Perhaps before potentially labeling a higher insulin response to carbs a “not so good” thing for weight, we should also discuss why a higher insulin response to carbs would have been beneficial for our ancestors.
Genes provide advantages and disadvantages dependent upon the environment they are living in. Perhaps in past generations this higher insulin response enabled people to store more fat for the winter or for famines when carbs or food was scarce.
And now in a different food environment these same genes may harm us if we eat too many carbs year round as opposed to seasonal.
So when it comes to genetics, I like to figure out first why a gene may have helped our ancestors survive and procreate, before trying to figure out why it is now a “not so nice gene” to have.
It’s a different but needed perspective.
Also it would be cool to see how these genes you discussed differ among people whose ancestors lived in different parts of the world, say the difference between living in cooler vs warmer climates, inland vs near oceans.
With genes I don’t see good or bad, I just see different and ask why.
I'm a 35yo F, 170cm, 47kg, bmi ~16.3 (my normal weight for the past 12 years).
I eat a LOT of carbs (rice, pasta, bread, fries) and never gain weight (although I eat pretty clean whole foods on top of these).
The only times I gained weight was 1) when I took the contraceptive pill at 23yo, I went from 42kg to 52kg. Then the weight came off and stabilized at 47kg when I stopped the pill at 24yo and replaced it with copper IUD (no hormones).
2) when I moved to australia at 29yo (they have a LOT of take out and nice sweet food, seed oils everywhere - basically SAD diet), I got addicted to sugar and kept eating and my weight went up to 55kg, I also had cystic acnea ever since I had the copper IUD (never had acnea in my entire life), my theory is that copper got imbalanced with zinc and caused this, but I also suspect the IUD creating some hormone imbalance despite not having any hormones in it because my cystic acnea went away 2 weeks after removing the copper IUD at 30yo. And 5 months after that I went back to my country and my weight stabilized back to 47kg.
Anyways, what I wanted to say is that female hormones being imbalanced also contribute greatly to weight gain, but also some carbs seem to be more addictive than others.
RN I'm trying the keto diet, been on it for 4 weeks (super clean whole foods only) to support my partner in his weight loss journey and to see if I can get more energy to prepare for a potential pregnancy, but it's been a nightmare for me (not sure if keto flu, carbs withdrawal or something else) but I lost my period and had the worst PMS ever (never had PMS in my life), so I reintroduced carbs and 2 weeks after my period came back.
But the worst part is that now I've gained weight (fat around my thighs while on keto) as opposed to when I was eating carbs I didn't get fat! So I hope I didn't mess up my metabolism by going keto?!
Anyways, I'm continuing my n=1 experiment, and doing keto only 2 weeks after my periods and right after ovulation I'm reintroducing clean carbs (some sort of carb cycling) like potatoes, rice, taro, bit of dark bread (hey I'm asian and french/italian xD good enough that I dont add pasta) etc, not sweets like I used to eat before, I became super sensitive of sugar now (bit disgusted by it when there's too much) and can't stand to much of it anymore. If I have sweets it should be only fruits... we'll see if my energy levels, my sleep improve and my newly acquired fat goes away (I'm super active : dance, hike etc). So it's some sort of carb cycling and cycle syncing and I'm also trying seed cycling to see if things return to normal this cycle... phew being a woman isn't always easy XD life was easier when I was eating carbs and not asking myself questions 🤣 but I need to be aware of things to avoid potential future illnesses (being skinny doesnt mean I can't get diabetes!) And also I wanted to try the diet I will recommand to most of my future patients to understand better and better advise them. Plus it's a lot of fun researching all this and being your own experiment!!!!
Keep the good articles coming and please post more research about women!! 😁
knowledge and awareness are power! again and again!
if you know or measure it, you ca change it
thank you for make simple and clear a so complex and delicate topic
Thank you Ilaria.
Nice article.
Perhaps before potentially labeling a higher insulin response to carbs a “not so good” thing for weight, we should also discuss why a higher insulin response to carbs would have been beneficial for our ancestors.
Genes provide advantages and disadvantages dependent upon the environment they are living in. Perhaps in past generations this higher insulin response enabled people to store more fat for the winter or for famines when carbs or food was scarce.
And now in a different food environment these same genes may harm us if we eat too many carbs year round as opposed to seasonal.
So when it comes to genetics, I like to figure out first why a gene may have helped our ancestors survive and procreate, before trying to figure out why it is now a “not so nice gene” to have.
It’s a different but needed perspective.
Also it would be cool to see how these genes you discussed differ among people whose ancestors lived in different parts of the world, say the difference between living in cooler vs warmer climates, inland vs near oceans.
With genes I don’t see good or bad, I just see different and ask why.
I'm a 35yo F, 170cm, 47kg, bmi ~16.3 (my normal weight for the past 12 years).
I eat a LOT of carbs (rice, pasta, bread, fries) and never gain weight (although I eat pretty clean whole foods on top of these).
The only times I gained weight was 1) when I took the contraceptive pill at 23yo, I went from 42kg to 52kg. Then the weight came off and stabilized at 47kg when I stopped the pill at 24yo and replaced it with copper IUD (no hormones).
2) when I moved to australia at 29yo (they have a LOT of take out and nice sweet food, seed oils everywhere - basically SAD diet), I got addicted to sugar and kept eating and my weight went up to 55kg, I also had cystic acnea ever since I had the copper IUD (never had acnea in my entire life), my theory is that copper got imbalanced with zinc and caused this, but I also suspect the IUD creating some hormone imbalance despite not having any hormones in it because my cystic acnea went away 2 weeks after removing the copper IUD at 30yo. And 5 months after that I went back to my country and my weight stabilized back to 47kg.
Anyways, what I wanted to say is that female hormones being imbalanced also contribute greatly to weight gain, but also some carbs seem to be more addictive than others.
RN I'm trying the keto diet, been on it for 4 weeks (super clean whole foods only) to support my partner in his weight loss journey and to see if I can get more energy to prepare for a potential pregnancy, but it's been a nightmare for me (not sure if keto flu, carbs withdrawal or something else) but I lost my period and had the worst PMS ever (never had PMS in my life), so I reintroduced carbs and 2 weeks after my period came back.
But the worst part is that now I've gained weight (fat around my thighs while on keto) as opposed to when I was eating carbs I didn't get fat! So I hope I didn't mess up my metabolism by going keto?!
Anyways, I'm continuing my n=1 experiment, and doing keto only 2 weeks after my periods and right after ovulation I'm reintroducing clean carbs (some sort of carb cycling) like potatoes, rice, taro, bit of dark bread (hey I'm asian and french/italian xD good enough that I dont add pasta) etc, not sweets like I used to eat before, I became super sensitive of sugar now (bit disgusted by it when there's too much) and can't stand to much of it anymore. If I have sweets it should be only fruits... we'll see if my energy levels, my sleep improve and my newly acquired fat goes away (I'm super active : dance, hike etc). So it's some sort of carb cycling and cycle syncing and I'm also trying seed cycling to see if things return to normal this cycle... phew being a woman isn't always easy XD life was easier when I was eating carbs and not asking myself questions 🤣 but I need to be aware of things to avoid potential future illnesses (being skinny doesnt mean I can't get diabetes!) And also I wanted to try the diet I will recommand to most of my future patients to understand better and better advise them. Plus it's a lot of fun researching all this and being your own experiment!!!!
Keep the good articles coming and please post more research about women!! 😁