There is no clear evidence that low carbohydrate diets are better than low-fat diets in helping people to lose weight. These low- carbohydrate diets can promote short-term weight-loss; however, weight gain rebound occurs in over 90% of the people who go off of these boring, high-fat, high-protein, dangerous diets. In most cases, these individuals gain back almost all of their original weight, with an added 20% bonus of additional pounds.

Your body converts all of the carbohydrates that you eat into sugar (glucose), which our body’s cells use as fuel. When these glucose molecules pass from the intestines into the bloodstream, the organ known as the pancreas produces insulin, which tells the body’s cells to absorb the glucose. Once the cells (skin, internal organs, tissues, muscles, fat, and others) absorb the glucose, then the insulin levels return to normal.

The main element that differentiates bad carbs from good carbs is how fast the carbohydrate foods are converted into sugar in the intestine and absorbed into the bloodstream. This is known as the glycemic index. Foods with a high glycemic index are considered to be the bad carbs. They include white flour and white rice, refined, highly-processed flour (white breads, cereals, spaghetti, macaroni, bagels, muffins, croissants, pastries, pretzels, pancakes, waffles); fruit juices and sugar-laden sodas and sports drinks; cakes, pies, ice cream, cookies, candy, and most non-fruit desserts; chips and crackers; some vegetables, for example com and white potatoes; sorbets, sherberts and ice cream.

The high glycemic carbohydrate foods, or the bad carbs, rapidly convert carbohydrates into glucose in the intestine, and then rapidly absorb them into the bloodstream. This rapid increase in blood sugar causes a rapid increase in the levels of insulin produced by the gland known as the pancreas. Blood glucose levels then rapidly decrease, due to the output of insulin, which results in the body’s tissues and brain being actually starVed for energy.

The brain then sends out hunger signals for another quick-fix meal to replenish its glucose stores. Then the rapidly fluctuating glucose and insulin levels lead to excessive calories being consumed, which have no place to go except to be stored in your body’s fat cells. This invariably leads to excessive weight gain.

The increased insulin levels that are needed to fill the muscle and fat cells with sugar also inhibit the production of a muscle protein called glucagon, which is a protein that normally signals the body’s fat cells to bum stored fuel when the blood glucose levels fall below a critical level. Since this production of glucagon is inhibited, the fat cells store more fat instead of burning fat for the production of energy. Result: Less energy produced, more fat stored. Certainly,
not a pretty picture.

In addition to gaining unwanted pounds, eating foods with a high glycemic index can cause or contribute to health problems. When excess insulin is repeatedly produced by the pancreas by ingesting high-glycemic foods, the pancreas’s insulin-producing cells can actually wear out, and then they begin to produce less and less insulin. This can eventually lead to diabetes.

Also, overweight and physically inactive people may develop a condition known as insulin resistance. This is a condition wherein the body’s tissues resist insulin’s signal to transfer glucose from the blood into the cells. This is another way that people on high glycemic diets can develop a condition known as insulin-resistant diabetes. Exercise and weight reduction are certainly ways that this condition can be prevented.

High Sugar Diets Increase Breast Cancer Risk

It appears, according to recent research reported in The Journal of Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers Prevention (August 2004), that women who ate a lot of refined carbohydrates had twice the risk of developing breast cancer than those women who ate less sugars and starches. Scientists think that the excess of refined carbohydrates in the diet may increase breast cancer risk by rapidly causing the blood sugar to, rise, which in turn causes a surge in blood insulin levels. These high blood insulin levels can cause normal cells to divide too quickly and may cause higher levels of insulin in the actual breasts’ cells. These two factors could possibly lead to the formation of cancer cells in the breast.

These studies don’t suggest that people should go on the typical low-carbohydrate diet, which essentially increases the fat (meat, cheese, and whole-fat dairy products), in their diets. These studies, however, indicate that people should restrict refined carbohydrates and substitute complex high-fiber carbohydrates in their diets. High fiber diets have been shown in many studies to decrease the risks of various types of cancer when combined with a low-fat, lean-protein diet. High-fat diets, on the other hand; have been repeatedly shown to increase the risk of various forms of cancer, particularly breast cancer. These findings raise concerns about women who eat excess amounts of refined sugars and could be at risk for developing breast cancer. This is particularly true for women who are overweight or are diabetic or who have a condition known as insulin resistance.

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