5:00AM
Q&A with Bert Weiss of Q100’s “The Bert Show” part 1
I was recently avoiding school, work, and other boring obligations by scrolling through my Twitter feed when I came across a question from Bert Weiss, host of Atlanta's no. 1 radio station Q100’s morning talk show:
@BertShowBert: No one can answer this for me. Does processed sugar and natural sugar get processed the same way in your body?
This is a great question that I get asked all the time. So I decided to reply...
@CarolynBallard: Yes. Sugar is sugar.
He was not satisfied with that response….
@BertShowBert: Then why do we avoid the sugar in chocolate but not fruits? The benefits totally outweigh the storage of fat?
This one was a little difficult to answer in less than 140 characters…
@CarolynBallard: Fruit has fiber and nutrients; chocolate is basically empty calories. Excess calories from any food will lead to fat storage.
Since I am not limited to a character count on this blog (unfortunate for those of you who are already bored), I will elaborate. The metabolism of sugar is the same as any carbohydrate, which means your body could never know the difference between the glucose from a vegetable versus that from chocolate.
Glycemic index is what complicates things. Glycemic index (GI) is a value placed on foods that indicates how they affect your blood sugar. High GI foods are typically white, i.e. white rice and potatoes. These foods tend to spike your blood sugar and insulin levels rapidly, which can cause the glucose to be converted to fat. Then there’s glycemic load, which takes into account the carbohydrate content of the food and gives a more accurate depiction of its effect on blood sugar.
The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition explains it better than I can:
“Low-GI foods are relatively more satiating than are their high-GI counterparts.
Compared with low-GI meals, high-GI meals induce a greater rise and fall in blood glucose and a greater rise in blood insulin, leading to lower concentrations of the body’s 2 main fuels (blood glucose and fatty acids) in the immediate post-absorptive period. The reduced availability of metabolic fuels may act as a signal to stimulate eating.”
This is why, if you are like me, you get ravenous 10 minutes after eating an apple. When eating fruit, I recommend adding something with a little protein (cheese, peanut butter, etc.) to avoid the rapid fluctuation in blood sugar and starvation that ensues.
The Journal continues:
“Studies have shown that the chronic consumption of a diet with a high glycemic load is independently associated with an increased risk of developing type-2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and certain cancers…
A low-GI diet might also protect against the development of obesity, colon cancer, and breast cancer.”
For the full article, which contains the GI and glycemic load values for over 750 foods, click here.
Thanks for the blog inspiration, Bert. Now we just have to figure out how to get The Bert Show in for a WOD…
@BertShowBert: No one can answer this for me. Does processed sugar and natural sugar get processed the same way in your body?
This is a great question that I get asked all the time. So I decided to reply...
@CarolynBallard: Yes. Sugar is sugar.
He was not satisfied with that response….
@BertShowBert: Then why do we avoid the sugar in chocolate but not fruits? The benefits totally outweigh the storage of fat?
This one was a little difficult to answer in less than 140 characters…
@CarolynBallard: Fruit has fiber and nutrients; chocolate is basically empty calories. Excess calories from any food will lead to fat storage.
Since I am not limited to a character count on this blog (unfortunate for those of you who are already bored), I will elaborate. The metabolism of sugar is the same as any carbohydrate, which means your body could never know the difference between the glucose from a vegetable versus that from chocolate.
Glycemic index is what complicates things. Glycemic index (GI) is a value placed on foods that indicates how they affect your blood sugar. High GI foods are typically white, i.e. white rice and potatoes. These foods tend to spike your blood sugar and insulin levels rapidly, which can cause the glucose to be converted to fat. Then there’s glycemic load, which takes into account the carbohydrate content of the food and gives a more accurate depiction of its effect on blood sugar.
The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition explains it better than I can:
“Low-GI foods are relatively more satiating than are their high-GI counterparts.
Compared with low-GI meals, high-GI meals induce a greater rise and fall in blood glucose and a greater rise in blood insulin, leading to lower concentrations of the body’s 2 main fuels (blood glucose and fatty acids) in the immediate post-absorptive period. The reduced availability of metabolic fuels may act as a signal to stimulate eating.”
This is why, if you are like me, you get ravenous 10 minutes after eating an apple. When eating fruit, I recommend adding something with a little protein (cheese, peanut butter, etc.) to avoid the rapid fluctuation in blood sugar and starvation that ensues.
The Journal continues:
“Studies have shown that the chronic consumption of a diet with a high glycemic load is independently associated with an increased risk of developing type-2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and certain cancers…
A low-GI diet might also protect against the development of obesity, colon cancer, and breast cancer.”
For the full article, which contains the GI and glycemic load values for over 750 foods, click here.
Thanks for the blog inspiration, Bert. Now we just have to figure out how to get The Bert Show in for a WOD…
carolyn
Reader Comments