Is it true carbohydrates make you gain weight

Who said that carbohydrates are to blame for excess weight?

Carbohydrates blame weight gain more from the XIX century, after the Banting brochures - a man who lost 30 kg in a month, giving up refined carbohydrates.

In the XX century on carbohydrates lashed cardiologist Robert Atkins, the creator of the ketogenic diet. Restrict carbohydrates Council and other well-known diet: Paleo diet south beach, Whole30.

In the book by Gary Taubes'Why we get fat"States: Western society swims fat just because food consists mainly of carbohydrates. And this hypothesis is not meaningless.

Why carbohydrates?

Fans of low-carbohydrate diets weight gain associated with the action of the hormone insulin. When you eat carbohydrates, the body converts them into glucose, and carries the blood supply to the cells. When the blood glucose level rises above 100 mg / dl, the pancreas produces insulin hormone. His task - to remove excess glucose from the blood. For this purpose it stimulates insulin receptors of liver cells, muscle and fat, they passed glucose and store it as glycogen (muscle, liver) or fat (fat cells).

If a person eats a lot of carbohydrates, insulin often have to act on the insulin receptors to utilize glucose.

From this, they lose their sensitivity, the cells cease to open up and take less glucose. The body throws out even more insulin in order to "reach out" to the cells and still remove glucose from the blood. Hormone blocks splitting fat reserves, stimulate fat synthesis in the liver, and after they are in the form of triglycerides released into the blood stream, converts them into fatty acids that are absorbed by fat cells. In other words, making you fatter excess insulin.

In addition, the rapid consumption of carbohydrates - the ones that are processed quickly and dramatically increase the level of sugar in the blood - leads to a constant hunger. When you consume these carbohydrates, blood sugar rises sharply, the body throws a lot of insulin, he quickly attaches glucose, after which the blood sugar level drops dramatically, and you want to have wildly again, although it was quite small time. It is a vicious circle.

Chocolate → → jump insulin deposition of glucose to fat → sharp decline in blood sugar → → wild hunger chocolate. Circle.

So, carbohydrates still to blame for weight gain?

Before you blame the carbs in the obesity epidemic, let's look at the results of scientific research.

StudyEnergy expenditure and body composition changes after an isocaloric ketogenic diet in overweight and obese men. 2016 showed that if you keep your calorie deficit, no matter how many carbohydrates you eat. The first month of the participants ate a lot of carbohydrates, including fast: granola bars, Pretzels and white bread. Thus they maintained calorie deficit and lost weight 0.5 kg. Next month, they ate little carbohydrates and high in fat within the same calories and again dropped 0.5 kg.

Two months - a short time, but there are more long-term studyEffect of Low-Fat vs Low-Carbohydrate Diet on 12-Month Weight Loss in Overweight Adults and the Association With Genotype Pattern or Insulin Secretion the length of a year. And it also showed that the diet are equally suitable and low-carb and low-fat diet.

OverviewEfficacy and safety of low-carbohydrate diets: a systematic review. 107 scientific papers also confirmed that people lose weight because of the reduction in the number of calories and the percentage of carbohydrates is not critical.

Sometimes on the low-carbohydrate diet lose weight fasterAtkins and other low-carbohydrate diets: hoax or an effective tool for weight loss?But in the long run it does not matter.

Why low-carb diets lose weight faster?

scientists have suggestedAtkins and other low-carbohydrate diets: hoax or an effective tool for weight loss?That rapid weight loss on carbohydrate approach involves the loss of water and a poor diet.

The loss of water is due to the reduction of glycogen in the muscles. Each gram of glycogen binds 3 g of water. Clicking on a low-carb diet, you reduce the number of water in the body, so almost immediately feel lighter.

Considerable importance is reducing diet. The greater the variety of food, the more eatFood displays, food colors affect how much people eat, researcher concludes man. If you can not eat carbohydrates, you avoid many opportunities to eat when you do not feel hunger: a piece of cake for a holiday in the office, chips before dinner sweets with tea in the middle of the working day. This reduces the intake of calories and you lose weight.

But what about the feeling of hunger due to surges in blood sugar?

As we said above, after the spike in blood sugar hunger really is faster. But if we are talking about weight gain, do not blame carbohydrates by themselves, and their sources. Have a value of three parameters:

1. The glycemic index (GI) of the product. This is the speed at which will raise blood sugar after a meal. Sweets, white bread, white rice, semolina, couscous, pastries, potatoes have a high GI and cause a sharp jump sugar. Other vegetables, fruit, berries, legumes, cereals and herbs due to the high content of fiber is not absorbed so quickly and do not cause sudden sugar spikes.
2. The combination of macronutrients. We rarely eat foods with carbohydrates only: many high carbohydrate snacks contain a lot of fat. For example, 100 g chocolate contains 56 g carbohydrates and 35 g fat. In 1 g of 4,1 kcal carbohydrates, and 1 g fat - 9 kcal. It turns out that chocolate is only 229.5 kcal from carbohydrates and 315 calories - from fat. Same with cakes, French fries, potato chips and other quick snack. If you consume carbohydrates in combination with protein, for the same weight calories It will be much less, and the satiety lasts longer.
3. portions of the volume. If we compare the amount of product equal calorie fatty food is usually less carbohydrate. For example, 200 g ground beef contains 550 kcal from fat and protein. To consume the same amount of calories from carbohydrates, you can eat six apples, 625 g of oatmeal boiled or 2kg of broccoli. If we add the protein can be eaten 250 g of boiled chicken breast and 200 g of boiled rice. This amount of food will fill the stomach for a long time will give you satiety and eliminate snacking.

researchLong-term effects of two energy-restricted diets differing in glycemic load on dietary adherence, body composition, and metabolism in CALERIE: a 1-y randomized controlled trial., Comparison of weight-loss diets with different compositions of fat, protein, and carbohydrates. show that low-carb and low-fat diets hunger and satisfaction from food do not differ.

With the right choice of products carbohydrates do not make you think about food every half hour.

So it's not important for weight loss as fat and carbohydrates I eat?

Diet is important overall caloric intake. If you consume fewer calories than you spend, you lose weight; if the same - save weight; eat more than you can spend, - typing.

There is no magic dietWhich would help to lose weight with surplus calories, regardless of the ratio of macronutrients.

Just spend more than you consume, and the weight begins to go.

Keeping a calorie deficit, you can even lose weight on fast food and sweets, but it is terrible to think that this will happen to your health.

And health is a difference, how much fat and carbohydrates in the diet?

Uniform recommendations not, it all depends on your circumstances and objectives. Let us examine a few situations.

When to control carbs and reduce their number:

1. If you have impaired glucose tolerance (pre-diabetes) or type II diabetes. Low-carbohydrate diets helpImprovements in glucose metabolism and insulin sensitivity with a low-carbohydrate diet in obese patients with type 2 diabetes., Comparison of low- and high-carbohydrate diets for type 2 diabetes management: a randomized trial. stabilize blood glucose levels and slightly increase the sensitivity of insulin receptors.
2. If you have problems with the heart and blood vessels. Carbohydrates from starchy and sugary foods less influenceSaturated Fats Compared With Unsaturated Fats and Sources of Carbohydrates in Relation to Risk of Coronary Heart Disease: A Prospective Cohort Study. on the cardiovascular system than saturated fats. It turns out that even the butter and lard is better for the heart than sweets and potatoes.
3. If you frequently snack snacks, cookies, candy. Limiting the choice of food, you get rid of some snacks that make you exceed the calories.

When it is not necessary to reduce the amount of carbohydrates:

1. If you exercise, hard physical work. A low-carb diet will not allow you to give everything to the full in training: you will feel weak. Do not torture the body - recharge your good carbohydrates two hours before your workout.
2. If you constantly feel hungry on a low-carb diet. You will not last so long, add useful carbohydrates from vegetables, fruits, whole grains.

And remember: giving up sugar sweetsYou have nothing to lose. Carbohydrates can be derived from other products, in which, in addition to the calories, eat more vitamins, minerals and fiber.

Forget about sugar and carbohydrates are your best friends: provide vigor and vitality, help to give all the best in training and improve the shape.