How long does it take to switch back from fat burner to sugar burner? page

[oxide]

Primal is all about people switching to from sugar burner to fat burner. But once you're a fat burner, how long does it take to revert?
I've been in a depression funk for months, so I've been hitting the sugar pretty hard, chocolate and hard candy especially. (I still avoid wheat to prevent acid reflux). And yet it seems like two pounds is about all I can gain before I'm tired of sugar and I'm not hungry for it and I go back to being primal and the two pounds come back off in a week or so. I don't seem to get any reverse of carb flu or go back to sugar burner.
Has anyone cheated so much that they wacked out their metabolism again? How long did it take, and are there any signs to look for? It's like it's easy to go Primal and actually harder to go back.

[Loneketo]

Primal is all about people switching to from sugar burner to fat burner. But once you're a fat burner, how long does it take to revert?
I've been in a depression funk for months, so I've been hitting the sugar pretty hard, chocolate and hard candy especially. (I still avoid wheat to prevent acid reflux). And yet it seems like two pounds is about all I can gain before I'm tired of sugar and I'm not hungry for it and I go back to being primal and the two pounds come back off in a week or so. I don't seem to get any reverse of carb flu or go back to sugar burner.
Has anyone cheated so much that they wacked out their metabolism again? How long did it take, and are there any signs to look for? It's like it's easy to go Primal and actually harder to go back.

Why would you want to go back?

[Kingofturtles]

I went full primal. Last couple of months have been bad, like 65% primal. Still seems I am a fat burner.

[nixxy]

I don't know, but I am interested. I don't even know if I am a fat burner...

[Dr. Bork Bork]

I think it depends on your individual physiology. It's not really a one size fits all. I can be religiously good for a long period, but the second I have a lot of the wrong carbs I pack on pounds overnight and it takes forever to get them off again.

[jakey]

all you're doing is retaining water and pissing it back out. relax.

[samiamm]

all you're doing is retaining water and pissing it back out. relax.

+1

[oxide]

The two pounds refers to the my normal range not my absolute weight, so it includes water fluctuations. I was thinking more from a hunger and health perspective, not a weight perspective. Even if I load up on sugar I don't feel any cravings to go back to grains, don't get hungry for snacks, don't get acid reflux, etc..

Thanks, kingofturtles. Seems we're having the same observation.

[pklopp]

Just to point out that the macro nutrient that one burns is the macro nutrient that is most abundant. The body's tissues don't selectively go about looking for glucose when there are massive quantities of free fatty acids circulating, and assuming that the cells have mitochondria that are capable of beta oxidation, fat is an excellent energy substrate. Conversely, if you load up on carbohydrates, that's what you will oxidize. Ditto for protein.

People don't realize that nutrient uptake into cells follows a concentration gradient with facilitated diffusion.

A concentration gradient means that molecules will move from areas of high concentration to areas of lower concentration in an attempt to equalize the concentration. So, high concentration of glucose in the blood, lower in the cell? Great, let's move some glucose into cells. This "move some" process is where facilitated diffusion comes into play. Cells actively participate in the equalization of the nutrient concentration gradient ( e.g. the translocation of GLUT4 transporters to the cell membrane ) which makes the process go much quicker, but always in the direction of the concentration gradient, that is, take from the rich and give to the poor.

When it comes to eating carbohydrates, what you are doing is suppressing lipolysis, which lowers the FFA concentration in the plasma. At the same time, you are causing GLUT4 translocation to muscle and fat cell membranes, as well as providing a nice glucose bolus to the system, et voila madame, you are a glucose oxidizing machine.

But wait ... what if you don't eat now overnight? Well, insulin levels will revert to baseline and actually start to decline. This reverses the GLUT4 translocation and lipolysis effects, fat cells start to increase triglyceride flows into the blood stream, with the net result that FFAs in the plasma will increase. If you have cells that require energy due to having drawn down their glucose / glycogen stores, and assuming they have mitochondria, then they are busily oxidizing fats for energy, and assuming that they are getting low on fats, they will start to extract the fat from the blood stream due to ... you guessed it, the concentration gradient, and you are now a "fat burning machine (TM)"!

-PK

[MarissaLinnea]

Just to point out that the macro nutrient that one burns is the macro nutrient that is most abundant. The body's tissues don't selectively go about looking for glucose when there are massive quantities of free fatty acids circulating, and assuming that the cells have mitochondria that are capable of beta oxidation, fat is an excellent energy substrate. Conversely, if you load up on carbohydrates, that's what you will oxidize. Ditto for protein.

People don't realize that nutrient uptake into cells follows a concentration gradient with facilitated diffusion.

A concentration gradient means that molecules will move from areas of high concentration to areas of lower concentration in an attempt to equalize the concentration. So, high concentration of glucose in the blood, lower in the cell? Great, let's move some glucose into cells. This "move some" process is where facilitated diffusion comes into play. Cells actively participate in the equalization of the nutrient concentration gradient ( e.g. the translocation of GLUT4 transporters to the cell membrane ) which makes the process go much quicker, but always in the direction of the concentration gradient, that is, take from the rich and give to the poor.

When it comes to eating carbohydrates, what you are doing is suppressing lipolysis, which lowers the FFA concentration in the plasma. At the same time, you are causing GLUT4 translocation to muscle and fat cell membranes, as well as providing a nice glucose bolus to the system, et voila madame, you are a glucose oxidizing machine.

But wait ... what if you don't eat now overnight? Well, insulin levels will revert to baseline and actually start to decline. This reverses the GLUT4 translocation and lipolysis effects, fat cells start to increase triglyceride flows into the blood stream, with the net result that FFAs in the plasma will increase. If you have cells that require energy due to having drawn down their glucose / glycogen stores, and assuming they have mitochondria, then they are busily oxidizing fats for energy, and assuming that they are getting low on fats, they will start to extract the fat from the blood stream due to ... you guessed it, the concentration gradient, and you are now a "fat burning machine (TM)"!

-PK

This is the best way I have ever seen it explained, great job!