LOW CARB MYTH #3 - EATING CARBS/SUGAR SPIKES YOUR BLOOD SUGAR AND THEN CAUSES IT TO CRASH. There is a very prevalent myth amongst advocates of low carb diets that eating carbohydrates spikes your blood sugar, and then causes it to crash. As in, blood sugar goes up very fast, and then the body doesnt know how to handle this, so it pushes blood sugar back down very quickly (through insulin), and does it too much, so that you actually go into hypoglycemia (low blood sugar). The spike and the crash. I actually taught this idea myself to hundreds of clients during my many years of low carb eating--since, this is what I was being told from all the low carb gurus I was listening to. You know things like fat is a better fuel source because it stabilizes your blood sugar and you dont have spikes and then energy crashes, and then causes you to binge on more sugar in a vicious cycle. This whole idea--common as it may be--enjoys the privilege of having approximately ZERO actual scientific support. In the words of neurobiologist and obesity researcher Stephan Guyenet, One of the most pervasive ideas in the diet-health sphere, and to some extent even in the scientific literature, is that when you eat rapidly digesting carbohydrate, this causes an increase in blood glucose and insulin, followed by hypoglycemia (the crash). This low level of blood glucose then causes hunger and cravings. Its a simple, logical idea that has virtually no scientific support. Now, my purpose here is not to tell you to go out and consume all the refined sugar you want since it doesnt cause this elusive crash. Refined sugar--like refined fatty foods--can cause damage to your body through other pathways, primarily by driving food addiction and chronic oversumption of calories, which can make you fat and diabetic. My purpose is only to show you that eating carbohydrates and even, dare I say that evil word, sugars from whole food sources like fruits and vegetables is 100% good for you. There is simply ZERO evidence of any kind to link carbohydrate and sugar consumption from whole food sources to ANY--I repeat, ANY--negative health effect. And there about a million studies linked them to improved health outcomes. Now... back to this nonsesnse about carbs causing a spike and crash. There are numerous vegans and omnivores eating extremely high carbohydrate diets that do not ever complain of this problem. Even countless fruitarians who essentially eat nothing but sugar. I myself--despite teaching this idea for years--have never experienced this so-called carbohydrate crash. (Though going many hours without eating for many people--especially unhealthy people--will cause a crash in energy. But this has really nothing to do with carbohydrates. It has much to do with your overall cellular health). The reality is that eating a very low carb, high fat diet requires your body to do the exact same balancing act of keeping blood fatty acids regulated, just as eating carbohydrates requires your body to regulate blood levels of carbohydrate (glucose). This is what happens after you eat any FOOD--not just carbohydrates. This isnt a pathology--it is the normal thing that happens every time you eat food. After you eat food, levels of fatty acids and glucose in the blood go up, and your body has hormone systems built into it designed to shuttle those nutrients away for burning or storage. So if you want to have fat spikes instead of glucose spikes, by all means--but I assure you, you want notice ANY beneficial health effects by using dietary fat as your major fuel source over dietary carbs from fruits and vegetables. My advice: Forget about the blood sugar spike nonsense, and eat ample oranges, mangoes, pineapples, and carrots and potatoes.
Posted on: Thu, 20 Mar 2014 15:46:45 +0000
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