Rapidly-Digested Carbohydrates Make You Fat

Those low-glycemic weight-loss plans you see on TV may really be on to something. Two new studies add weight to the growing realization that the type of carbohydrates you consume can make a big difference in your body fat and your health.

In one study, mice fed rapidly-digested starch were compared with mice fed starch that was slowly digested. Everything else in their diets was the same.

After six months, the mice in both groups weighed the same. However, the mice fed the slowly-digested starch were lean, with normal amounts of fat throughout their bodies. Mice fed the rapidly-digested starch had twice the normal amount of fat in their bodies, blood and livers.

What’s happening? Sugar from the rapidly-digested starch drives up the production of insulin, which tells the body to make and store fat, explains David Ludwig, M.D., Ph.D., the study’s lead researcher and head of the Optimal Weight for Life Program at Children’s Hospital, in Boston. This signal for fat production is strongly felt in the liver, because that’s the first place insulin goes after it’s released from the pancreas.

Fatty liver used to be a problem of alcoholics, primarily, but it’s becoming more common in Americans, especially in children. Up to 50% of overweight children are estimated to have the condition. That’s bad because it increases the risk for liver inflammation, which can progress to hepatitis, and in some cases, liver failure. (Scribner, KB, et al, Obesity, 2007 15(9):2190-9.)

Usually, fatty liver is preceded by insulin resistance, and another recent study found that people who consumed two or more sugar-sweetened beverages per day had significantly higher fasting blood levels of insulin compared to people who abstain from sugar laden drinks. Higher fasting insulin levels are a marker of insulin resistance and, often a precursor to type 2 diabetes.  (Yoshida, M., et al. J Nutr, 2007 137:2121-2127.)

Bottom line:  Reduce your potential for type 2 diabetes, excess body fat and liver disease by choosing carbohydrates carefully.  Stick with low-glycemic index starches such as whole grains: brown rice, barley, whole wheat, quinoa and old-fashioned oats.  Avoid sugary soft drinks completely. 

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