Super Fitness Health BlogThe Reality of Carbohydrates
The word “carbohydrate” has received a lot of debate in the past decade. The idea that eating carbs would lead to weight gain has been taken as the truth for many years, just as fat was given a bad following a couple generations back. This is why some restaurants have been very successful with burgers and chicken wrapped in lettuce leaves, rather than served on bread. In many cases the burger inside the lettuce is saturated with fat, but many people believe they are shaving off calories and eating healthy just by not eating the bread.
The problem is carbohydrates are clearly not the dietary devil we all should be avoiding. Carbs are very important to a healthy body, and you are often better off eating whole carbs than going with low carb foods with unnatural ingredients. Here are some simple realities about carbohydrates that show why you need to consume them on a regular basis:
* The human body needs carbohydrates to boost energy for daily life and exercise. Carbohydrates can be efficiently broken down into energy much better than protein, which is why protein is used more for tissue and muscle repair and growth.
* Not all carbohydrates are equivalent. You can separate carbohydrates into three main categories: simple carbs, complex carbs, and starches. Complex carbohydrates are fiber foods that are needed by the body to sustain energy levels. Starches and simple carbohydrates are not nearly as healthy and can be bad to your health.
* One of the best ways to identify healthy carbohydrates from unhealthy carbohydrates is to look at ratings established by the Glycemic index. This index assigns individual foods a number rating that corresponds to how much that food elevates blood sugar after consumption. You will get benefits for fish oil weight loss from consuming carbohydrates with the lowest Glycemic Index numerical assignments.
Obviously, there is more nutritional value in a carbohydrate than most people want to admit. In order to increase energy to get through your day and a maintain a fast metabolism for efficient weight maintenance, you have to eat carbohydrates throughout the day. Many of the people who followed severely low carbohydrate diets over the past generation years are now finding that their metabolisms are not as efficient as expected at their age and maintaining a healthy weight is harder than ever.
It is a common flow of events for someone to endure years dieting only to realize suddenly that they have messed up their metabolism more than they have benefitted their weight. Losing weight becomes more difficult with a inefficient metabolism because the body does not make use of as many calories throughout the day.
The human body needs carbohydrates to be healthy. If you are very active and move around a lot, then you have an even greater need for carbohydrates. The trick is to control your carb consumption to the right amounts, at the most appropriate time of day, and the most energizing types of carbohydrates.
Carbs in the Healthiest Portions
While carbohydrates are crucial in your diet, you do not need to take in large amounts at every meal. Those who are not losing weight can easily go to the opposite extreme by consuming far more carbs than their body can use. Ideally, you will take in smaller portions of healthy carbs on a consistent basis throughout the day, pulling back toward the end when you become less active.
Just as you put gasoline in your vehicle to get around town, you need carbohydrates to fuel your body to get through life. Most people do not add to their gas tanks daily. You only buy gasoline when the gas starts to run toward empty. The same thing occurs in your body with carbs, though you do need them on a daily basis but not hourly. In order to prevent your tank (energy) from running low, you need to provide small amounts of carbohydrates throughout the day.
A Time for Carbs
Try to select carbohydrates in the morning to get your energy flowing, and then every three or four hours throughout the day. Try not to eat big loads of carbohydrates unless it is prior to a long, intense workout session or a very movement-heavy part of your day.
If you don’t move much on a typical day, then you will have less demand for carbohydrates. If you are participating in intense exercise sessions, consider bulking your carbs to the few hours prior to your workout. A couple hours before bedtime or your less active evening routine you should cut back on your carbohydrates.
Healthier Carbs
The best carbohydrates are low on the Glycemic Index, and tend to be very concentrated in fiber. Select vegetables and raw leafy greens with 100% whole grains.
see also fish oil weight loss
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