Did you know that most people eat too little healthy fat and too many carbohydrates? Slowly increasing fat and decreasing carbohydrates shifts the body away from inflammation and into health.
Slowly? I’ll explain in a moment.
First, consider your intake of simple carbohydrates –bread, crackers, pasta, sweets, and other refined grain products. This food group has a negative impact on your entire endocrine system. Simple carbs are broken down quickly and are easily stored as fat. Complex carbohydrates -whole grains, starchy vegetables, and beans- take a lot of energy to break down and so are much healthier. Have you heard of middle carbohydrates. These are whole fruits and lentils. They’re slower to digest than simple carbs (good) but break down quicker than complex carbs (not so good). Hence, in the middle. A blend of complex and middle carbs is best.
A very low-carbohydrate diet -about 50 grams for women per day- is a diet where less than 10% of dietary calories come from carbohydrates. Think, Keto diet. All simple sugars are eliminated, and carbs come solely from vegetables. Remember the Atkins diet fad in the early 2000s? Same thing. It’s restrictive and extreme.
It is medically recommended for some. Who? Some people with Alzheimer’s disease and epilepsy. Why? Alzheimer’s has been described as insulin resistance in the brain, exhibiting many of the same inflammatory markers as type 2 diabetes. This way of eating has been shown to help.
Now for the slowly part. Research shows that a sudden major decrease in carbohydrates can change our thyroid hormone -T3- in an abnormal way. This can cause all the symptoms of hypothyroidism, even though all the lab tests still look normal. A word about the thyroid. Some people trying to lose weight on very low carb diets experience a weight plateau and even start gaining weight again. This may be the thyroid reacting in a negative way. Beware.
The very low-carb diets tend to have a negative impact on hormone balance. If pursued, they should be approached slowly with plenty of time to allow the body to adjust, and with medical oversight or coaching.
Bottom line, a drop-weight-quick-scheme using the very low carb diet method is ill-advised.
Next is the low-carbohydrate diet with 10-15% of calories coming from carbohydrates -about 50-75 grams for an average woman. A low-carbohydrate diet may be helpful for people who struggle to lose weight -short term, require severe blood sugar regulation, have PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome0, or struggle with depression or anxiety. However, this diet can still trigger the abnormal T3 reaction, so it’s best approached slowly. Cool fact: In obese women with PCOS, decreasing carbohydrates and replacing them with mono- and polyunsaturated fats have been shown to improve both insulin resistance and blood lipids.
To maintain good health, a moderate-carbohydrate diet, where 15-30% of calories come from carbohydrates – about 75-150 grams for an average woman, is recommended. The people who benefit from this diet include generally healthy people, as well as those with adrenal fatigue.. It can work for weight loss if you get help determining your carb weight loss point and are accepting of slower but lasting weight loss.
Low carb diets can equal high stress hormones. A study compared a moderate-carbohydrate diet to a very low-carbohydrate diet. The finding was that the very low-carbohydrate diet increased cortisol levels in the body. Cortisol is a stress hormone, and in steady high amounts can create countless problems in the body. On the other hand, the moderate-carbohydrate diet didn’t raise cortisol levels. If you suffer from high stress, on-going stress or adrenal fatigue, the moderate carb diet is for you. In fact, low-carbohydrate diets are not recommended for people with adrenal fatigue.
What about high carbohydrate diets? This is a diet where more than 30% of total calories come from carbohydrate sources - more than 150 grams/day for an average woman. This diet is recommended for high-performance athletes of both genders and pregnant and breastfeeding women. Women who are pregnant and breastfeeding have a much higher energy need to adequately nourish the baby. Fun fact: In pregnancy, a natural state of insulin resistance is produced to maintain higher circulating glucose (blood sugar) which then passes through the placenta to nourish the baby. Don’t diet while pregnant for baby’s sake.
Women who are pregnant should not consume more than 40% of the diet in carbs – about 200 grams a day. Carbohydrate intake over 200 grams per day in late pregnancy has been shown to significantly increase the risk of gestational diabetes as well as unnecessarily increase the weight and body fat of the baby.
The first step in balancing macronutrients -fats, protein, and carbs- for your health needs is to select your personal optimal level of carbohydrates. If weight loss is a goal, carbs are one of the knobs to turn. After that, it’s time to consider protein. We can discuss that another time.
It’s science. The body is a biological computer, and we cannot fool it by neglecting its innate needs. It will speak up with symptoms and let us know when we neglect or mistreat it. I hope this helps you as you consider your carb ratio. I can help you find a way to achieve sustained health, with nutrition, lifestyle, and supplementation. Sometimes it’s as simple as supplying certain supplements to your diet plan to keep the body balanced. I learned about all the vitamins, minerals and micronutrients needed by each cell and by every system in the body. I want to help you to Shine in your health!
xo, mk
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