Not sure which part of forum this belongs to but here it is:


Do simple carbs make you retain more water than complex?

Not sure which part of forum this belongs to but here it is:


Do simple carbs make you retain more water than complex?

As far as I know, the one that make you retain water is sodium. And I believe that any foods cointain a particular amount of sodium. So if foods are taken in excess, that means you also intake excess sodium which will make you retain water. And simple carb will surely help this vicious cycle...

Larry,

No.

That's the simple answer.

Now the longer answer.

Water retention is based on a variety of factors.

For example, something like a mild allergy can create water retention. Most people are allergic to some degree to certain foods, they just don't know it. About 3 out of 4 of my clients who take my "milk challenge" (cutting out dairy for 4 weeks) don't go back because they drop weight, lose puffiness in their face, gain energy, etc - they were mildly allergic and just assumed an allergy meant hives or stomach pains and didn't realize it could manifest in bloating, etc.

That's just one example.

Another example cited earlier in the thread is sodium. Sodium, potassium, and other electrolytes are part of the ion pump that helps shuttle nutrients into and out of cells. An excess of sodium can result in water retention for a variety of reasons - there is a hormone tied to sodium that regulates this, and some theorize it is caustic and the water dilutes to protect the cells.

The thing with carbs is this - carbs, no matter if they are green beans or table sugar - end up pretty much the same way in your body (with the exception of certain fruits). By the time they enter your bloodstream, they are a simple sugar called glucose. It doesn't matter if that glucose came from the green bean or table salt, it's all the same.

The reason why green beans are consider superior to, say, table sugar, is not what they become in your system, but the rate at which they are digested and what comes with it. Table sugar is rapidly ingested, therefore can raise blood levels quickly. Green beans are digested more slowly, released over time, and in addition provide other nutrients, vitamins, minerals, and fiber.

Also, the idea of simple and complex for categorizing carbs is also a little bit off as well. It is an old idea before the way carbs are used was really understand. The myth is that simple carbs are digested more quickly, and complex carbs are digest more slowly because they are complex. Sounds logical and there are tons of fitness "experts" who still regurgitate this advice.

The truth is that digestion is far more complex. For example, potatoes are complex but enzymes in your digestive system ensure that these become sugar quickly and actually impact your blood sugar more than certain table sugars. Certain fruits are simple sugars, but because fructose (the sugar in most fruit) requires certain conversions before being used by the body, it actually impacts blood sugar more slowly than most complex carbs, including whole wheat and oatmeal.

Perhaps the sneakiest culprit is maltodextrin, which shake manufacturers love because it is a complex carb so they don't have to list it as a sugar. People buy the shakes just looking at the low sugar count, without realizing that maltodextrin is the most powerful "sugar" on the market - it absorbs more quickly than table sugar.

So, as you can see, water retention is more complex than simple/complex carbs. :)

Jeremy

Not sure which part of forum this belongs to but here it is:


Do simple carbs make you retain more water than complex?

Awesome!

Incredible information, thank you!

great info!!!

thanks Jeremy

No. When carbs are stored as glucose in the muscle 1 gram of glucose retains 2.7 gram of water. It does not matter if it was simple or complex when you ate it because once it's stored in the muscle it's the same type of energy.

There are other factors that may make you retain water but the sientific answer is 2,7 gram for each grams of muscle stored carb (glucose).

A normal person has about 300-400 grams of stored glucose in the muscles. You can do a thing called carb load which will widen up the storage and let you store about 800-900 grams of carbs in the muscles (have also seen numbers like 1000-1500 grams). This is only a benefit for people that will need high quality energy when doing sports over 90 minute. One example could be a marathon or long bicycle race. Doing this you will notice a weight gain of about 4-6 pounds. Most it if is retained water due to higher levels of glucose in the muscles.

I have seen that some body builders use the same technic when prepearing for competition. First the totally drain the body. Then they start a carb load to fill up the muscle to make it look harder and bigger. When you are on a ripped level like that it will make you look even more ripped and swollen. Why they can make you look puffy is probably because a normal person has a higher procentage of bf. That combined with high levels of stored carbs will make you look bloated. The carbs are stored in the muscles and not in the fat as some people tend to think. Sure you will get more body fat if you over consume carbs but they are not willing to store as bf if you eat a +-0 energy type of diet. Primary task of all carbs is to give energy to the brain and muscle.

regards
Ludvig.



Not sure which part of forum this belongs to but here it is:


Do simple carbs make you retain more water than complex?

:tucool: I've learned more in this one post than I have in the past 3 months. Thanks Jeremy :tucool:

Larry,

No.

That's the simple answer.

Now the longer answer.

Water retention is based on a variety of factors.

For example, something like a mild allergy can create water retention. Most people are allergic to some degree to certain foods, they just don't know it. About 3 out of 4 of my clients who take my "milk challenge" (cutting out dairy for 4 weeks) don't go back because they drop weight, lose puffiness in their face, gain energy, etc - they were mildly allergic and just assumed an allergy meant hives or stomach pains and didn't realize it could manifest in bloating, etc.

That's just one example.

Another example cited earlier in the thread is sodium. Sodium, potassium, and other electrolytes are part of the ion pump that helps shuttle nutrients into and out of cells. An excess of sodium can result in water retention for a variety of reasons - there is a hormone tied to sodium that regulates this, and some theorize it is caustic and the water dilutes to protect the cells.

The thing with carbs is this - carbs, no matter if they are green beans or table sugar - end up pretty much the same way in your body (with the exception of certain fruits). By the time they enter your bloodstream, they are a simple sugar called glucose. It doesn't matter if that glucose came from the green bean or table salt, it's all the same.

The reason why green beans are consider superior to, say, table sugar, is not what they become in your system, but the rate at which they are digested and what comes with it. Table sugar is rapidly ingested, therefore can raise blood levels quickly. Green beans are digested more slowly, released over time, and in addition provide other nutrients, vitamins, minerals, and fiber.

Also, the idea of simple and complex for categorizing carbs is also a little bit off as well. It is an old idea before the way carbs are used was really understand. The myth is that simple carbs are digested more quickly, and complex carbs are digest more slowly because they are complex. Sounds logical and there are tons of fitness "experts" who still regurgitate this advice.

The truth is that digestion is far more complex. For example, potatoes are complex but enzymes in your digestive system ensure that these become sugar quickly and actually impact your blood sugar more than certain table sugars. Certain fruits are simple sugars, but because fructose (the sugar in most fruit) requires certain conversions before being used by the body, it actually impacts blood sugar more slowly than most complex carbs, including whole wheat and oatmeal.

Perhaps the sneakiest culprit is maltodextrin, which shake manufacturers love because it is a complex carb so they don't have to list it as a sugar. People buy the shakes just looking at the low sugar count, without realizing that maltodextrin is the most powerful "sugar" on the market - it absorbs more quickly than table sugar.

So, as you can see, water retention is more complex than simple/complex carbs. :)

Jeremy

But...
From my own personal experience, is that when I cut the carbs , I lost the bloating, Gas, Heart Burn..etc., Now of course the bloating could of been caused by one or more of the foods that I was eating but didn't bloat when I cut them out like dairy.. So in essences I'm in agreement.. just gotta figure out what food other then sodium which we already know is problem is causing it.. Most llikely dairy..