Efficiency and Inefficiency of Carbs

Carbs, also known as carbohydrates, are super efficient energy bundles derived from various food sources. Glucose is a simple carb that is the energy equivalent of rocket fuel. The human nervous system (including the brain) rely almost exclusively on sufficient levels of glucose to function properly. When you haven’t eaten in a while you might feel dizzy, light-headed or even cranky. It’s just your nervous system breaking down due to lack of blood glucose levels. Glucose is absolutely vital to survival. So why would anyone consume low levels of carbs? The answer is simple and complex.

Carbs are water soluble. Human cells and fluids are mostly composed of water. Ergo, carbs dissolve easily within the cells and form large molecular structures that take up a lot of space. Storage is very limited in the tiny cell structures so large molecules create inefficiencies. The cells solve this problem by converting excess carb-water molecules into fatty acids which are then converted lipids for safe and efficient storage. Unlike carbs, lipids (also known as fat) do not dissolve well in water (try an experiment by dropping olive oil in water…the oil will form little, water- exclusive colonies). This interaction is much more compact and dense and takes up less space within the cell. Basically, all those excess carbs you consume will be converted to fat just to save a little space. Unfortunately, your body’s natural method of conserving energy by storing fat will actually make you fat.

The solution if you eat a lot of carbs: find a use for all those extra energy molecules floating around inside you