Excess Carbs and the Blood Sugar Roller Coaster

Excerpt from the book, "The Atkins Essentials", Atkins Health and Medical Information Services

When you eat foods that contain carbohydrates, they impact your blood sugar levels. This is because all carbohydrates are converted into glucose, or sugar when they reach your blood stream. The amount of carbs and the type - will determine the degree of impact. For example, a food full of sugar and bleached flour such as a sweetened breakfast cereal will raise blood sugar much more dramatically than does a green salad.

Once the glucose is delivered to your blood, it has to be transported to your cells to do its work. The hormone insulin is the carrier that transports glucose to the cells. Once the glucose arrives at the cells, three things can happen to it:

1. It can be used for immediate energy
2. It can be converted to glycogen for later use as a source of energy
3. It can be stored as fat

The more glucose that enters the blood stream, the more insulin the body releases to sweep in and clear it away. Insulin's job is two-fold: It brings the cells the glucose they need but it also has to keep your blood sugar levels within a fairly normal range.

When you eat something that contains a high dose of rapidly absorbed carbohydrates - a candy bar, for instance, or a piece of bread made with bleached flour - glucose enters the bloodstream quickly. What you feel when this happens is a quick energy boost. But soon after, a spurt of insulin is released to rush in and clear that glucose away and regulate your blood sugar level. Because your body wasn't designed to deal with candy bars and refined flour, it digests them so rapidly the insulin response may overshoot its mark, clearing away too much of the glucose. This results in a drop in blood sugar, which leads to an energy crash - what many people experience as the afternoon slump. It becomes hard to concentrate or you may feel darn right lethargic or sleepy. You're likely to find yourself craving some chocolate or potato chips or anything packed with carbs to get that blood sugar soaring again. And so the roller coaster ride continues.

On the other hand, when you eat other foods which are mostly protein or fat, your body produces far less insulin and these extremes in blood sugar are avoided. When you produce less insulin, your blood sugar level remains constant and along with it, your energy level. Eating this way gets you off the blood sugar roller coaster and on to the smooth riding energy train.