When you eat refined carbohydrates (such as a candy bar or a bowl of pad thai), your body breaks down those carbs into simple sugars, primarily glucose. Your pancreas reacts to the abundance of glucose in your bloodstream by releasing the hormone insulin. Insulin’s mission is to escort that glucose into your body’s cells, which use the glucose to replicate their DNA, divide, and make new cells. Some glucose also ends up in your liver, where it’s converted into glycogen, a form of energy your muscles rely on.
