Tasty Tuesdays - Carbohydrates
Today we are talking about Carbohydrates. I think most people are somewhat afraid of Carbohydrates, because at some point, we’ve all heard about how carbs make you fat. This is by far, one of the biggest misconceptions that the majority of people have about carbohydrates. Eliminating carbs, doing your best to not eat bread, or whatever fad diet you can think of, most of these ideas are an attempt to reduce the amount of carbs you intake. If there was anything to learn from last week’s post on Macronutrients, it was that not only does your body do best when balancing all of your macronutrients, it prefers carbohydrates the most!
Carbohydrates will always be the body’s most preferred source of energy. If you can learn to use this to your advantage, you can optimize your carbohydrate intake (and therefore, your body’s energy levels) and enjoy all the tasty benefits! Here’s how -
Start with the right kinds of carbohydrates. The reason why most people think that all carbohydrates will make them gain weight is because they only look at one specific kind of carbohydrate. Not all carbohydrates are created equal! The kind of carbs you want to stay away from are called simple carbohydrates. While simple carbohydrates provide quick energy for the body, they commonly contain low amounts of essential nutrients and cause your body to get hungry sooner. Simple carbohydrates are naturally found in fruits and milk, and the refined simple carbohydrates are our classic processed foods like cookies, candy, and soda.
Explore the world of good carbs. Now that we know what to stay away from, let’s look at what we should be eating. The good kind of carbohydrates are called complex carbohydrates. These carbohydrates are packed with good essential nutrients and digest in the body much slower than simple carbohydrates, leaving you satisfied for longer. You can find complex carbohydrates in grain-products (like pasta or rice), certain vegetables, and legumes.
One takeaway from this - the simple carbohydrates found in fruit are not necessarily bad for you. As with anything, they need to be balanced with a higher concentration of complex carbohydrates. For instance: does your body feel more satisfied an hour after eating an apple or a bowl of rice? Both can be a good way to increase energy, but the circumstances in which they do so are different.
It can be difficult to navigate all the different kinds of carbohydrates, which ones are the best complex carbohydrates, which simple carbohydrates are okay to have, and I’d love to help you along the way! If you would like to book a nutrition session with me, use the link below and we can figure out what carbohydrates your body needs.