Insulin Resistance and Refined Carbs

After a meal laden with refined carbohydrates, the body’s blood-sugar levels soar, and the pancreas sprays insulin into the bloodstream to help cells convert the food’s energy (glucose) into fuel. But the body often miscalculates and releases too much insulin because (again) evolution hasn’t kept pace with the modern diet. If you eat four slices of Wonder Bread, that’s the food-density equivalent of one of your ancestors killing and eating an entire elk out on the savanna. Your body reacts with a massive surge of chemicals to digest all the stuff it thinks you just ate.
As a result of too much insulin, blood-sugar levels drop, and 30 minutes later you’re hungry again. The body wasn’t designed for this yo-yo effect. All it can do is break apart in bits and pieces, which is exactly what happens. The technical term for this effect is insulin resistance, a precursor to such age-related diseases as type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome and heart disease.
The Fix: Stick to complex carbohydrates, such as legumes, vegetables and 100 percent whole grains. Because the outer layers of the grain are left intact, whole grains take longer for the body to digest, and the sugar is released in a slow, steady stream.