Are you "Over-carbing"?

What is “Over-carbing”?

“Over-carbing” means eating too many processed carbohydrates or simply eating too many carbohydrates for your body resulting in too much glucose in your blood stream.

What is the effect of “Over-carbing” on your body?

• Over-carbing causes a rush of glucose into your blood stream.
• Your body has to keep its blood sugar levels within a narrow range, so it has to break down or store the excess glucose.
• Your body can either break down glucose aerobically (with oxygen) or anaerobically (without oxygen).
• When you overcarb, any excess glucose not stored as fat is burned anaerobically. The byproduct of the anaerobic system is lactic acid. This causes your body (tissues, and fluids) and your mouth to become very acidic ( acidosis ).

How does this acidic state impact your health?

• The pH of your blood is very tightly regulated to a slightly alkaline pH of 7.4.
• When you load up with too many carbs, and you start turning acidic, your body must buffer that acid to ensure the blood maintains it healthy pH.
• One buffer is free calcium, which is taken from your bones and your teeth.
• This free calcium deposits on your teeth, on arterial walls, and inside cells, and is linked to gum disease, heart disease, stroke, and cancer.
• The anaerobic state also breeds anaerobic bacteria and kills aerobic bacteria in the mouth.
• Your saliva pH levels will turn acidic when you overcarb as a result of an anaerobic burn.

How do you determine if you are over-carbing?

You can tell if you are overcarbing by listening to your body. If you feel tired, mentally foggy, moody, craving sweets, or hungry 1-2 hours after a meal, you may have eaten processed carbohydrates or too many carbohydrates for your body, or not enough protein or good fat with your carbohydrates. To take the guess work out of determining the perfect balance of proteins, fats, and carbohydrates for your body, you can test your saliva pH. Saliva is a distillate of your blood, so testing your salival pH gives you an accurate indication of whether the foods you are eating are causing your body to become acid or alkaline. When your saliva pH dips below 6.0 (critical pH) your teeth start to demineralize. Your cells also start to malfunction, which leads to disease.

When : Best time to test is 1-2 hours after a meal.

Tools:
1. Litmus paper (Range 5.5-8.0) Brand: Hydrion from Micro Essential Laboratory.

2. Plastic spoon
Method : Spit saliva into the plastic spoon and dip litmus paper then remove immediately. Within 3 seconds compare the litmus paper to the accompanying color chart.

Results: Yellow indicates very acid saliva. Dark Blue indicates neutral to slightly alkaline saliva.

Aim : You want to fine-tune the balance of the protein, fats, and carbohydrates in your meals so that you test neutral or slightly alkaline (pH 7 to 7.4).