The first foundational principle, BURN, might be the hardest of all — to distinguish physical hunger. The principle of BALANCE is designed to help you regulate and stabilize your physical hunger and fullness. We do this by balancing the carbohydrate and protein entering your stomach (incinerator) and then your bloodstream.
THE PROTEIN ANCHOR
When you eat a carbohydrate by itself, without any protein and/or fat, it enters your body in a particular way. Those carbs hit your bloodstream, spike your blood sugar and exit just as quickly.59-60 Let’s say you followed the first principle of BURN and ate those carbs when you were hungry. Your hunger might temporarily vanish, but you’ll be hungry again soon, even though you might have “theoretically” had enough calories to keep you full. That’s because the carbs swam into the bloodstream without an anchor slowing them down. Being slowed down in this sense is a good thing so you feel full longer.
For example, imagine you are hungry and you decide to have a concession-size box of Red Vine™ Licorice, which doesn’t have any fat or protein. Those carbs would enter your bloodstream, spike your blood sugar and leave the bloodstream about as quickly, leaving you hungry again.59,61 Instead, consider half a bagel with a full-fat shmear of cream cheese along with some turkey. That would enter your bloodstream more slowly, stay longer and exit more slowly.60-63 You would be full, for fewer calories, for a longer period of time. It’s difficult to feel full when eating carbohydrates alone.59,64-65
So, you’ve had a lot of calories without making you feel particularly full. Carbs eaten alone prompt a particular insulin response to take care of the sugar rush and its effects on your blood sugar. Insulin is a hormone that works to move glucose from your blood and distribute it to other parts of your body.
It is released every time you eat and the more carbohydrate you eat, the more insulin you need to take care of the rise in blood sugar. Eating protein or fat alone does not raise blood sugar significantly enough to require an insulin response. Adding protein or fat to a carbohydrate food can change how the insulin responds to that food as it enters the blood stream. Lowering the amount of carbohydrate food you eat will require less insulin to be released. Combining a carbohydrate food with protein and/or fat will modify your insulin response.
If you are eating carbohydrates frequently throughout the day, unaccompanied by any protein and/or fat, you’ve also got a lot of insulin being secreted in your body again and again.61
Insulin distributes glucose throughout your body for use, but is also a hormone that promotes fat storage. When all the glucose needs of the body are met, the leftover glucose is converted into fat storage.66 When you have a lot of insulin floating around your bloodstream and body, there is more potential to have increased fat storage and to feel hungry more often.40 This happens when you eat more carbs, or food in general, than the body can use. In ONE-TWO PUNCH we want to manage your insulin response and help you feel full longer, thus secreting less insulin.60,62
REFERENCES
40. Kroemer N, Krebs L, Kobiella A et al. (Still) longing for food: Insulin reactivity modulates response to food pictures. Hum Brain Mapp. 2012;34(10):2367-2380.
59. George R, Garcia A, Edwards C. Glycaemic responses of staple South Asian foods alone and combined with curried chicken as a mixed meal. J Hum Nutr Diet. 2014;28(3):283-291.
60. Hätönen K, Virtamo J, Eriksson J, Sinkko H, Sundvall J, Valsta L. Protein and fat modify the glycaemic and insulinaemic responses to a mashed potato-based meal. Br J Nutr. 2011;106(02):248-253.
61. Gropper S, Smith J, Groff J. Advanced Nutrition and Human Metabolism. 5th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth; 2005: 14,74-75.
62. Chang K, Lampe J, Schwarz Y et al. Low glycemic load experimental diet more satiating than high glycemic load diet. Nutr Canc. 2012;64(5):666-673.
63. Bellissimo N, Akhavan T. Effect of Macronutrient Composition on Short-Term Food Intake and Weight Loss. Adv Nutr. 2015;6(3):302S-308S.
64. Hosseinpour-Niazi S, Sohrab G, Asghari G, Mirmiran P, Moslehi N, Azizi F. Dietary glycemic index, glycemic load, and cardiovascular disease risk factors: Tehran Lipid and Glucose Study. Arch Iran Med. 2013;16(7):401-407.
65. Dhillon J, Craig B, Leidy H et al. The Effects of Increased Protein Intake on Fullness: A Meta-Analysis and Its Limitations. J Acad Nutr Diet. 2016;116(6):968-983.
66. Gropper S, Smith J, Groff J. Advanced Nutrition and Human Metabolism. 5th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth; 2005: 300.
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