EccentricConsejero
The Carb Experience - Oh the Complexities!
Aug 16, 2012
I am a counselor, but I am no stranger to wellness or nutrition. I worked in nursing for seven years and I have an undergraduate degree in health, sociology, and anthropology. That being said, my focus is definitely now (and always has been) the social sciences. I am absolutely amazing when it comes to social determinants of health, health disparities, health education, and with certain pathological processes (like HIV, suicidal thoughts, mental health, alternative medicine)... but nonetheless, the fundamental training in nutrition remains.
I recognize that I have an addiction to carbohydrates and have found in my research and through my surgeon that my goal should be to significantly reduce my intake of carbohydrates and fats with each passing month as I prepare for my surgery so that the two weeks before surgery when I am on a liquid diet, and the post-operative experience will be a significantly less stressful time for me.
Given this knowledge, I was shocked (absolutely shocked, I tell you) when my nutritionist indicated that my carbohydrate intake should be 238 grams per day pre-operatively to lose 2.5 pounds per week. I directly refused. When she asked why, I explained as best as I could... my understanding of carbohydrates.
When we consume carbohydrates, our bodies break them down into sugar... that sugar travels into our blood, where it remains, until assisted by insulin, it enters our cells and is used as energy. Insulin, though - is an evil little devil... not only does it help to absorb sugars, but it helps our bodies to get ready to store sugars which are not immediately used as fats. I told her I was already fat, I didn't need to be more fat before surgery, and that it was my goal to lose weight and decrease the impact of carbohydrates on my wellness.
Then, she educated me.
The nutritionist said that everything I said was entirely accurate - but that the last half only applies to simple carbohydrates... those which are without fiber... processed foods and sugars - things that are white, sweet, and delicious(ly deadly). I asked how sure she was of this - because I'm not risking my life on somebody's "best guess." She said she was absolutely positive. I asked how she knew, and she told me about her graduate research for her thesis in human nutrition. She said that she recruited volunteers and gave them hot chocolate made with sugar on three different days. She monitored the response of the body (via blood glucose and subsequently insulin release).
On the first day, the participants were given regular sugary hot chocolate... and their glucose rose and fell like a mountain... it was a sharp incline and sharp decline in a short period of time. On the second and third days, she gave the participants the same hot chocolate (well, not the same, exactly... that wouldn't be possible since they had already consumed it... but hot chocolate made of the same materials in the same way) but adjusted it just a bit. On each day she added a different type of fiber to the hot chocolate. Both days she measured glucose in the same way that she had done with the regular hot chocolate and plotted a graph of the results. Instead of huge mountains that rose and fell rapidly, with the fiber the sugar had a less significant impact on the body... the mountain was squished and became a hill... but what it lost in height (level of glucose rise and fall) it gained in width (duration of time in which the glucose rose and fell).
What this means is that the body can have carbohydrates that are whole and complex. Things with fiber are great... they process less slowly, the body absorbs the nutrients more gradually, and so there is a less dramatic impact... instead of having the rush of sugar (and subsequently insulin) that tells our bodies to store everything we don't use right away as fat, we have a shallow hill that takes us a while to climb, a while to come back down... and in that time, our bodies are already using those sugars... there's nothing there for us to store as fat.
Think of complex carbohydrates as nature's extended-release version of sugar. We have extended release cough medicines, pain medicines, and vitamins... things that break down bit by bit for our body to use them gradually instead of being flooded with everything at the very same time. Nature was prepared for us... we just decided to outsmart nature by separating the sweet parts from the healthy parts that protected our bodies, and them became obese, wondering where we went wrong.
Looking back on what I had eaten in the past - prior to my high weight (350) and my current weight (310.5), I recognize that everything was simple. White bread, white pasta, ice cream, candy, cake, pie, little debbie, snack cakes, hostess... everything that tasted amazing, was deep fried, and pale. Nothing good, nothing complex, nothing healthy. Now, I know better....
I'm still insistent on decreasing carb intake gradually in preparation for surgery... I know that post-op I won't be able to eat carbs right away... but, armed with this new information, I can make significantly better use of this amazing tool. If complex carbohydrates are natures sustained-release sugar and do not prime our bodies for fat storage in quite the same way that simple sugars do, then it stands to reason it is entirely logical that I can have my pasta and eat it too... if it is, in fact, whole grain.
I hope this finds you well, treats you great, and leaves you better!
0 comments
I recognize that I have an addiction to carbohydrates and have found in my research and through my surgeon that my goal should be to significantly reduce my intake of carbohydrates and fats with each passing month as I prepare for my surgery so that the two weeks before surgery when I am on a liquid diet, and the post-operative experience will be a significantly less stressful time for me.
Given this knowledge, I was shocked (absolutely shocked, I tell you) when my nutritionist indicated that my carbohydrate intake should be 238 grams per day pre-operatively to lose 2.5 pounds per week. I directly refused. When she asked why, I explained as best as I could... my understanding of carbohydrates.
When we consume carbohydrates, our bodies break them down into sugar... that sugar travels into our blood, where it remains, until assisted by insulin, it enters our cells and is used as energy. Insulin, though - is an evil little devil... not only does it help to absorb sugars, but it helps our bodies to get ready to store sugars which are not immediately used as fats. I told her I was already fat, I didn't need to be more fat before surgery, and that it was my goal to lose weight and decrease the impact of carbohydrates on my wellness.
Then, she educated me.
The nutritionist said that everything I said was entirely accurate - but that the last half only applies to simple carbohydrates... those which are without fiber... processed foods and sugars - things that are white, sweet, and delicious(ly deadly). I asked how sure she was of this - because I'm not risking my life on somebody's "best guess." She said she was absolutely positive. I asked how she knew, and she told me about her graduate research for her thesis in human nutrition. She said that she recruited volunteers and gave them hot chocolate made with sugar on three different days. She monitored the response of the body (via blood glucose and subsequently insulin release).
On the first day, the participants were given regular sugary hot chocolate... and their glucose rose and fell like a mountain... it was a sharp incline and sharp decline in a short period of time. On the second and third days, she gave the participants the same hot chocolate (well, not the same, exactly... that wouldn't be possible since they had already consumed it... but hot chocolate made of the same materials in the same way) but adjusted it just a bit. On each day she added a different type of fiber to the hot chocolate. Both days she measured glucose in the same way that she had done with the regular hot chocolate and plotted a graph of the results. Instead of huge mountains that rose and fell rapidly, with the fiber the sugar had a less significant impact on the body... the mountain was squished and became a hill... but what it lost in height (level of glucose rise and fall) it gained in width (duration of time in which the glucose rose and fell).
What this means is that the body can have carbohydrates that are whole and complex. Things with fiber are great... they process less slowly, the body absorbs the nutrients more gradually, and so there is a less dramatic impact... instead of having the rush of sugar (and subsequently insulin) that tells our bodies to store everything we don't use right away as fat, we have a shallow hill that takes us a while to climb, a while to come back down... and in that time, our bodies are already using those sugars... there's nothing there for us to store as fat.
Think of complex carbohydrates as nature's extended-release version of sugar. We have extended release cough medicines, pain medicines, and vitamins... things that break down bit by bit for our body to use them gradually instead of being flooded with everything at the very same time. Nature was prepared for us... we just decided to outsmart nature by separating the sweet parts from the healthy parts that protected our bodies, and them became obese, wondering where we went wrong.
Looking back on what I had eaten in the past - prior to my high weight (350) and my current weight (310.5), I recognize that everything was simple. White bread, white pasta, ice cream, candy, cake, pie, little debbie, snack cakes, hostess... everything that tasted amazing, was deep fried, and pale. Nothing good, nothing complex, nothing healthy. Now, I know better....
I'm still insistent on decreasing carb intake gradually in preparation for surgery... I know that post-op I won't be able to eat carbs right away... but, armed with this new information, I can make significantly better use of this amazing tool. If complex carbohydrates are natures sustained-release sugar and do not prime our bodies for fat storage in quite the same way that simple sugars do, then it stands to reason it is entirely logical that I can have my pasta and eat it too... if it is, in fact, whole grain.
I hope this finds you well, treats you great, and leaves you better!
