[Health Bias for Adults] The 'Secret Collapse' of Muscle Caused by 'Just Trying Low-Carb'—The Trap of Creating a Body That Can't Burn Fat While Trying to Cut Carbohydrates
Yesterday, I explained the science of 'salt sensitivity'—the reason why blood pressure doesn't drop even when you diligently try to reduce salt intake—and the strategy for excreting it using potassium.
The theme for today, the fifth day of our Health Bias series, is the 'no staple food' trap that dieters over 40 are most likely to fall into.
'I'm worried about my belly fat, so from today, I won't eat any white rice, bread, or noodles.' There is no end to the number of people who make that decision and start an extreme low-carb diet consisting only of side dishes. While it is true that weight drops temporarily, inside your body, the most important infrastructure supporting your youthfulness and metabolism is being secretly and thoroughly destroyed.
A body lacking energy survives by 'eating' its own muscles
Carbohydrates are the 'gasoline' of the body, the top-priority energy source for fueling the brain and body. If you completely shut this off, your body, sensing a crisis, will try to create energy from somewhere else to survive.
The target for this is not fat, but actually your 'muscles'.
The horror of 'gluconeogenesis': When carbohydrates in the body are depleted, the body enters an emergency mode where it breaks down the amino acids that make up muscles and converts them into glucose to use as energy. Medically, this is called 'gluconeogenesis'.
Toward an 'energy-saving body' that cannot burn fat: When you lose weight through carbohydrate restriction, much of that loss is not fat, but 'muscle loss' and 'water loss.' When muscle decreases, your 'basal metabolism,' which accounts for 60% of your total daily calorie consumption, plummets. As a result, you end up with a body that is 'more prone to turning food into fat and harder to burn' than before.
The result of desperately enduring by cutting out carbohydrates is creating a body that is prone to storing fat and is a candidate for lifestyle-related diseases—this is the ironic tragedy caused by 'just trying low-carb'.
Does restricting carbohydrates make your 'blood vessels' stiff?
Furthermore, there is evidence that those over 40 cannot ignore. An unbalanced low-carb diet that involves overeating fats and proteins like meat, fried foods, and cheese to fill the hunger caused by cutting out staple foods directly damages your blood vessels.
Excessive intake of saturated fatty acids: Consuming too many animal fats causes a rapid increase in bad cholesterol and neutral fats in the blood, making the blood thick and sticky.
Risk of arteriosclerosis: Recent large-scale epidemiological studies have reported shocking data that people who continue extreme low-carb diets for a long time have a higher risk of death from cardiovascular disease compared to those who eat a moderate amount of carbohydrates.
'Intelligent staple food management' that people in their 40s should practice
What we should aim for is not to reduce carbohydrates to zero (restriction), but to control them skillfully (management).
Don't 'cut them out,' change the 'quality': 'Refined white carbohydrates' like white rice and white bread cause blood sugar levels to spike, so it is correct to avoid them. However, 'brown carbohydrates' like 'barley (mochi-mugi),' brown rice, multi-grain rice, and whole-wheat bread, which I introduced in the Superfood series, are a different story. Because these contain abundant dietary fiber, they serve as an energy source to protect your muscles while preventing spikes in blood sugar levels.
Combine with 'protein-first': Instead of putting staple foods into your mouth first, eat vegetables (like mekabu seaweed or broccoli) or protein (like tofu, natto, or meat) first, and finally eat a moderate amount (about the size of one fist) of 'brown staple food.' If you follow this order, carbohydrates are not the villain, but the best fuel to keep your metabolic engine running.
From restriction based on willpower to scientific 'selection'
The extreme bias that 'eating rice makes you fat' only drives your body into a state of starvation and forces you to fight the fear of rebounding.
What is truly necessary for health management from your 40s onward is maintaining a system that intelligently burns only fat while properly replenishing energy.
Starting tomorrow, stop forcing yourself to skip rice and try mixing a handful of pearl barley into your white rice. That intelligent choice will protect your muscles, increase your basal metabolism, and become a lifelong foundation that powerfully fends off the domino effect of lifestyle-related diseases.
Tomorrow is the final installment of this series. I will summarize 'self-centered health management' to help you listen correctly to the 'voice' of your own blood vessels and organs, without being swayed by extreme information on television or social media.