Why you can gain pounds overnight

If you consume more calories than you expend and the food you have consumed contains white carbohydrates that are quickly broken down into glucose molecules. These are not required for energy production and are “stored” by the body. There are many types of sugars namely: monosaccharide, disaccharide and polysaccharide. Glucose is a monosaccharide and the excess is stored after being converted to the polysaccharide glycogen which is essentially many glucose molecules bound together. Glycogen is stored in the liver and muscles.

The other difference between the two can be best explained by knowing the process of glucose metabolism. When a person eats food, the food components will be broken down by the body into simpler sugars termed glucose. If there is an excess of glucose in the system then it will be converted and then stored as glycogen Each glycogen molecule is made up of a protein core, surrounded by glucose subunits.

Now here’s the interesting part; each gram of glycogen stored in your body is bound to 3 or 4 grams of water. Glycogen is the main culprit behind sudden bouts of weight loss and weight gain, especially during a diet. The reason you can lose 10 or more pounds of weight in the first week of a diet – especially a low carbohydrate one – is because you’re burning through your body’s glycogen stores and not replenishing them.

The reason why you can seem to gain an inordinate amount of weight from a white carbohydrate rich meal is largely because you’ve “carbed up” and filled your body’s glycogen reserves.