The Dangers Of Overdosing On Carbohydrates
When consumed in the right quantities, carbohydrates have numerous health benefits. However, consistently eating too many carbohydrates can negate these benefits and have a negative effect on your health. In this article I’m going to be discussing exactly how consuming too many carbohydrates damages your health by listing four of the main dangers of carbohydrate overdose.
1. Increased Body Fat Levels
If you consume an optimal amount of carbohydrates, you’ll give your body exactly what it needs to supply your current energy demands. However, by eating high levels of carbohydrates, you’ll ingest more carbohydrates than your body is able to use. If your body can’t use these carbohydrates, they get stored as body fat which leads to weight gain and a poor body composition.
2. Cell & Organ Damage
When you eat carbohydrates, your body breaks them down into glucose and releases them into the bloodstream where they can then be used by the cells and vital organs in your body for energy. Eating carbohydrates in a healthy, controlled way means that a steady stream of glucose is constantly released into your blood. However, eating large quantities of carbohydrates causes your blood glucose levels to rapidly spike. Spikes in blood glucose damage your blood vessels, your cells and your vital organs and over time this can lead to high blood pressure, serious organ damage and much more.
3. Increased Hunger Levels
When your blood glucose levels spike rapidly, your body responds by releasing a large amount of insulin (a hormone that instructs your body’s cells to take the glucose from the blood and use it for energy). This leads to an equally rapid reduction in your blood glucose levels which then stimulates your brain to release hunger signals. This means if you overdose on carbohydrates, you’ll actually feel more intense hunger more often, even though you’re consuming larger amounts.
4. Inconsistent Energy Levels
Another negative side effect of the rapid spike and crash in blood glucose levels caused by eating high levels of carbohydrates is that it has a disruptive effect on your energy levels. As your blood glucose levels surge, you’ll feel full of energy then suddenly when the insulin gets released and your blood glucose levels start to fall, your energy levels will diminish rapidly. These constantly fluctuating energy levels make it extremely difficult to function during the day and lead to reductions in your concentration and productivity levels.
Summary
I hope this article has highlighted why you shouldn’t binge on carbohydrates. If you make sure you limit your total carbohydrate consumption to no more than 60% of your total calories and consume an amount of calories that is in line with your basal metabolic rate (BMR) (you can calculate your BMR using this calculator), the carbohydrate overdose symptoms listed above will never be a problem for you.
