{"id":67874,"date":"2022-06-11T04:28:39","date_gmt":"2022-06-11T08:28:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=67874"},"modified":"2022-06-11T04:28:40","modified_gmt":"2022-06-11T08:28:40","slug":"what-do-carbs-do-for-your-body","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-do-carbs-do-for-your-body\/","title":{"rendered":"Giulia Enders: What Do Carbs Do for Your Body?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

What do carbohydrates do for your body? Should you avoid eating carbs altogether?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many diets require you to cut out carbohydrates (carbs) to lose weight. But carbs play some important roles in the body, apart from providing energy. Moreover, not all carbs are villains. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Keep reading to learn what carbs do for your body. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Carbohydrates as a Macronutrient<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

So, what do carbs do for your body? Carbs primarily serve as our short-term energy supply<\/strong>. They also form important structures in our body: This includes the molecules ribose and deoxyribose, which are the building blocks of RNA and DNA, respectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On a molecular level, Enders explains, carbs consist of sugar molecule chains. Longer chains are harder for our body to break down and absorb into the bloodstream, whereas shorter chains are easier to digest and give us quick energy. Our gut prefers quick energy because digesting it saves time. This is why we crave carbs with short molecular chains, like sugary foods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, flooding the gut with quick energy has negative side effects. According to Enders, consuming too much refined sugar<\/a> can cause us to gain weight because our bodies store this sugar as fatty tissue. The gut also has to work harder to stabilize itself after digesting refined sugar by producing hormones such as insulin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the other hand, Enders explains, eating carbs <\/em>with long sugar molecule chains (like brown rice, black beans, and vegetables) forces our gut to slow down, preventing spikes in blood sugar and creating healthy, short-term energy stores.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Connection Between Blood Sugar and Insulin<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Enders doesn\u2019t go into detail on why the gut produces insulin after we consume a lot of refined sugar in our body from carbs. She\u2019s likely talking about the process of stabilizing <\/em><\/strong>blood sugar levels<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Your blood sugar level is the amount of sugar in your bloodstream. When the gut receives an easily-digestible sugar rush, this number increases rapidly. If blood sugar levels stay high, you can develop symptoms such as fatigue, stomach pain, and vomiting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To lower your blood sugar levels, the body produces insulin. Insulin tells your cells to start consuming sugar<\/a>, thereby removing it from the bloodstream. However, over time, if you eat too much sugar, your cells can stop responding to insulin. This can lead to Type 2 diabetes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To prevent high blood sugar, Type 2 diabetes, heart problems, and weight gain, the American Heart Association recommends limiting your added <\/em>sugar consumption<\/a> to no more than six percent of your daily calories, or about six to nine teaspoons (25 to 36 grams) of added sugar per day. Added sugars refer to sugars such as honey, cane juice, and corn syrup that manufacturers add to foods during processing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Which Carbohydrates Are Good (or Bad) for You?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

While carbs with longer sugar molecule chains tend to be better for your body, this isn\u2019t always the case. To explain why certain carbs are good or bad for your body, let\u2019s first examine how scientists classify different types of carbohydrates<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Scientists used to classify carbohydrates into two categories based on the length of their sugar molecule chains:<\/p>\n\n\n\n