The Case For Carbs

I'm back pushing carbs again. There are still people out there touting The Insulin Obesity Hypothesis. The idea that high glycemic carbohydrates cause fat storage independent of calorie consumption. There are 30+ (i think) studies to date that say otherwise. In all of these studies, when calories are equated, there is no difference in fat loss. Both groups tend to lose roughly the same amount of weight from a high carb/low fat diet or a high fat/low carb diet. One showing a slight edge to the low fat group. Both groups in one study similarly reduced waist circumference, abdominal subcutaneous fat(regular belly fat), visceral fat(fat around internal organs), total body weight, dyslipidemia(abnormally elevated fats and cholesterol in the blood), and triglycerides. ONLY the low fat group lowered LDL cholesterol. The high fat group did improve HDL cholesterol which makes sense since that group was eating way more fat you can assume some of that was from un-saturated sources. The big killer to the “carbs spike insulin and that causes insulin resistance” crowd is that the groups had SIMILAR REDUCTIONS IN INSULIN and homeostasis of insulin resistance. What does the evidence based nutrition world think? That being over fat, and specifically, accumulation of visceral fat, CAUSES hyperinsulinemia and insulin resistance, not the inverse. This happens by consuming too much energy(calories) in all forms, not just carbohydrates. Demonizing one macronutrient does nothing to solve the problem. What does resolve the problem is overall reduction in calories and significant weight loss. You can reverse type 2 diabetes(type 1 is genetic) if you lose a large amount of weight because that will also reduce visceral fat. I don't want to get too deep into the diabetes stuff as i'm not a doctor. Yes I know low carb diets can help control blood sugar in diabetics. (One more yes) Yes you can use a low carb diet as a means of reducing calories and therefore, lose weight. The point I'm trying to make is that cutting carbs alone, will not prevent getting fat and increasing your chances of metabolic disease. Guess what? Eating carbs also will not cause obesity or type 2 diabetes on its own. You'll often hear that staying away from “processed’  foods is a good idea for health. While these foods are sometimes high in sugar, they are usually also high in saturated fats and obviously high calorie. The problem with these foods is that they are hyperpalatable aka super fucking delicious while also bieng low in fiber, nutrients, and not very satiating. So you'll put down 2000 calories in donuts and get hungry again an hour later. Do that all the time and , blam, you fat. Again it's not just the sugar in this stuff, it's also the fat and total caloric load. Saturated fat is still what most doctors believe increases your risk of atherosclerosis(buildup of plaques in the arteries). Combine all that, and eating that type of food long term is a bad idea. 

Glucose is your body's main source of energy. The easiest way for your body to get glucose is by eating carbohydrates. Keto people love to say that your body doesn't “need” carbs because it can convert fat and protein to glucose through gluconeogenesis. My counter argument is that your body wants glucose so badly that it figured out a way to convert sources other than carbs into glucose! Logically thinking and scientifically proven, not supplying your body's preferred fuel source for exercise and athletic performance is a bad idea. Carbs are also the nervous systems preferred fuel source. If you find it easier to control calories by cutting carbs and then can adhere to that type of diet long term, go for it. If you need to get healthy through weight loss, whatever method you can sustain for the long term, that's the one to use. Do not take your anecdotal experience and tell everyone that's the only way to do it. In general if you lift weights, eat lots of protein and reduce calories overall, you'll have pretty good results regardless of your chosen diet style. 

There's obviously A LOT more to this and i'm sure i'll write more about it soon. If you're interested in the studies just google some of the terms in this post and it'll all come up. As always, if you have a medical condition or just think i'm full of shit, go talk to your doctor.

- T

​​