On Mon, 26 Mar 2001, Amadeus Schmidt wrote:

> On Wed, 21 Mar 2001 11:24:23 -0500, Todd Moody <[log in to unmask]>
> wrote:
>
> >.. But total carbohydrate matters too, since any
> >carbohydrate in excess of what the body can use at a given time
> >is converted to saturated fat, increasing the SFA load that the
> >cells have to deal with.
>
> That's not exactely true.
> Carbohydrate are also converted to the quick carbohydrate storage: glycogen.
> It holds about 1500kcal and is quickly remobilized within 24-48 hours.

I'm assuming that "excess" implies that glycogen stores are full.
If one consumes less than 180g of glucose per day, then these
reserves are slowly (or quickly) consumed.  That effectively
raises the threshold of excess.  So, if glycogen stores are
empty, that means one can consume an extra 400g of carbs, without
converting much of it to fat.

Those of us who prefer lower-carb implementations of paleodiet
take advantage of this.  Suppose, for example, I consume 80g of
carbs per day, thus creating a glucose deficit of about 100g/day.
The result is that I'm using up stored glycogen at the rate of
about 100g/day, and not needing much gluconeogenesis.  After four
days, I'm out of glucose and I need to burn protein (in reality,
I think, it's a more gradual transition).  At this point I may
experience "cravings" for carbohydrate, and I can in fact afford
to indulge in a "carb-up," knowing that the extra glucose will be
preferentially directed to those glycogen stores.

The advantage of eating this way, especially for those of us who
are insulin resistant, is that blood glucose never gets very
elevated, even during the carb-up.  By eating *less* carbohydrate
than what we actually need in the course of a day, the difference
is made up in a calibrated way on an as-needed basis from
glycogen.

Todd Moody
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