Many of you have certainly heard of a popular 40-30-30 diet. But what exactly does 40-30-30 means?
A 40-30-30 diet is a balanced diet based on 40% carbohydrates, 30% protein and 30% fat. With the proper balance of carbohydrates, proteins, and fats, you allow your body to burn stored body fat and make significant progress in losing excess pounds in the form of fat tissue. It is important to know that the key to losing unwanted pounds is to be able to access and burn off your body's fat stores.
Eating the right balance of carbohydrates, protein, and fat creates a hormonal response that leads to burning stored fat for energy. Any food that you eat works for or against the two major hormones, insulin and glucagon. These two hormones work together to control the level of sugar (glucose) in the blood.
The human body wants blood glucose (blood sugar) maintained in a very narrow range. Insulin and glucagon are the hormones which make this happen by functioning as a push-pull system: insulin's main function is to keep sugar level in the blood from being too high, while glucagon main function is to keep the sugar level from being too low.
The 40-30-30 ratio of carbohydrates, proteins, and fats sets the body up to burn fat instead of sugars (carbohydrates) as the primary source of fuel. This is done by regulating the amount of insulin the body produces. It is important to know that fats do not make the body fat, insulin does.
When you eat a lot of carbohydrates, your insulin level goes up, signaling your body to store fat. While insulin assures that cells receive the necessary blood sugar, it also inhibits fat burning, converting almost half of your dietary carbohydrate directly into body fat. And this is certainly not what we want. We want to burn fat, not store it. By eating a 40-30-30 balance, insulin level stays low while glucagon level rises, signaling the body to mobilize fat for fuel.
By controlling the glucagon-insulin ratio in the body, the 40-30-30 diet produces wonderful effects. It promotes long-term weight loss as the body burns excess fat and is a must for anyone who thinks they are too fat. There are also some positive side effects like energy level increase, stronger immune system, increased mental focus, decreased food cravings... Once you experience what this balanced diet can do for you, you will never look at food the same way again.
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