{"id":99550,"date":"2023-04-19T11:25:00","date_gmt":"2023-04-19T15:25:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=99550"},"modified":"2023-04-21T10:46:57","modified_gmt":"2023-04-21T14:46:57","slug":"carbohydrates-breakdown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/carbohydrates-breakdown\/","title":{"rendered":"The Carbohydrate Breakdown Process\u2014Explained"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

What happens in the body when we eat carbs? How do carbohydrates break down in our digestive system? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Carbohydrates are our body\u2019s most important energy source, providing the majority of daily calories for most people. When ingested, carbohydrates break down into glucose. Then, glucose enters cells throughout the body. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here’s a look at the carbohydrates breakdown process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

What Happens in the Body When We Eat Carbs<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

When we eat carbohydrates, they turn into glucose in the body. Then organelles in our cells called mitochondria transform glucose into energy, which powers all body systems. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Shortform note: In The Plant Paradox<\/em><\/a>, Steven Gundry discusses how glucose isn\u2019t the only fuel for mitochondria\u2014the fuel your mitochondria use depends on your circadian rhythms.<\/a> During the day, mitochondria convert sugar into energy, but at night, they use ketones to create energy. Ketones are a special kind of fat that\u2019s much easier to convert to energy than sugar. This means your mitochondria don\u2019t have to work as hard at night, giving them much-needed rest. That being said, if you\u2019re consistently eating too much sugar (as Inchausp\u00e9 discusses), your mitochondria never get to rest, rendering this system less effective.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following carbohydrates’ breakdown, our glucose levels increase and our pancreas releases insulin. Insulin is a hormone that helps glucose that\u2019s not being used for energy enter the liver, muscles, and fat for storage. The liver and muscles turn glucose into glycogen, a stored form of glucose that\u2019s broken down whenever the body needs a quick boost of energy.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Shortform note: Along with insulin\u2014which decreases your blood glucose levels by storing glycogen\u2014the pancreas releases another hormone to regulate your glucose levels called glucagon. Glucagon has the opposite effect of insulin:<\/a> It raises your blood glucose up to healthy levels when it dips too low, such as during periods of exercise and fasting. It does this by prompting your liver to convert glycogen into usable glucose and release it back into the bloodstream. Glucagon also facilitates the production of glucose from sources in your body such as amino acids, and it prevents your liver from absorbing and reserving glucose.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This storage system is one of the reasons we gain weight<\/strong>\u2014when our diets have too much glucose in them, we overload our liver and muscles, and the only way the body can store that glucose is by adding on fat. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Shortform note: There are two main types of fat that result from excess glucose in the body: fatty acids and triglycerides.<\/a> Fatty acids are fats directly converted from sugar. Their small size allows them to pass through the cell membranes of fat cells in your body, meaning that your body can burn them for fuel as needed. However, some fatty acids become triglycerides, which are composed of three fatty acids connected by a glycerol molecule. These larger molecules are formed inside your fat cells, and they\u2019re too big to pass through the cell membrane. As more triglycerides get stuck inside, our fat cells get larger, and we gain weight.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additionally, whenever we eat foods containing fructose, we compound weight gain, as fructose can only<\/em> be stored as fat. Unlike glucose, we can\u2019t directly use fructose for energy. (Shortform note: Fructose\u2019s contribution to our body\u2019s fat storage isn\u2019t the only reason it makes us gain weight\u2014studies suggest that its effect on the area of our brain called the hypothalamus makes us more likely to overeat.<\/a> One function of the hypothalamus is to regulate appetite, and fructose increases the production of neuropeptides (chemical messengers released by neurons) that stimulate hunger and decrease fullness indicators.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What happens in the body when we eat carbs? How do carbohydrates break down in our digestive system? Carbohydrates are our body\u2019s most important energy source, providing the majority of daily calories for most people. When ingested, carbohydrates break down into glucose. Then, glucose enters cells throughout the body. Here’s a look at the carbohydrates breakdown process.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":67964,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,160],"tags":[984],"class_list":["post-99550","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health","category-science","tag-glucose-revolution","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Carbohydrate Breakdown Process\u2014Explained - Shortform Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"What happens in the body when we eat carbs? How do carbs break down in the body? Here's a look at the carbohydrates breakdown process.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/carbohydrates-breakdown\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Carbohydrate Breakdown Process\u2014Explained\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"What happens in the body when we eat carbs? How do carbs break down in the body? Here's a look at the carbohydrates breakdown process.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/carbohydrates-breakdown\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Shortform Books\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-04-19T15:25:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-04-21T14:46:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/wordpress.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/stomach-body-digestion-gut.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1400\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"700\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Darya Sinusoid\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Darya Sinusoid\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/carbohydrates-breakdown\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/carbohydrates-breakdown\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Darya Sinusoid\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0421cce75bc249b11e2517b3a91f9c46\"},\"headline\":\"The Carbohydrate Breakdown Process\u2014Explained\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-04-19T15:25:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-04-21T14:46:57+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/carbohydrates-breakdown\/\"},\"wordCount\":617,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/carbohydrates-breakdown\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/stomach-body-digestion-gut.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Glucose Revolution\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Health\",\"Science\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/carbohydrates-breakdown\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/carbohydrates-breakdown\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/carbohydrates-breakdown\/\",\"name\":\"The Carbohydrate Breakdown Process\u2014Explained - Shortform Books\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/carbohydrates-breakdown\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/carbohydrates-breakdown\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/stomach-body-digestion-gut.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-04-19T15:25:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-04-21T14:46:57+00:00\",\"description\":\"What happens in the body when we eat carbs? How do carbs break down in the body? Here's a look at the carbohydrates breakdown process.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/carbohydrates-breakdown\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/carbohydrates-breakdown\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/carbohydrates-breakdown\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/stomach-body-digestion-gut.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/stomach-body-digestion-gut.jpg\",\"width\":1400,\"height\":700},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/carbohydrates-breakdown\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The Carbohydrate Breakdown Process\u2014Explained\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Shortform Books\",\"description\":\"The World's Best Book Summaries\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Shortform Books\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png\",\"width\":500,\"height\":74,\"caption\":\"Shortform Books\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0421cce75bc249b11e2517b3a91f9c46\",\"name\":\"Darya Sinusoid\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Untitled-design-1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Untitled-design-1.png\",\"caption\":\"Darya Sinusoid\"},\"description\":\"Darya\u2019s love for reading started with fantasy novels (The LOTR trilogy is still her all-time-favorite). Growing up, however, she found herself transitioning to non-fiction, psychological, and self-help books. She has a degree in Psychology and a deep passion for the subject. She likes reading research-informed books that distill the workings of the human brain\/mind\/consciousness and thinking of ways to apply the insights to her own life. Some of her favorites include Thinking, Fast and Slow, How We Decide, and The Wisdom of the Enneagram.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/author\/darya\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Carbohydrate Breakdown Process\u2014Explained - Shortform Books","description":"What happens in the body when we eat carbs? How do carbs break down in the body? Here's a look at the carbohydrates breakdown process.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/carbohydrates-breakdown\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Carbohydrate Breakdown Process\u2014Explained","og_description":"What happens in the body when we eat carbs? How do carbs break down in the body? Here's a look at the carbohydrates breakdown process.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/carbohydrates-breakdown\/","og_site_name":"Shortform Books","article_published_time":"2023-04-19T15:25:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-04-21T14:46:57+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1400,"height":700,"url":"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/wordpress.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/stomach-body-digestion-gut.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Darya Sinusoid","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Darya Sinusoid","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/carbohydrates-breakdown\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/carbohydrates-breakdown\/"},"author":{"name":"Darya Sinusoid","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0421cce75bc249b11e2517b3a91f9c46"},"headline":"The Carbohydrate Breakdown Process\u2014Explained","datePublished":"2023-04-19T15:25:00+00:00","dateModified":"2023-04-21T14:46:57+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/carbohydrates-breakdown\/"},"wordCount":617,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/carbohydrates-breakdown\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/stomach-body-digestion-gut.jpg","keywords":["Glucose Revolution"],"articleSection":["Health","Science"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/carbohydrates-breakdown\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/carbohydrates-breakdown\/","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/carbohydrates-breakdown\/","name":"The Carbohydrate Breakdown Process\u2014Explained - Shortform Books","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/carbohydrates-breakdown\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/carbohydrates-breakdown\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/stomach-body-digestion-gut.jpg","datePublished":"2023-04-19T15:25:00+00:00","dateModified":"2023-04-21T14:46:57+00:00","description":"What happens in the body when we eat carbs? How do carbs break down in the body? Here's a look at the carbohydrates breakdown process.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/carbohydrates-breakdown\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/carbohydrates-breakdown\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/carbohydrates-breakdown\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/stomach-body-digestion-gut.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/stomach-body-digestion-gut.jpg","width":1400,"height":700},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/carbohydrates-breakdown\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Carbohydrate Breakdown Process\u2014Explained"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/","name":"Shortform Books","description":"The World's Best Book Summaries","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"Shortform Books","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png","width":500,"height":74,"caption":"Shortform Books"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0421cce75bc249b11e2517b3a91f9c46","name":"Darya Sinusoid","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Untitled-design-1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Untitled-design-1.png","caption":"Darya Sinusoid"},"description":"Darya\u2019s love for reading started with fantasy novels (The LOTR trilogy is still her all-time-favorite). Growing up, however, she found herself transitioning to non-fiction, psychological, and self-help books. She has a degree in Psychology and a deep passion for the subject. She likes reading research-informed books that distill the workings of the human brain\/mind\/consciousness and thinking of ways to apply the insights to her own life. Some of her favorites include Thinking, Fast and Slow, How We Decide, and The Wisdom of the Enneagram.","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/author\/darya\/"}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/stomach-body-digestion-gut.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99550","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=99550"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99550\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":100079,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99550\/revisions\/100079"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/67964"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=99550"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=99550"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=99550"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}