Like so many, my husband had questions. Like, “What’s the difference between the carbs in a slice of bread and the ones in a serving of avocado?” And why can’t he just save his allowance of carbs for a sweet peanut butter cup. These answers are all found in science. I want to break it down for you so you can understand why keto works and how it works.
The glycemic Index is the measurement of how a carbohydrate influences the rise and fall of your glucose level over time. It’s based on a scale of 0-100. The lower the number the better. The higher the index goes the higher the spike in your glucose (blood sugar). When you’re in ketosis that’s not a good thing. Our goal is to keep the GI as low as we can. That’s one reason this works so well for diabetics.
Complex and Simple Carbs
There are two types of carbs out there, complex and simple. That’s how we classify it. It’s how hard your body has to work to absorb them and convert them to glucose, a source your body uses as energy. So that sweet donut would be considered a simple carb. Why? Glad you asked. The complexity of a carbohydrate is based on the density or hardiness of the fiber it contains, and if it is soluble or insoluble. Basically if your body can break it down, how easily it can be broken down (or how much energy it takes to do so), and how much energy it supplies in the form of glucose.
Complex carbs are harder for your body to digest and some just pass right on through. And this is what you want on the keto dash. Eating lower GI foods helps to lower cholesterol, diabetes, and risk of heart disease. It also keeps you feeling full longer. The benefits are countless. The whole vegetables like broccoli, green beans, cauliflower, avocado, leafy greens, even nuts and seeds, all have the rich fiber source you need to help keep that glucose in check.
When it comes to simple carbs, it’s cane sugars, corn syrups, flour, white starches, sweet fruits, (and even some artificial sweeteners.) They give you a quick rush of glucose and spike your bloodsugar causing your body to send an abundance of insulin to try to motabolize it all. If it can’t right off, it stores it as fat. This kind of eating repeatedly over long periods of time leads to weight gain, insulin resistance, and in turn higher blood pressure.
I’m not saying keto will cure these conditions. You need to speak with your doctor beforehand and make sure they give you the all clear for any diet before you proceed.
There is so much more information on this topic I will cover later, but for now let’s practice looking at labels and finding those high fiber goodies.
Coming soon I’ll explain the carb counts: Total Carbs vs Net Carbs.
