When you need a lasting mental boost to focus or if you need to run five miles, munch on a whole wheat blueberry bagel. If you need a quick pick-me-up, spread melted chocolate on a breakfast waffle. Sugar from carbohydrate-containing foods fuels your brain and your daily activities. If you are following a low-carb or a no-carb diet, your liver will degrade protein in your body to make glucose for your brain.
Significance
Carbohydrates include the simple sugars found in fruits, dairy products and beer, as well as the more complex sugars found in the starch and fibers of grains, tubers, roots, legumes and vegetables. Except for fiber, all other forms of carbohydrates are eventually degraded to glucose in your blood. Carbohydrates that are digested quickly, such as table sugar, honey, fruit syrups and refined grains, provide fast energy for your brain and muscles. Carbohydrates that are digested slowly, like whole wheat bread, most fruits and skim milk, give you lasting energy for your brain and muscles.
Considerations
Carbohydrates are an essential component of a healthy lifestyle. Inactivity, high-fat foods and excessive intake of refined carbohydrates produce many of the negative physical manifestations commonly associated with carbohydrate consumption, such as being overweight. If most of what you eat is boxed, bagged or from a restaurant, chances are those foods are low in fiber and high in unhealthy fats, simple sugars and refined grains. Foods high in fiber provide bulk so that you feel full for a longer time, and these foods are slowly digested. This means your blood sugar does not drop lower than your pre-meal level and you need less food to fill you up. Your body also produces less insulin, the fat-storing hormone, when you eat a smaller percentage of carbohydrates compared with filling your plate with rice, breads and pastas.
Misconceptions
Very low-carb and no-carb diets are not sustainable and ineffective for losing your stored body fat over the long term. Without carbohydrates, you cannot exercise vigorously enough or long enough to burn a significant amount of body fat. If you are a moderately active adult exercising to maintain your health and cognitive abilities or to lose body fat, you should eat 45 percent to 55 percent of your total daily calories from carbohydrates; increase your physical activity to lose weight faster instead of lowering your carbohydrate intake. You must eat fewer calories per day and burn more calories from exercise to lose body fat instead of simply decreasing how much carbs you eat. If you are a very active adult looking to improve your performance, eat closer to 65 percent of your daily calories from carbohydrates, ensuring you eat plenty of calories.
Type and Timing
Refined carbohydrates, or fast-digesting carbs such as white rice, white bread, potatoes and fresh pineapple, are excellent only when consumed immediately after a training session or workout. If you must have a homemade chocolate chip cookie or a homemade muffin, eat these treats as part of your post-workout meal. Muscles are like sponges after exercise, soaking up the glucose you used during your workout. For your other meals, you should eat whole grain or slow-digesting carbs like whole wheat pasta, whole wheat bread, apples and oranges.
References
- "ACSM's Health & Fitness Journal"; Obesity: America's Growing Epidemic; Shelby Rush, M.D.; November/December 2004
- "Exercise Physiology, Energy, Nutrition & Human Performance"; William McArdle, Frank Katch and Victor Katch; 2007
- "Strength and Conditioning Journal"; The Glycemic Index and Weight Control; R. Paul Gustafson, Ph.D.; June 2008
- "ACSM's Health & Fitness Journal'; Carbohydrates; Dixie Thompson, Ph.D.; November/December 2008
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