Question is : do carbohydrates really make us fat, what is the deal with that ? We have often encountered weight loss diets like low carb diets which put much emphasis in adjusting the amount of carbohydrates we eat; which we take to mean as the reason why we get fat. However, you should also consider that in some parts of the world, rice and pasta are staple food but the amount of daily carbon intake they get has never been a health issue in their region. Thus, some nutritionists and researchers have provided additional information about carbohydrates to provide us with a better understanding of its importance to our health and in what way it can affect us negatively.
What are carbohydrates?
Carbohydrate is a food substance basically made up of sugar. Our body metabolism converts carbohydrates sugar to glucose, which is the body’s main source of energy. Rice is a form of complex carbohydrate made up of several links of sugar, which could not be easily broken by the body’s digestive system. Hence, the intestine does not easily absorb them although in due time digestive enzymes will eventually break them down and will allow absorption.
This process is ideal since the slow absorption will supply the body with a steady supply of glucose energy to meet the activities engaged in by the body.
What are simple carbohydrates?
Now there are simple carbohydrates contained in foods like cake, pastry, biscuits, chocolate which has too much table sugar containing lots of “empty” calories. The intestine easily digests the sugar in these simple carbohydrates because they are made up of smaller molecules of glucose, fructose and galactose. However, if the body has already stored enough supply of energy, the abundant supply of glucose can no longer be accommodated in sugar storage cells and instead will be converted into fats stored in fat cells. Simple carbohydrates then are the kind of carbohydrates that can make us fat.
In some cases it will also lead to a form of diabetic disorder, since the blood will now contain too much sugar, elevating what is known as the blood sugar level. Once the pancreas detects that there is a high level of sugar in the blood, it will perform its natural function of producing insulin. These are now the hormones which will open up the cells to receive the glucose supply.
Problem now arises if the cells can no longer take in the glucose, and the glucose remains in the blood, the pancreas will continue producing insulin to the point of causing a hormonal imbalance. The blood will deposit the unabsorbed glucose in the kidney as wastes and the kidney in return will be overworked into trying to flush out the glucose out of the system. All these imbalances in the natural processes will lead to a chain of events that will cause diabetes, kidney stones, and high blood pressure.
That is the reason why obesity is a known cause of these diseases.
Exercise is one of the known natural treatments for diabetes, kidney stones, and high blood pressure. Our penchant for sweets like cakes and pastries, soft drinks aside from the other foods that are eaten in abundance but are likewise simple carbohydrates by nature give us an over- abundance of unabsorbed sugar. If the body lives a sedentary lifestyle, without requiring much energy to burn, the fat converted glucose will remain as stored fat cells in the body.
Lack of exercise and too much simple carbohydrates make us fat.