Are you Counting Carbs?

Does Size Matter?

Food Size matters, but more importantly the texture.

I am not referring to the quantity but quality... Let me elaborate.

The more broken down the food is the more the unnatural hyper-insulin response that happens within your body. Why?

Let's talk about the function of insulin:

Insulin is secreted by the pancreas when we eat sugar and it passes through our bloodstream and is taken into the body for energy use. Soooo the pancreas' function is to sense the glucose (sugar) in our blood from our food, to release insulin which binds with the glucose in the food using receptors (they act like magnets) that will transport it inside the cells for energy use.

A recent Japanese study has determined there is a digestive communication cell called, "K-cells."

These specialized cells live in the upper part of our digestive tract which will interpret the food we eat before it is fully digested and long before the pancreas gets involved with insulin release.

K-cells interpret the food we eat by its constitution rather than the nutrients, carbs, protein, or fat it contains. (WOW! That's some high-tech cells right there!!)

This study from Japan also showed that when whole apples are consumed they have what is called an “X” insulin response. If the same exact amount of apples is made into an apple sauce and eaten in the same amount of time it has 100% more of an insulin response in the bloodstream. Furthermore, if the same amount of apples are made into a juice it has a 150% increase in insulin response in the bloodstream. OMG, BUT WHY? My educated guess is that the fiber is extracted in order to change its structure allowing the body to break it down way too fast. (Let's just confuse the public even more as it relates to proper nutrition.... Like it's not already complicated, sheesh.)

These apple servings had the same amount of nutrients, calories, and sugar, right, yet the insulin response varied by 1 and 1.5 times. (Detrimental to our efforts!)

As more foods were tested, they showed the same pattern. It was determined that the change in the constitution of the food created a hyper-insulin response. The same increase in insulin secretion was found in cooked food as well. A potato will have a meager insulin response if eaten raw, yet the longer you cook it and break it down, the higher the insulin secretion becomes.

The most dramatic unnatural hyper-insulin response is seen in foods made from a powder.

Powder-based foods include any type of flour like wheat, almond, coconut, and oats, and it applies to powdered protein and amino acid supplements as well as any powdered meal replacement.

This hyper-insulin response protein powder occurs even though protein powder doesn’t raise blood sugar. 30 grams of chicken protein has a mild insulin response, whereas 30 grams of protein powder stimulate insulin more than any other whole food tested.

I refer to these responses as unnatural hyper-insulin responses because they are much higher than the equivalent food in its natural form. Since whole natural foods have a much lower insulin response, these hyper-responses are only found occurring in food that has been processed or in the form of pre-broken down foods that are not found in nature.

The body's hyper-insulin response from cooked food only occurs in starchy foods that must be cooked for a long time and broken down to a softer constitution to be consumed or digested. Like sweet potatoes, white potatoes, roots, legumes, seeds, and dense veggies.

To summarize this, any food products made from powder and cooked starches produce an unnatural hyper-insulin response regardless of the source or amount of fat, protein, or carb count.

Why does this matter so much?

If you are trying to lose weight, this information is crucial.

Insulin determines if we use food for energy or store it as fat, and if insulin is high due to this hyper-secretion, then it can cause unwanted weight gain and prevent fat loss when desired.

I am not a fan of what they call "keto-diets" but if you are using this type of diet then this concept makes counting carbs to get into ketosis completely and totally unreliable.

We have all seen prepackaged foods with labels "keto" If it is in a package then it has these powders, additives, and pre-broken down foods that prevent the body from using ketones. Keto food products stop ketosis and therefore are not keto. As consumers we have to open our eyes to the marketing lies we are being fed.. these companies haven't done their research properly or they would NOT be labeled as ketogenic-approved foods.

Help get the awareness out there! Our money will speak for these marketing gimmicks if we stop buying them maybe they will also get the picture.