What % of carbs are stored as fat for the average American?

[stylesbjj**]

Regular Americans seem to eat a lot of simple carbs and dont' exercise much. I would guess most of the carbs they're consuming are going to be stored as fat. I was wondering if there are any studies out there that have stats on roughly how many of these carbs are stored as fat. I know that this varies a lot from person to person, but I would still like to know a decent ball park figure.

 

[Vedic]

That's almost impossible to say.

 

[arctic82]

A ball park figure is that your liver holds some 150g of "carbs" and the rest is stored elsewhere, to mucles or converted to fat. Ofcourse your body starts using those "carbs" from the liver when blood glucose levels are low so that glucagon is being secreted. If the liver is full and more "carbs" are ingested in an enviroment that does not readily route the carbs to muscle's storages or if they too are full (to my knowledge muscles dont give glucose back to bloodstream as energy, they are burnd there during intense enough effort) the liver transforms the extra carbs to triglycerides which then are used for energy or stored to the fat cells.

The amount of "carbs" in the muscles varies by the amount of muscle one has. (1% of mucle mass is glycogen)

This is a simplistic over view, if anybody has something to add or wants to correct me feel free to do so.

 

[stylesbjj**]

Carbs are stored as fat not only when the liver is full but also if you consume too many simple carbohydrates at time, yeah? Also, if a person is not doing much physical activity (and not using much glucose), would their liver remain at a full or near full status?

 

[Vedic]

Anything that is consumed in mass quantities at once can add to adipose, carb,fat protein, doesn't matter.

The other is up in the air. Glycogen doesn't delete to the point or at the rate that most people around here think it does.

 

[arctic82]

Carbs are stored as fat not only when the liver is full but also if you consume too many simple carbohydrates at time, yeah? Also, if a person is not doing much physical activity (and not using much glucose), would their liver remain at a full or near full status?

Well I guess that when you eat alot of suger at one time your blood sugar levels rise rapidly and insulin "over compensates" to level the blood sugar to tolerable levels. If it didn't do that youd end up in a coma. The exess sugars are stored where they can be stored. if your muscles and liver are depleted then they are filled and the rest is turn'd to triglycerides. The liver does not stay full, even when not active, your organs and brain will need it for energy even thou most of your ****bolism is burning fat if your not straining yourself at that moment enough so that your body needs to tap into the storages of muscle and liver more. And ofcourse if your not constantly putting carbs in your mouth the glycogen in liver is used to keep the blood sugar levels stable (cos brains and other organs are constantly consuming the sugart from the blood)
But Im under the impression that when glucagon is present also stored fat is also ****bolized,
not oly the sugars from liver.

And like was said above, it takes alot to empty all your muscles. Liver glycogen is much more easily depleted. Also the reason why fructose ( the sugar from fruits) rises blood sugar levels more slowly is due to the fact that it must be cut to simpler sugars in the liver before it enters the blood as glucose.

But the typical "signs" of slight headache and tiredness are not always the sign that your body is low on "carbs". Usually its a sign of low blood sugar levels that are induced by eating too much sugar. When you eat a lot of simple carbs at once your bloodsugar starts to crash after the initial rise. And usually it drops below the level you started with. This makes you hungry and then you eat more while never really using whats stored already, thats a sure way to get fat.

Disclaimer: rough generalisation, individual needs not discussed.