May 29, 2014 – Carbs and Obesity

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ANCHOR LEAD:WHY IS A DIET HIGH IN SIMPLE CARBOHYDRATES ASSOCIATED WITH OBESITY? ELIZABETH TRACEY REPORTS

People who consume diets high in carbohydrates, particularly the simple, highly refined ones with a lot of processed sugar, are setting themselves up for obesity, a recent study concludes.  Kerry Stewart, a preventive cardiology researcher at Johns Hopkins, explains the mechanism.

STEWART:With lower carb intake you don’t need as much insulin to burn up glucose because you’re not taking in as many carbs.  What’s been shown and is mentioned in this article is that insulin sensitizes the body’s fat stores to actually hold onto fat, so that it becomes more difficult to lose fat when you have higher levels of insulin in the bloodstream.   :26

So more carbs leads to more insulin which leads to more fat lurking about in the body’s storage cells rather than being metabolized as fuel.  Stewart says this study provides more support for the idea that choosing what to consume as well as how much is crucial.  At Johns Hopkins, I’m Elizabeth Tracey.