How does Low Carb Diet Work?
It is proved that dietary fat is not necessarily converted into body fat.
Carbohydrates, on the other hand, are readily converted into fat by the action
of insulin. According to many experts, most overweight people became overweight
due to a condition called hyperinsulinemia, elevated insulin level in the blood.
When a high-carbohydrate meal is consumed, the increased blood sugar
stimulates insulin production by the pancreas. Insulin is the hormone that allows blood sugar to be used by the cells. However, a side effect of insulin is that it causes
fat to be deposited, and it stimulates the brain to produce hunger signals. As a result
more carbohydrates are consumed, and the cycle repeats. The body
cells, after sometime, become resistant to insulin, meaning that pancreas has to
work overtime, producing up to four or five times as much insulin just to keep
up with the demand. It has been shown that high levels of insulin have an
adverse effect on the body, this includes premature aging.
The control of insulin by restricting the intake of carbohydrates puts a halt to this vicious cycle. When carbohydrate intake is restricted, the
insulin level decreases and the glucagon level increases. Glucagon is a hormone that causes
body fat to be burned and cholesterol to be removed from the arteries.
If carbohydrates are severely restricted, the body goes into a state of
ketosis, burning fat with the subsequent production of ketone bodies in the bloodstream. The condition is called
"ketonuria" if ketones are spilled out into the urine. As a result the blood sugar level stabilize; insulin level drops; and because body is burning fat,
weight is lost!