Dear Ginger

I’ve been thinking about eating less carbs because a lot of people say it helps with getting better blood sugars, being more sensitive to insulin and losing weight, but how can I eat less carbs without dropping low all the time? Seems like it would be kind of hard to do.

-Dan

Hey Dan,

You know, I was really hesitant to try eating less carbs, too, because I assumed my blood sugars would be totally out of control every time I tried to exercise, but I found the complete opposite to be true!! Because I reduced my carbohydrates, I naturally also reduced the amount of insulin I was taking. By having less insulin in my body (but still balanced blood sugars), there was less possibility for any extra insulin to drop my blood blood sugar when I did exercise.

In terms of losing weight, because carbohydrates require insulin to digest (whether or not you’re diabetic), it makes it hard for the body to burn as much fat, because when insulin is in the body it acts as a storage hormone…in other words: when a lot of insulin is present in the body, it cannot burn fat as well. The insulin takes the carbs you’re eating and first replenishes your glycogen supply if you recently exercised, and then it stores the rest as fat. So by reducing your carbs, you reduce your insulin needs. Because you still need the same amount of calories, aim to replace the carbs with more vegetables, low fat sources of protein, and healthy fats.

Does this mean you have to go low-carb everyday all the time? No! You can cycle your carbohydrate intake and every four or five days consume more carbs (preferably healthy sources, but we’re all entitled to a little dessert now and then!).

When you exercise, you still need to check your blood sugar. Depending on the aerobic level of the exercise, you may need more carbs or you may not. I’ve found that I need less carbs to sustain exercise because of the reduced amount of insulin and my increased sensitivity to insulin (a result of exercise and healthy nutrition).

Again, as with everything, what works for my body isn’t always going to work the same for your body, so you need to pay close attention and test often!