Carbohydrates have got to be the most misunderstood of the food groups and it is the food group I get the most questions about.

In this article I am going to answer these 3 questions.

• - What does it mean when someones cells are sensitive to carbs and when they’re not?
• - Why is it that some people can eat carbs all day long and you only have to look at them and you gain weight?!
• - Should they be cut out after a certain time of day?

Before we get right into it lets preframe a little. Your body is constantly trying to balance the sugars in your blood. It will do everything it can to keep them there, so you are either on board with that plan or you’re not.

Your body prefers to run off sugar. So if you’re overweight, and you want your body to run on fat some of the time then I suggest that you get onboard with your body’s plan.

When your blood sugars spike you will produce excessive insulin. This reaction will always be followed by a drop in blood sugar producing excessive cortisol. It’s important to understand that these hormones when produced in excess are fat storage hormones.

Weight loss is achieved when blood sugars remain stable, no spikes, no troughs.

We are all made up of trillions of cells, clusters of cells for skin, clusters of cells for each of our organs etc. And all of these cells require nutrients and energy in order to function optimally. Carbohydrates are your cells preferred source of energy, and when they get their energy from carbs it creates the least amount of toxic waste in it’s conversion to energy.

When I imagine my cells, I imagine them with tiny heads, little arms and legs and a mouth. And they need to eat. When your tummy sends messages to your brain telling you that you are hungry it means your cells need to eat, and you have 3 options at this point –  feed them food from plants, from animals or processed food.

Either way, your cells will function according to the nutrient levels from whichever of the 3 you feed them. If you feed your cells plant foods such as vegetables, fruits, legumes, nuts, seeds etc a good portion of the time, then your cells will function as they are designed to.

Unfortunately a lot of people are choosing to feed their cells from the processed food category predominantly and so over time the cells become less functional. In fact, if this way of eating is performed over a long enough period of time, your cells can become confused and can even turn on the very body they are meant to protect.

When your cells get this way we call it lack of sensitivity and it shows in your cells lack of ability to open their little mouths and receive sugar, which literally compromises the way your cells receive energy. And if they cannot receive energy then neither will you.

This will cause your body to produce excessive amounts of the hormone insulin to try and force feed your cells the sugar, and when there is that much insulin in your blood it will be redirected to the cells that do have their mouths open – your fat cells.

The reason that some people are seemingly able to eat carbs all day long! is because their cells little mouths are open, causing them to function optimally and utilise carbohydrates as energy. If you feel that you do not do well with carbohydrates at all, and that simply looking at them causes you to gain weight, then your cells have their mouths tightly sealed shut, and your fat cells are just sitting there waiting for the sugar to come on in.

As to the time of day to eat carbs. First of all it is helpful to know that a female can store approximately 300gms of carbohydrate in the muscle, and a male can store up to 600gms of carbohydrate in their muscles. So yes it is possible to get too much and cause spill over.

However in my experience I have seen that people generally have the idea that carbs can cause weight gain and because there is so much confusion about how fat is actually gained, carbs have become feared. I want to change this perception

It is true that your cells most receptive to receiving sugar within 30 mins of training, however this small percentage of the time will not make or break the difference in an end result. The timing of carbohydrates is really only relevant if you are training at an athletic level, frequently. In most other cases a piece of fruit within ½ an hour of completing exercise followed by a meal within an hour of  completing exercise is most beneficial becuase they will balance blood sugars again.

Outside of this scenario carbohydrates at any time of the day are down to how well your cells can deal well with glucose.

One last point. If you eat too little carbs for the amount your body needs and are compensating by consuming larger amounts of protein, then your liver will be converting protein into sugar approximately to the same degree as if you had eaten a refined carbohydrate. Not to mention – with proteins conversion to energy it creates a lot of toxic waste.

Key points

– Weight loss is achieved when blood sugars remain stable, no spikes, no troughs.

– Your cells will function according to the nutrient levels from whichever of the 3 types of food you feed them. Plant foods, animals and processed foods.

– Your cells are designed to utilise carbohydrates for energy

– If they are not, and it is resulting in fat storage, your cells are under nutriented.

– If you are using protein as a fuel source you are causing more toxic stress to your body than necessary, and over time it compromises the liver.

If you are concerned that your sensitivity to carbohydrates is low and you would like to talk with me about what to do to increase it, take the body type quiz here and I will be in touch to have a brief chat with you over the phone followed by an offer to a free consultation with me.

Yours in Health

Tarryn Thompson