Why does starch make you gain weight?

Starches are also known as enemies of people who want to lose weight. Here are some reasons people who want to lose weight or maintain weight often try to stay away from it.

Increases appetite

One of the reasons starch makes you gain weight is because it increases your appetite. According to Dr. Taubes explained in the book "Good calories, bad calories" (2007), eating foods that contain a lot of starch makes the body produce hormones insulin. This hormone automatically removes nutrients in the blood because it is ready to receive other nutrients, so it makes people feel less satisfied with hunger, or even more hungry when they eat a little. It's still easy to still feel hungry after eating, which leads to you needing to eat again, causing weight gain.

Photo: freshgarden.vn

Addictive

Eating starch can also make many people feel addicted because it produces the culprit is seronin . Serotonin is a hormone in the brain that improves mood and gives you a feeling of relaxation by reducing stress, anxiety and even pain. People with serotonin are low, reflexively, will crave starch to feel better, but this leads to weight gain.

Store fat

After eating starchy foods, the pancreas reacts by producing insulin, which is responsible for regulating blood sugar by allowing starch to be broken down into sugar into liver cells. and muscles for use as energy. However, according to a study by TS. Taubes, insulin, are also responsible for regulating the storage of fat. When high levels of insulin in the blood increase due to high starch loading, fat will be stored more and longer, leading to weight gain.

Low-carb diets (low in starch) help with weight loss

Many studies have demonstrated the effectiveness of low-carb diets for weight loss. According to a study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (2008), obese people were divided into two groups. Group 1 is required to adhere to a low-starch diet, with only 4% of the energy intake per day from starch, and group 2 must follow a moderate starch diet, with approximately 35% of the energy intake is from starch.

In addition to the requirement for starch content, all respondents were allowed to eat other things. As a result, the group that followed a very low-starch diet had a 6.3kg reduction compared with 4.3kg in those who ate moderate starch levels. Researchers have found that a diet low in starch and higher in fat has reduced appetite significantly, leading to more weight loss.