Excess Carbohydrate Intake
In nutrition, moderation is key even when it comes to healthy nutritious foods. This is because even these healthy foods when consumed in excess or deficiency may pose significant health implications. In our last blog post, you recognized the significance of carbohydrate intake, its sources, and RDAs. In this post, an in-depth look at excessive carbohydrate intake will be reviewed.
What is excess carbohydrate intake?
Excess carbohydrate intake has to do with consuming more carbohydrates than the recommend (55%-60% of total calorie intake). The effects of excess carbohydrate intake manifest after consuming excess carbohydrates over a while. If for instance, you consume excess carbohydrates in one meal, the effects may not be that immediate, but this slight difference over time may present significant impacts.
To illustrate, when person A consumes carbohydrates just slightly above the 60% and person B consumes more than 70% carbohydrates, it is highly likely that person B will experience the implications of excess carbohydrate intake faster than person A if all variables remain constant( i.e. health status, initial weight, energy needs); however, eventually, both individuals will note the effects(This is just an example to provoke understanding). Consequently, consuming carbohydrates within the recommended range is important.
Effects Of Excess Carbohydrate Intake Intake
- Dental Caries– Carbohydrates, particularly, sugars, contribute a role in tooth decay. When you frequently snack on simple carbohydrates, you risk tooth decay. In addition, even starchy carbohydrates like bread and crisps are linked to dental caries because they are broken down in the mouth by saliva into simple sugars.
The regularity of consuming sugar is associated with an increased likelihood of dental caries rather than the consumption of sugar in a sitting.
Dental caries occurs when the mouth bacteria metabolize sugars, releasing an acid that demineralizes the enamel. Though, one’s general health is also indicative of their susceptibility to having dental caries.
- Weight gain -Excess carbohydrate intake has significant metabolic implications on one’s body. Once the body utilizes the carbohydrates it requires for energy, the excess carbohydrates are stored in the muscles or liver as stored energy (glycogen). Unless you have a metabolic disorder, if you do meet your carbohydrate needs, the energy released is utilized to meet your energy requirements for cellular and metabolic functions, as well as the energy required for daily activities. Most of the carbohydrates, if not all of them, will be expended.
Nevertheless, if you consume an excess of carbohydrates, the remaining energy not required to be used by the body (because the body has already met its energy needs) will be stored in the form of glycogen. When you do not consume enough carbohydrates, this glycogen is what will be broken down to release glucose, which is used for energy.
Over time, when you continue to consume an excessive amount of carbohydrates, they will be stored as fats, and the accumulation of these fats leads to weight gain.
- Type 2 Diabetes and Cardiovascular diseases -An unhealthy diet is a predisposing factor for diabetes (in addition to other factors e.g. genetics and physical inactivity), and excess carbohydrate intake is unhealthy; hence, the consumption of excess carbohydrates is associated with an increased risk of type 2 diabetes.
With the exception of particular lipid disorders that present abnormalities with glucose tolerance and high levels of triglycerides, there is no correlation between sugar intake and cardiovascular disease.
However, the increased risk of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular conditions can be contributed to by the secondary effects of excessive carbohydrates. In that, once an individual has consumed excess carbohydrates , they gain weight, and fats , and become more predisposed to either type 2 diabetes or cardiovascular conditions.
Generally, quality over quantity. Just make sure you opt for more natural sources of carbohydrates rather than having to constantly count your calories. This is because when you ensure that you include these natural sources, you will notice that you rarely exceed your recommended intake. After all, natural food sources can signal the body when it is full. For instance, when you include fibre-rich foods, you’ll note that they give you a sense of fullness when you have eaten enough.