Starches, insulin and weight gain

I am interested in knowing the science behind what I've read about starches / complex carbohydrates that they raise insulin and keep it elevated for a longer time compared to let's say fruits. And is it true that this raised insulin promotes weight gain? Low carbers say that insulin is a fat storage hormone.

Why do fruits cause less insulin related problems? Is it because the simple sugars digest more easily and faster?

Articles on acne say that insulin - along with testosterone - are hormones which increase sebum production in skin pores leading to acne breakouts. Is this true and could it explain why some people break out after eating very sweet fruits like bananas and dates, especially when blended into a smoothie and eaten too fast, or fruit juices without fiber?

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  • People don't have problems with insulin when there's not too much fat clogging up their bloodstream.  Insulin guides glucose to cells that need it, if it can't get to a cell fast or efficiently enough, it stores it as fat.

    •  if it can't get to a cell fast or efficiently enough, it stores it as fat

      Not exactly, you better check your owners manual.  Theres that thermogenesis thingy.....

  • The great irony is that people assumed up until the 1970s that complex carbohydrates were a slow-digesting, low glycemic index food.  But when this theory was put to the test, it was food that amylopectin (one of the two major consistuents of starch) actually is MORE rapidly digested than even simple sugars in fruit!!!!  Crazy, no?!

    The reason why amylopectin is so rapidly digested even though it is a large polymeric molecule is because it is highly branched, and so enzymes can attack it and digest it from several angles all at once.  

    On the issue of insulin, I would not worry about it as much as blood glucose.  That is, a *transient* spike in insulin is not a problem, because insulin is really just the messenger or carrier that delivers glucose to cells.  It's like that saying: don't kill the messenger.  In fact, insulin has favorable effects on protein synthesis and muscle building.

    The real problem is high, elevated blood sugar that lasts for hours.  Excess sugar in the blood stream over a long period can glycosylate and damage fats and proteins, causing blood vessels to become stiff and damaged.  This is the real problem, so I would focus on that.

    And also, on the hierarchy of suboptimal foods, the one that is the biggest problem are high fat, especially saturated fat, foods that are low in nutrients.  For example, when scientists want to give rodents diabetes (to study the disease), they feed them high-fat diets, not high starch diets.  Ask a professional scientist in this research field: it's hard to give a rat diabetes on a low-fat diet. 

    So unless you have issues with your blood sugar already, whole food, nutrient-rich starches shouldn't be a problem.  This is corroborated by a 2000 article showing that glycemic index seems to matter for overweight and obese people (more likely to be insulin resistant), but it does not seem to matter for lean people (likely to have good blood sugar regulation).

    • Slow digesting...fast digesting....is this really a concern? 

       

      How does this work?  Glucose in the blood....insulin in the blood, period.  The problem arises when too much fat is in the blood = the busom buddies of glucose/insulin can't get to the cells on time, so the body reads this as needing more insulin...etc, the rest of the dominos fall.   The fat causes blood stream traffic jams......

       

      So, raw simple carbs or cooked complex carbs end up as the same, glucose, in the same place, blood stream.  Glucose in the blood, also means insulin in the blood.   If one food digests/gets to the blood stream faster than the other, it causes a proportional response of insulin, where's the problem?

       

      The requirement of fiber and it's effect on slowing the process of both eating and digesting, is the regulation of how quickly any glucose gets to the blood stream...hence eating bags of white table sugar..although fat free, might not help you feel your best. 

       

      The starch molecule digesting faster than sugar?  I've done a mild google search, no dice....any help on that?  I've found amylopectin digesting faster than amylose...( sp,) over and over, but not sugar.  How does a complex chain of sugars digest faster than non-chain sugars? 

       

      Do not listen to me, this is not medical advice.  Read'em books and make'em mind for yourself, thank you. 

  • @Dreamer79,

    A little insulin in the body is beneficial for us as insulin plays multiple roles in the body. However, in excess, and in chronically elevated amounts, insulin becomes a problem which can promote weight gain in sensitive individuals and or premature aging and a host of symptoms that come from that.  Chronically elevated insulin levels usually result from eating diets that are chronically high in starchy foods and complex carbs that include grains, tubers and potatoes, legumes and beans, most nuts and seeds, and some starchy veggies.  

    Many fruits have little or no starch and or complex carbs.  Many fruits are high in simple sugars like fructose.  Eating many kinds of fruits do not initially trigger an insulin release like eating bread, cakes, and cookies might.  There may be evidence that our cells can use fructose as an energy source without the insulin transport mechanism.  

    The fruits that do have a little starch like bananas still have much less starch than other starchy foods.  For example, bananas might have 7 g, and a potato 57 g or a cup of steamed rice having 42g.  This translates into less insulin being released and or most fruits being low on the glycemic index scale.  

    Indulging occasionally in high starchy foods is probably not going to cause to many problems unless someone with Celiac disease and or gluten sensitivities eats grains.  

    Where the love goes wrong is eating them consistently.  Starchy foods trigger insulin release.  Most starchy foods can only be broken down into glucose by the body and start a high blood sugar process.  In healthy individuals and or active individuals, the released insulin acts a blood cleaner and transports the glucose into cells for burning.  However, in some individuals, the chronic excesses of glucose do become food for fat cells.

    The average SAD eater might eat donuts for breakfast with insulin release.  It takes insulin about four hours to break down into other metabolites.  Two hours later, some crackers are eaten as a snack.  More insulin.  Lunch is burger buns and fries at McDeaths.  More insulin.  Snack at 4 pm is birthday cake for the office birthday party.  Dinner is two big plates of spaghetti.  While a serving might be 1/2 of a cup, most people eat starchy servings exponentially.  This translates in to blood sugar problems and chronic elevated insulin levels.  Not to mention many of these meals are accompanied by high fat animal products or vegan oils like olive oil.  

    Now, the secondary problem is hyperinsulinism.  Even in slim people, a chronic release and high insulin levels can lead to problems like premature aging, may contribute to  hypoglycemia and or symptoms such as double or blurry vision, fast or pounding heartbeat, feeling cranky or acting aggressive, feeling nervous, headache, hunger, shaking or trembling, sleeping trouble, sweating, tingling or numbness of skin, tiredness or weakness, and unclear thinking.  In rare cases there is fainting, seizure, and coma.

    I have written a little bit on this issue here with references:

    30BaD FADs: Carbohydrates and Starchy Foods Defined - 30 Bananas a ...

    30BaD FADs: Starchy Foods vs Fruit n Lettuce - 30 Bananas a Day!

    Now I am not sure about insulin levels and acne.  What I do know is that acne can have two causes from starchy foods.  The first is a sensitivity to gluten grains and or grains in general.  The next is that most starchy foods are also high in oxalates which can promote acne and skin eruptions.  Even some of our members continue to struggle with acne until they remove the high oxalate foods kale and spinach from the diet.

    30BaD FADs: Oxalate Health Impact - 30 Bananas a Day!

    What we face in modern nutrition, medicine and fad diets is that we are only given two options.  The low carb eat meat no wheat (or starchy foods.)  Much of their science regarding starchy foods is actually correct.  However, they conveniently ignore the problems with animal products.  Then the other crowd says eat no meat eat wheat and starchy foods.  They conveniently ignore the problems with starchy diets especially those that are high in grains and or not balanced with fruits and veggies.  

    Very few people promote and or have done research showing that there could be a third diet based on fruit, lettuce greens and nuts and seed in moderation.  

    A common argument used is that the Japanese eat rice are live long lives and or are slimmer than those in the USA.  However, they are not necessarily healthier.  They may only live about 5 years longer, and yes, many of them are slimmer, but they suffer and die from the same diseases as their American counterparts.  

    30BaD FADs: Diet and Health in Japan and USA - 30 Bananas a Day!

    If you want to know more about the science behind avoiding starchy foods, I cautiously recommend the following books with a disclaimer that their authors advocate eating meat and we do not for health and ethical reasons.

    Wheat Belly by William Davis MD

    Dangerous Grains by James Braly MD and Ron Hoggan (I believe has a lot of modern peer reviewed research of which some pubmed articles may back.)

    and..

    Wheat: 200 Clinically Confirmed Reasons Not To Eat It - 30 Bananas ...

    Hope this  helps you with your research.  

    Peace, PK

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