How do Carbs Effect Your Weight Gain or Loss?
Let’s cut right to the chase. Carbs make you hungry. Yes, it is a vicious cycle. Especially if you are concerned with your weight. After eating carbs your insulin spikes. Now there is some controversy amongst researchers as to whether or not this is a spike or a dip but regardless your insulin has a big swing which then makes you feel hungry. When you eat protein, this does NOT happen. Below I’ll give you the research that explains the mechanism.
Difference Between Insulin and Glucose
Before I do that, I want to explain the difference between insulin and glucose. Sometimes they are used interchangeably. Glucose is a type of sugar[1] you get from foods you eat, and your body uses it for energy. Our bodies change 100% of the carbs we eat into glucose. As it travels through your bloodstream to your cells, it’s called blood glucose or blood sugar. Insulin is a hormone that moves glucose from your blood into the cells for energy and storage. That’s why in discussion they are used to mean almost the same thing.
It’s All About Timing
In a paper published by the NIH in September of 2014 [2] researchers found that the timing of an increase and decrease in blood glucose was associated with perceived hunger. In other studies, they found that individuals that maintained a High Carbohydrate/Low Fat (HC/LF) diet did not lose as much fat as those on a Low Carbohydrate/High Fat (LC/HF) diet. Diets with lower carbohydrate content are associated with a diminished storage of adipose tissue (FAT). Consequently, they state, under free-living conditions, (not in a lab) maintenance on a HC/LF diet may weaken body weight regulation via weakened appetite regulation and metabolic changes that promote weight gain. In conclusion they state that a sample of overweight but healthy adults, eating a HC/LF breakfast resulted in a rapid acute rise and fall peak in glucose. Interestingly, the earlier rise and fall in circulating glucose rather than the concentration explained the earlier return of hunger.
So yes, carbs make you hungrier quicker than no or low carb meals. The mechanism for this isn’t actually the consumption of the carb but rather the effect it has on your glucose levels. Consumption of carbs causes the peaks and dips which then make us feel hungry. In a LC/HF diet you don’t have this cause and effect. And that in brief is why if you’re trying to lose weight you will have a much better chance of success if you consume a low (or no) carbohydrate meal. We’ve heard it for a long time. That eating protein satisfies your hunger longer than carbs and that is why this occurs.