This is how eating too many carbs disrupts your metabolism
Carbohydrate loading is a very well-known habit of athletes, but according to a new study there is a chance that not only does it not help the body, it harms it and especially harms the metabolism
Walla!
health
23/11/2021
Tuesday, 23 November 2021, 08:01 Updated: 08:25
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Non-kosher meat pasta recipe (NOW Roni Shermeister)
Carbohydrate loading before a big run is a very familiar habit, but is it really healthy?
A new study finds that consuming a large number of carbohydrates at once can actually disrupt the body’s overall metabolic rate, causing a disturbance in metabolic function.
Researchers from Harvard-affiliated Brigham and Women's Hospital and Boston Medical Center have found that eating too many carbs leads to the breakdown of powerful antioxidants, a process that worsens as insulin production increases.
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To the full article
Metabolism affects every cell in the body.
Because this process helps the body's cells to receive energy, it is important that nothing interferes with this process.
However, previous studies have linked obesity to decreased metabolism.
The link between obesity and type 2 diabetes and insulin resistance also suggests carbohydrate intake as a cause of metabolic distress.
To date, research has revealed the effects of sugar consumption on the body's metabolism over time.
Unfortunately, previous studies have not been able to assess how large amounts of carbohydrates affect the overall metabolism if consumed at once.
Hmmm pasta.
Spaghetti with tomato sauce (Photo: ShutterStock)
"When we treat people with type 2 diabetes, the focus is often on lowering blood sugar rather than preventing carbs from overeating, which is very common in our society," says Dr. Nepal Eastpen of Brigham's Endocrinology Division, in a university publication. "Ours shows that if overeating is not controlled, some of the traditional ways of treating diabetes, such as giving more insulin to patients to lower blood sugar, may actually be more harmful."
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The researchers, whose study was published in the American Journal of Physiology-Endocrinology and conducted a study that included 24 women who were divided into two study groups: one group with a healthy body mass index (BMI) and one group with a high BMI in the range of overweight to obesity.
None of these women suffered from diabetes.
All participants ate a large amount of carbohydrates at one time.
Some of them ate more than 350 grams.
After analyzing blood and fat samples, the researchers found that the antioxidant glutathione found in broccoli and mushrooms for example, loses some of its electrons.
Those with a higher BMI were more prone to this process, which led the researchers to hypothesize that cells take antioxidant electrons in order to fuel the fat conversion process from carbohydrates.
You can eat a lot of it.
Broccoli (Photo: Walla !, Matan Chopin)
Overweight participant fat samples also revealed a decrease in metabolic function compared to those with type 2 diabetes and insulin resistance.
Because insulin increases the absorption of carbohydrates by the cells, it increases the effects of metabolic dysfunction, due to the fact that the cells are not equipped to cope with such a high volume of carbohydrates.
These results reinforced the theory that excess carbohydrates may lead to a decrease in metabolism.
The reason - too many carbohydrates force the cells to store them as fats.
This process involves the conversion of carbohydrates to fats, which requires electrons.
According to the study, as excess fat is produced, electrons are "stolen" from other important metabolic processes, such as the formation of antioxidants.
"There are real differences between the subjects' metabolism, and this is something that has been ignored in medicine. Metabolic overfeeding varies between patients, and we need to understand this so that we can give more appropriate nutritional advice," the researchers concluded.
health
Nutrition and diet
Preventive nutrition
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pasta
running
Carbohydrates
Exercise
diet
diet
metabolism