It is pretty common to hear people say that they are following a 'low carb diet' or they have 'cut out carbs'. Generally this is done in an effort to lose weight. Carbohydrates get a bad rap for being responsible for making people fat when that is not really a true statement on it's own. Eating too many carbs, as for any kind of food, will cause you to gain weight.
In truth, carbohydrates are an essential component of what we should be eating each day. If we don’t eat enough carbohydrates we will find ourselves running low on energy pretty fast, what people often fail to realise is that not all carbohydrates are created equal.
I don’t disagree that the exclusion of highly processed carbohydrates from what we eat is generally a good thing but a wholesale ban on all things carbohydrate can lead to more harm than good being done to our bodies.
To put it simply carbohydrates are converted to sugar (glucose) and stored in our muscles as (glycogen) ready to be used as our energy supply. When we eat too much carbohydrate we end up with more glycogen stores than the body can use which will ultimately end up being stored as fat and lead to weight gain.
However, if we don’t have enough carbohydrates in our diet our bodies find it difficult to operate in the way they are designed to. This is largely because they won’t have enough of the stored energy that they need to function properly. Not enough carbohydrates in your diet will mean that your body will become reliant on amino acids to create the glucose to keep you running. Amino acids are normally stored as proteins, so in this case your body looks to ‘feed’ on your muscles to keep it going.
The hormones that control your metabolism are also regulated by carbohydrates. If you aren’t eating enough carbohydrate it is likely that your metabolism will slow down and start to conserve its fat resources.
Those common low carbohydrate diets suddenly start to look more than a little unappealing because to put it simply, over time they can lead to:
- Low energy levels
- Muscle wastage
- Sluggish metabolism and fat storage
It is important to note here that these things won’t happen instantly, from one day to the next, they are general outcomes for having a below normal carbohydrate intake over a period of time. Let’s be honest, with low energy levels it is not unusual for any of us to turn to comfort foods to try and energise ourselves. It’s probably more sensible to have that sandwich now than eat a whole loaf of bread later.
As a general guide for the average person, your carbohydrate intake should represent around 50% of what you eat. For people who undertake specific types of training with specific goals then there are variations on this for muscle building, fat loss, endurance, etc. However, what is doubly important within this is the quality of those carbohydrates.
This is where you want to be cutting out the processed stuff and replacing them with fresh fruits and vegetables and wholegrains. If something is a manufactured low carb alternative for something that is traditionally high carbohydrate you probably shouldn’t be eating that either because what sort of processes did they use to take the carbohydrates out I ask you and then what did they replace them with? It’s here that eating each day becomes so simple.
- A bowl of porridge or muesli for breakfast (oats are one of your best sources of complex carbohydrates)
- A chicken salad sandwich or big bowl of salad for lunch
- Meat and three veg for dinner, how very retro.
- With a few high quality ‘snacks’ thrown in throughout the day.
Bingo, you have your ‘meal plan’ whether you are looking to loose weight, gain muscle or maintain where you are right now. It’s not complicated, nor is choosing the carbohydrates for inclusion in your diet. As a general guideline choose brown over white because they have more nutrients in them, are less processed and take longer to be absorbed into the body, allowing them to do a better job of what they need to do. Just remember, that because they are brown you don’t get to have more of them. The calorific value is generally about the same irrespective of whether it is white or brown. Good choices include:
- Brown Rice
- Sweet Potatoes
- Oats
- Wholegrain cereals and pasta
- Fruits & Vegetables
- Beans
- Wholemeal and rye breads
Funnily enough, they are all the things you used to see on that eat most part of the food pyramid. Think about portion control and high quality and you are set.
Have you ever followed a low carbohydrate diet? Feel free to share your experience and thoughts, I'd love to hear youor take on carbohydrates.
Tatum xx
