It’s just not fair. Some of us just do better with carbs than others. And for those of us that are more prone to storing carbs as fat, the problem only gets worse as we get fatter.

For a few different reasons (hormones, enzymes, brain chemicals), it becomes a self fulfilling prophecy. I have had a lot of clients who were able to tolerate carbs when they were younger. In fact, they could eat pizza and burgers and drink beer and never gain a pound. But then, one day, they gained a pound and then 5 and then 20 and then 50. And the weight gain continued even after the cut back on the junk and replaced it with boring health food.

But at that point, their body was unbelievably efficient at putting on that body fat. At that point, even a healthy asian or mediterranean diet might even be too carb heavy to get the body-fat melting.

And you’re right. It is complex.

Carbs aren’t necessarily healthy or unhealthy. The same food that your friend thrives on may make someone else pack on the pounds. When I was heavier, I had to cut back on the carbs to lose the weight. As the weight came off, i became more sensitive to insulin and my body could tolerate higher glycemic carbs without stopping my weight loss.

Everyone is different. We have lived different lives. The best diet for me today is not the same as the one I needed when I was losing weight.

How?
How do some people stay so unbelievably fit, thin and healthy on a diets high in carbs?
Why is it that asian countries where rice has been a staple part of the populations’ diets for hundreds of years have had (and still have) such low rates of obesity?
Do thin, healthy and fit carb-lovers still feel uncontrollable cravings for it?

Perhaps thin, fit, healthy people do still feel these carbohydrate cravings.
So, this must mean they either don’t give in to them (meaning they’re not uncontrollable so why can’t I resist them…?) or they do give in to them (and stay healthy, meaning that the cravings weren’t unhealthy in the first place).

I’m sure your diet is healthy. But how can I believe high- complex-carbohydrate diets are unhealthy when I know healthy people who naturally eat them?
Eating is so incredibly frustratingly complex.

Thanks for the suggestion (and the compliment).

Did you see this post?

Also, in case you’re ever looking for other post topic ideas, I’d also be interested in reading about diet and skin (inflammation/acne connection?). But I think your posts are really interesting, so keep up the good work.

Let me clarify:

I am amazed that our body has evolved to respond to the potential ingestion of sugar by having the pancreas produce insulin in advance of sugar entering the blood stream.

For the purpose of this article, I was playing devils advocate and imagining what would happen if our pancreas didn’t secrete insulin in advance of a carb heavy meal.

I believe that if our pancreas didn’t anticipate the influx of carbs/sugar, our blood sugar would increase unabated and we could be faced with these symptoms of hyperglycemia.

The symptoms that I listed are symptoms that I am seeing more and more often in my new clients.

* A feeling of nervousness or jitteriness
* A racing heart and pulse
* Sweaty palms
* And also a headache

These are symptoms that arise after a heavy carb meal.

And it’s not very difficult to make these symptoms go away…a week of no grains, sugar, booze, starchy vegetables (essentially no carbs except for low density vegetables) combined with supplemental fish oils, magnesium & various other insulin-sensitivity boosting products (Cinnamon, etc..).

A week of this and, like magic, the symptoms go away, along with a loss of 3 -8 lbs of excess water. (carbs force the body to delay the elimination of sodium which results in excess fluid)

When we lose that fluid, they ALL see an immediate drop in blood pressure

And none of these patients have been told by their doctors that they have high blood glucose levels.

The ones that have been tested were all in the normal range.

Maybe the normal range is wrong.

Perhaps you are saving up the rest for another post: the issue of how to eat foods that don’t cause an insulin spurt!