What Happens When We Eat Sugar?
Insulin is a master regulator of energy storage and metabolism…
Insulin plays an important role in the body, it has an effect on our liver, muscles and brain, without this essential hormone, we wouldn’t be able to survive.
Insulin is the “key” that unlocks the door; it is a peptide (protein) hormone produced naturally inside the body by an organ called the Pancreas. Insulin is needed to help move blood glucose from the blood into other parts of the body where it is used for energy.
How Insulin Works in the Body:
When we eat carbohydrates of any kind, our blood sugar levels rise and therefore, insulin rises.
Insulin receptors on our cells work to open the doorway on our cells, the cells then convert the glucose into ATP (what cells run on) – this makes blood sugar go back down to normal levels.
What happens when we have to much insulin in our body?
A high sugar diet can happen very easily: a slice of toast for breakfast, 2 biscuits mid-morning and a cup of tea, a sandwich at lunch … halfway into the day, and your intake of food has been heavily carbohydrate-based.
When blood sugar goes up really high and really aggressively, insulin gets released, the glucose transporters on cell receptors open, then glucose goes in.
When they get too full from glucose in a cell at any one time this can cause oxidative stress, but the body is clever, as our cells do have a cut-off point,
Once a cell realizes it is at a satiety point it shuts the transporter and doesn’t let anything else in.
If blood sugar is still high when this happens, this can be life-threatening. But again, the body is clever and triggers a homeostatic process to reduce stress.
The next method employed by the body is that some of the sugar will be stored as Glucagon (the body’s natural sugar level). Once the Glucagon tank is full, the sugar will then get sent to the liver. When the sugar goes to the liver it goes to triglycerides (fatty substance that is a storage form of energy), where the glucose gets stored in adipose tissues and goes straight to fat cells, this goes via the circulatory system.
When triglycerides go up the cholesterol levels change – LDL cholesterol goes up and HDL cholesterol decreases. Essentially, more triglycerides, more storage leads to weight gain.
When insulin is in the blood for too long the hormones get confused – insulin resistance begins.
Beta cells in the Pancreas pump out more insulin, this works for a while, but then the cells will eventually down-regulate again and the body has hit the pre-diabetic phase 100 – 125 dl.
In the case of diabetes: if insulin sensitivity is reduced, blood sugar is even more poorly managed, leading to a state of glucose toxicity; the Pancreas and Beta cells start getting damaged, resulting in total metabolic damage.
How to Manage Glucose Levels:
Eat more protein: this keeps you fuller for longer and prevents you from snacking;
Avoid snacking to allow blood sugar levels to come down after a meal and support the body to fully digest and burn fat for energy;
Replace simple carbohydrates such as white rice with complex carbohydrates like wild brown rice;
‘Move More…’ weight resistance exercise, even if it is just 5 squats before you eat, has been proven to reduce insulin sensitivity before eating;
Eat more Omega fatty rich foods: fatty fish, eggs, chia seeds, flax, walnuts.
Eat more fibre: dark leafy greens, seeds, chia seeds, apples, legumes Brussel sprouts.
Body Reset Nutrition Plans are based on balancing hormones and reducing blood levels and cravings. The programmes consist of protein rich meals from real food and low GI carbohydrates to support the body to burn fat for fuel.
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