Glycogen, Water & Fat: What Really Happens When You Quit Carbs

Many people who lose weight have tried not to eat rice, noodles and other staple foods, and after a few days of persistence, their weight will drop significantly. What is the reason?

We know that rice, noodles are the main source of carbohydrates, which in the body break down into glucose, giving the body energy support. And excess glucose is converted into glycogen for storage. And “for every 1 gram of glycogen stored in the body, 3-4 grams of water will be combined”.

People who lose weight, after rejecting the intake of staple foods , the body’s glucose capacity is insufficient, and the body will actively consume the reserve glycogen in the body. The decomposition of glycogen will also be accompanied by the loss of water, and the body weight will drop.

After you consciously eat less staple food, and more low-calorie vegetables, It can effectively reduce caloric intake, and the body will also create a certain caloric gap, prompting the body to break down the reserve energy in the body.

When the energy reserve is first consumed, the body mainly enters the “sugar-burning mode”. When the glycogen reserve is almost consumed or the body remains on an empty stomach for a long time, the body will slowly switch to the “fat-burning mode”.

All in all, When you don’t eat staple foods and your body creates a caloric gap, your weight will click and drop, but most of the initial loss is water and muscle, not fat.

Long-term abstinence from staple foods results in insufficient carbohydrate intake in the body and is also prone to health problems. Many people will experience palpitations, hypoglycemia, asthenia, hair loss and other problems after not eating staple food for a period of time, as well as problems such as memory will decrease, temper will easily become irritable, muscle will be lost with it, basal metabolic value will decrease, weight loss will become more and more difficult, and even they will become fat-prone and have a fat-prone figure.

You need to know one thing: the key to losing weight is fat loss, not weight loss, Excessive fat mass is the root cause of weight gain. If you lose muscle, water, waste, you can’t really lose weight, only by losing excess body fat can you lose weight.

During weight loss, we should control our intake of carbohydrate staples rather than completely stamping them out. Appropriate carbohydrate supplementation can provide metabolic power to the body, promote muscle synthesis and the body’s metabolic operation, and allow you to lose weight healthily.

Staple foods can be divided into low GI value carbohydrates and high GI value carbohydrates During the weight loss period, we should eat less refined carbohydrates and change to compound carbohydrates. For example, eat less high GI value carbohydrates such as rice, steamed buns, dumplings, steamed buns, and noodles, and change to brown rice, oats, whole wheat bread, soba noodles, potato taro, corn, beans and other low GI value carbohydrates, and controlling the intake of staple food in each meal by no more than one fist can effectively control blood sugar and avoid fat accumulation.

During weight loss, We can eat more high-fiber vegetables, eat more low-calorie, high-fiber vegetables such as broccoli, tomatoes, mushrooms, fruits, etc., which can promote intestinal peristalsis, with an appropriate amount of high-quality protein, maintain muscle mass, and provide long-term satiety, reducing the chance of overeating.

It is recommended to have 50% vegetables, 25% high-protein foods and 25% staple foods in each meal. This can control the overall calorie intake and make you lose weight healthily.

Disclaimer: All photos used in this blog are generated by artificial intelligence (AI). These images are original creations produced by AI technology and do not depict real people, places, or events. They are provided for illustrative purposes only and cannot be claimed or used as real photographs.