Carbs into fat...presto!

[Budiak]

How long exactly does it take for an unused carb to be turned into fat? Overnight while I sleep?

If I eat abig bowl of oatmeal, but I'm not able to workout for 5 hours afterwards, are those calories just chilling in my body until they're used, are they stored? What?

I need to know these things. Maybe if somebody could give me the life cycle of a carb in the body, it may be of some use to me..and I am quite generous in rewarding those with the right information. I offer you my protection.

I just had a bowl of cereal and a can of tuna, what happens by the time I workout in...4 hours?

[Mark]

An interesting question. The answer to a certain extent depends upon the type of carb, what else is eaten with it and the effect it has on your insulin levels.

Low glycemic carbs such as green vegetables convert to sugar very slowly and do not cause a spike in insulin levels so that there is virtually no chance of them becoming fat.

If you eat a high glycemic carb like sugar with fat it will slow down digestion and cause a slower release of sugar into the bloodstream and thus less insulin.

Insulin is relevant because it shoves fat into the body's cells.

Ironically cake has a lower glycemic index than bread due to the fats in the cake.

Protein will also slow digestion so the tuna is a good idea. The bowl of cereal is not such a good idea unless it was something like oatmeal.

A lot of simpe carbs before bedtime is also a bad idea because you won't be burning them off so they can turn to fat pretty quickly.

You don't have to be asleep for unused carbs to turn to fat.

A high glycemic carbohydrate like dextrose will raise your insulin level within minutes so the fat process can happen very quickly.

Of course if your muscles are short of glycogen a lot of the sugars will go there first rather than being stored as fat.

Between 20 and 50 g of dextrose can cause a significant hike in insulin - which is why you find that creatine formulas have this much of the stuff in them.

I hope I have given you some help.