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Knowledgebase: Nutritional Information
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Even though sugar is "fat free" does it contribute to weight gain?
Posted by Jayson Hunter on 22 April 2011 11:18 AM
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| Absolutely. In fact, the "fat-free" misconception is exactly the reason why over half of Americans today are overweight, and 1 in 5 are obese. Over the last few years, we have been led to believe that it's just fat that makes you fat, and therefore that high carbohydrate, low fat diets are the best way to lose fat. It has been proven that these diets are not effective in reducing body fat and do not reduce the risk of heart disease. High carb/low fat diets fail to take into the account the critical importance of stable blood sugar to fat loss and health. All carbohydrates are sugar-any carbohydrate eventually breaks down into glucose (or blood sugar) in your system. The only difference is the speed at which they break down. White sugar, and any food containing sugar breaks down the quickest-technically speaking, they have a high glycemic index- while whole, raw, unprocessed foods-as-grown carbohydrates such as whole grains, raw vegetables and some fruits, which contain a high fiber content, break down more slowly (they have a lower glycemic index ). Your brain can only burn glucose, so it is essential that your brain gets sufficient supplies of it. However, if it gets too much glucose, too quickly, like when you eat a meal high in unprocessed carbohydrates or simply too many carbohydrates for your body, sugar rushes in to your blood causing a blood sugar spike. In order to reduce the level of blood sugar, your brain sends signals to your pancreas to release insulin . Insulin lowers your blood sugar level, but when your blood sugar levels are very high, too much insulin is usually released. This results in a low blood sugar state which causes you to feel sluggish, crave sugary foods and leads you into a degenerative spiral. Excess insulin also converts the excess glucose into fat and stores it in your fat cells. So the key is to eat moderate amounts of carbohydrates with the bulk of them being lower glycemic to keep your blood sugars from rising too fast and causing the storage of excess carbohydrates as fat. | |
 (7 vote(s)) |