes fat through all the cells of our body, but it’s not quite so.
Insulin controls the level of glucose in the liver. In other words, when you eat something that causes a surge in insulin, it gives a signal organism: “Hey, I got enough sugar, so don’t nothing to do. Liver, you can relax a bit! “Also he will recommend the liver to stock up some glucose – glycogen, so to speak, on a rainy day.
Insulin and muscle
Now let’s see how insulin affects our muscles. When insulin enters the skeletal muscles, inside of them occurs several important processes. First, cell transporters glucose begins to actively move to the surface of the cell membranes and distribute sugar over muscle fibers. Secondly, insulin signals muscle cells to tune specifically to carbohydrate metabolism.
Think of insulin as a vehicle: when it is gone, the body begins to burn fat intensively, but when it is, it gives your body command to use extra carbohydrates from glucose.
It should be noted that the energy status of the cell plays an important role in its internal processes. If in muscle cells if glucose and / or glycogen is too low, insulin will cause cell use incoming glucose to burn and form glycogen from available stocks.
Another interesting fact, which, incidentally, few know: under the action of insulin is the absorption of fatty acids into muscle cells to be used later for energy. If the cells already have a lot of glucose, glycogen and intramuscular triglycerides, then imagine what stocks glycogen will make the cell!
And this, in turn, will inevitably cause the formation of fat: glycogen is simply transformed into adipose tissue.
Insulin and adipose tissue
Insulin actually reduces the rate of breakdown of fat in fat tissue, and also stimulates the synthesis of fatty acids. It is scientific proven.
Now you probably think: “Bro, I’ve spoken in the beginning that insulin stores fat! “But this is fundamentally wrong wording. Insulin fat only saves, not produces.
Yes, insulin really reduces fat oxidation in short term (when insulin levels are high). However, to get better, you need to have this level constantly. What can be achieved if you eat carbohydrates during the day and at night.
Fat oxidation is a stable metabolic process in our the body, and insulin acts only as an activator of carbohydrate metabolism. That is, insulin is just a switch in the general exchange substances, it is not capable of producing fat itself.
The only thing you can trace is the relationship between insulin and obesity, if there is always an excess of energy in the body.
What research was done
If insulin was the key hormone in charge of recruiting weight, then people consuming large amounts of carbohydrates are inevitably would get fatter, unlike those sitting on a low-carb diet.
To prove this scientifically, let’s look at studies that address the following question: do they increase isocaloric diet insulin levels, do they lead to a decrease weight?
One study involved 8 people. In the first week they ate foods high in carbohydrates (60% of total diet), and the second basis of their menu was foods rich in fat (also 60%). The total energy consumption was the same.
As a result of the experiment, it was found that the composition of the diet does not affect on energy consumption, but it INFLUENCES “on the rate of breakdown of substances during digestion. ”
Recent High Carbohydrate Diet Study (70 %), showed that, following such a diet, it is quite possible lose weight and improve insulin sensitivity. This one is already should shake your confidence that insulin is the main the culprit of your excess weight.
Another study by Dr. Kevin Hall showed that calorie count and fat restriction lead to more weight loss than carbohydrate restriction. This indicates, that insulin signaling plays a major role in determining energy source but not at all a decisive factor in the exchange substances.
In addition, if insulin were the cause of obesity, then everything overweight and obese people would suffer from elevated insulin levels. How then to explain the fact that many overweight people absolutely normal insulin levels? This one more time indicates the non-involvement of insulin in the formation of fat.
Insulin and protein
Another interesting pattern should be noted: protein is also causes a surge in insulin. This is actually so. Some high protein foods can raise levels insulin is much higher and faster than high-carb (probably did your brain explode from excess information? Haha, me too. But let’s figure it out).
Why is it important to know? Numerous experiments show that protein diets are quite effective in losing weight. Though whey protein is the cause of a sharp jump in insulin, but he Intensively burns subcutaneous fat stores.
Keep in mind the following: if you have fullness increased insulin, then such diets are strictly contraindicated for you. After all, protein will only contribute to the accumulation of fat, and this is direct the opposite of your goal.
conclusions
After analyzing this information, you can conclude that insulin is a metabolic regulator. He kind of switches your the body causes it to burn not fats, but incoming carbohydrates. Also It helps the synthesis of glycogen, protein metabolism.
In a healthy person with a normal hormonal background, metabolism substances is stable and steady, therefore even significant fluctuations in eating behavior (e.g. high carbohydrate food) usually do not cause malfunctions. Only with excess energy in insulin may be an indirect cause of accumulation fat cells.