Carbohydrate Metabolism and Carb Counting

Metabolism greatly affects your ability to drop weight.

Carbohdrates must be broken down into simple carbohydrates to give you energy.

If you have too many carbs in your diet, this can keep your metabolism low and keep you from losing weight.

When you want to lose weight, you need to pay attention to your metabolism. Without a healthy metabolism, you are simply going to have a lot more trouble shedding those unwanted pounds and dropping down to the weight you want. If you can increase your metabolism while also doing some carb counting, you can boost your ability to drop weight and to improve your overall health.

Carbohydrate Metabolism Explained

As you may already know, carbohydrates come in two varieties: simple and complex. Simple carbs could also be called sugar carbs because this category includes fructose, glucose, lactose, and other simple sugars that the body can breakdown quickly and get into your bloodstream. Complex carbs typically would be classified as starches, such as grains, potatoes, vegetables, and similar foods. To give your body energy, these foods must first be broken down into simple sugars by your body. This takes more effort and causes your metabolism to work harder so it takes more energy. The slowness of the process also means the energy will be released more slowly and over a longer period of time.

Once both types of carbs have been reduced into sugars, they enter the bloodstream. Insulin from the pancreas helps the cells in the body take in some of the sugar which it then uses as energy to power the activities of that cell, including cell division.

Carbs Fat & Other Foods

Many people, especially those who have weight problems, don’t feel that they eat much. In fact, physicians are always hearing patients who are confused about their high weight say, “I don’t understand why I’m not losing weight. I don’t eat that much.” The problem is that people don’t have a realistic idea of how many calories their bodies need to keep working. Generally, most people only need 2,000 calories a day. Children, pregnant or nursing mothers, and body builders may need more.

When asked to keep track of their food intake, most people are surprised to see that their daily calories far exceed this number. And if those foods are full of sugar or starch that excess sugar can end up overworking the pancreas which can lead to insufficient insulin production and the development of diabetes.

Keeping Tracking of Carbs

Carb counting is one of the best ideas because it gives you a good way to monitor the largest contributors to your daily calorie consumption. Most meat and fish are relatively low in calories, although they can be higher in saturated fats.

The best way to do this is by getting familiar with nutrition labels. By law, all food products sold in the United States must have their nutritional content printed on the labels so consumers can make healthy choices. When you read the label, your eyes should focus on the serving size and the total carbohydrates in each of those servings. Knowing how much is contained in the food is not enough of an effort. You also need to measure out the food in the appropriate serving sizes so you are actually consuming the stated amount of carbs. Keep track of what you are eating and how many carbs you are consuming. Talk to your physician to determine how much of this macronutrient you should be eating based on your height, weight, and health.

The information supplied in this article is not to be considered as medical advice and is for educational purposes only.