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The Banting lecture given by Gerald Reaven in 1988 brought to light the connection between obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and hypertension. He named these disorders as Syndrome X; later it came to be known as Metabolic Syndrome.
Insulin resistance is a common cause for many of these disorders. Insulin is necessary to maintain the glucose level in your body. Resistance to insulin makes the transportation of glucose difficult. This results in high glucose levels. Glucose is produced as a byproduct of carbohydrate metabolism.
Carbohydrate is a major component of our diet. It is present in the form of macromolecules like starch or polysaccharides. Our body cannot absorb these polysaccharides as such. It has to be broken down to simpler units or monosaccharides to be absorbed into the blood.
Digestion helps in breaking down carbohydrates into smaller molecules to a certain extent. Carbohydrate metabolism involves all the biochemical processes involved in the breakdown as well as formation and interconversion of carbohydrates in any living organism.
Carbohydrate in the form of monosaccharides is used as fuel for cellular respiration. One gram of carbohydrate produces approximately 4 Kcal of energy by its oxidation. The energy yielded from carbohydrate metabolism is stored in the form of adenosine triphosphate or ATP.
Carbohydrates are the most suitable energy reserve for the organisms as it is easy to metabolize than fats and proteins.
When your carbohydrates intake is excessive, the body is unable to metabolize carbohydrates, especially in people with lower metabolic rates. The sedentary lifestyle adds to this situation. Glucose produced as a result of carbohydrate metabolism is usually used immediately by the body. Some of the sugars are stored in the liver and muscles while some are stored for later use in the form of fat. Excessive carbohydrate diet makes the body store the excessive sugar produced as a result of carbohydrate metabolism in the form of fat. This leads to obesity, which is another disorder caused by impaired carbohydrate metabolism.
Having a high carbohydrate diet for an extended period of time will put stress on your internal organs; hence, should be avoided. The major effect of carbohydrate on metabolism is that it causes diabetes mellitus, a potentially life threatening disease.
Diabetes mellitus has many side effects like circulatory disorders, nerve damage, blindness and ulcerations of the skin. It is therefore necessary that you should have less carbohydrate and fats in your diet in order to help your body metabolize carbohydrate completely and prevent you from getting metabolic disorders like obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, and other health problems. A conscious effort to increase the basal metabolic rate by engaging in physical activities like exercises, work out in the gym, swimming, cycling, walking, jogging, etc will help you to maintain your body and keep it fit and healthy.
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