Carbohydrates are the body’s main energy source, and yet not all carbohydrates are created equal. There are two kinds of carbohydrates in the diet: simple carbohydrates and complex carbohydrates.
Simple carbohydrates provide the body with a quick energy source. They digest quickly, but are lacking in nutrients and fiber. Highly refined grain products are examples of simple carbohydrates. Refined carbohydrates are created when whole plants, including grains, are processed to strip out everything but the quickly digested starches and sugars. This mechanical processing causes the body to break down refined carbohydrates quickly, generally causing a rapid spike in blood sugar. Over-processing carbohydrates also removes the fiber and most of the nutritional value from the foods.
Refined carbohydrates include:
• Sugars – Granulated sugars, brown sugar, high fructose corn syrup.
• Grains that have been stripped of their germ or bran, such as white flour, white rice, white pasta, white bread or rolls, and sugary cereals.
• Starches – corn starch and modified food starch.
Complex carbohydrates contain more nutrients, and take longer for the body to break down and digest.
Complex carbohydrates include:
• Whole grains – oatmeal, whole wheat, whole rye, brown rice.
• Fruits and vegetables.
• Beans.
What Simple Carbohydrates do to the Body
Americans have too many simple carbohydrates in our diet. We eat a lot of sugary, high carbohydrate foods and we eat them too often. By doing this, we elevate insulin levels and drive excess fuel into storage—particularly around our middle. Yet we still feel hungry because of the relative lack of fuel available for burning.
Here’s how it works: Every time you eat, your pancreas secretes insulin in response to the presence of sugar in the blood. When you eat complex carbohydrates, it takes your body time to break down the fibrous capsules in the food. The carbohydrates are absorbed slowly and your insulin level stays stable.
When you eat refined carbohydrates on the other hand, glucose enters the blood rapidly, causing a quick, sharp spike in blood sugar. That quick supply of energy is quickly depleted, forcing the pancreas to produce more insulin. So the more often you eat refined, simple carbohydrates, the higher your insulin level stays. The demand for rapid insulin production from eating refined carbohydrates is very hard on the pancreas.
The solution is simple. You need to change the way you are eating. The key to preventing—and reversing—type 2 diabetes is to learn how to eat and live in a way that keeps insulin and glucagon levels in perfect balance. The good news is that, as you change your behavior by eating an optimal diet and living a more active lifestyle, you will start bringing the whole system into balance. By eating correctly, you can control insulin production and prevent excess energy storage. Energy will be delivered to cells in the right amount, and the pancreas won’t become worn out from too much work.