eli5 why carbs can be bad for you

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eli5 why carbs can be bad for you

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Anonymous 0 Comments

It’s not inherently bad for you. Carbs are actually a great fuel for the body – rapidly accessible to us and we are adapted to prefer it as a primary source of energy. But it has its drawbacks, primarily in what happens when we eat too many.

First, carbs influence blood sugar levels. High blood sugar causes insulin to store it as fat. So if you eat too many carbs, you’ll end up gaining weight and experiencing the litany of problems that comes with that.

But if you do that long enough, your body develops a resistance to insulin or cannot produce enough of it . This is bad, because it means your blood over retains sugar, which causes diabetes. Diabetes is a disease with a whole host of problems, all of which are exacerbated by eating extra carbs.

Some carbs, however, are good for you no matter what. Complex carbs, like fiber, are absolutely integral to your health. They help bowel health, provide important bodily building blocks, and carry key nutrients. They also have the added benefit of not adding to your blood sugar level (and not generally being used for energy as a whole). Eating a high fiber diet would be eating a high carb diet, but a very healthy one at that.

Anonymous 0 Comments

Carbs get metabolized into “sugars” to use in energy production which then gets to your bloodstream and the body metabolizes that by releasing insulin.

abusing your diet too hard for too long into carbs means you’ll have a constant stress in your pancreas which can ultimately lead to Diabetes. same goes for overeating for more energy than you can burn leading to Obesity.

Neither is a good condition(in fact obesity is usually the prologue to diabetes).

Anonymous 0 Comments

Diet/nutrition studies are complex, time consuming and expensive. So solid data is swamped by dogma and almost religious like zeal in promoting different “facts”.

That is my opinion. I am not a physician, but I am successfully controlling my Type 2 diabetes through diet alone (A1c in the mid 5’s). So with all that said….

The problem does not appear to be “carbs”, but rather carbs without fiber. Our consumption of sugar has skyrocketed over recent decades, with high fructose corn syrup seeming to be in almost everything (at least in the United States). Add to that processed foods containing grains that have been stripped of their fiber in order to increase shelf life.

This mix spikes blood glucose levels — there is little debate about that. High glucose levels lead to high insulin levels. Chronically high glucose and insulin levels lead to insulin resistance. Insulin resistance makes the cycle worse. The result is weight gain in the short term and organ damage in the long term.

Your carbs should come from the produce aisle, not the middle of the store. Sugar in all its forms should be consumed in small amounts.

Anonymous 0 Comments

They’re not bad when eaten as a part of a balanced diet just like sugar itself, however if you’re diabetic or overweight it can cause problems as it’s calorie dense and converts to sugar when digested. Carbs are one of the important nutrients for an athlete for before, during and after a work out as it replenishes energy stores in the body and helps to prevent exhaustion and promotes recovery.

Anonymous 0 Comments

They aren’t really. Carbs do have an effect on blood sugar levels, so if you’re pre-diabetic or diabetic consistently eating a lot of carbs can cause issues (The CDC recommends not eating more than half your calories from carbs but that’s a general rule and each individual is unique).

Other than that carbs are not bad for you. However, carbs tend to be very calorie-dense, which can make overeating easier. In addition it’s common for high carb foods to use a lot of sugar (many pastries and sweets) and sugar is something you should try to limit.

[link to NHS website to learn more](https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/healthy-weight/why-we-need-to-eat-carbs/)

Anonymous 0 Comments

Carbs are converted to sugar and that sugar is then in your bloodstream.
The body then produces insulin which removes excess sugar from the bloodstream and stores it for later use as fat.
Potentially the body can no longer produce enough insulin and such is then known as diabetes.
Diabetes is a dangerous and life threatening disease that causes significant damage to ones organs and can then result in death.