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Carbohydrates Carbs get a bad rap these days. Everyone is always "cutting the carbs." Truth is, your body needs carbs. In fact, carbs play an important role in weight loss! You just need to know which carbs to eat and which to avoid. Here's the deal: carbs are rated with something called a glycemic index. This is just a fancy way of rating how quickly the carbs turn into glucose (blood sugar). The higher the number, the faster the carb turns into glucose - which is bad. Think of it like logs burning in a fireplace. You don't use lots of small kindling in your fireplace all night - that would burn through a ton of wood quickly. You want big, slow-burning logs... just like you want big, slow-burning complex carbohydrate molecules. They take a long time to burn in your furnace. Simple Carbs are Bad Simple carbs like white bread (highly refined and processed), white rice, and candy break down and convert to glucose fast and easy. That's why you're hungry shortly after eating them. Come on... you know you've eaten tons of rice at a Chinese restaurant and then felt hungry half an hour later. Your fuel burned up quickly because you ate a lot of simple carbs. When you finish a meal filled with simple carbs, your body is left with a ton of blood sugar (glucose) that it doesn't know what do to with. Some of this glucose will be used as energy immediately - dependingon how active you are. Some of this glucose is converted into glycogen. Glycogen is a form of sugar that your body can store in your muscles and liver for "quick energy" in the near future. Glycogen is depleted when you exercise - which is why your muscles feel fatigued 30 to 60 minutes after starting a workout. Unfortunately, your muscles cannot store a whole lot of glycogen in them. Whatever glucose your body cannot store in your muscles as glycogen gets stored as... you guessed it... body fat. Complex Carbs are Good Complex carbs, on the other hand, work differently. Complex carbs like whole wheat bread take a long time to break down into glucose. Your body has to expend a good deal of energy to break them down. They keep you satisfied longer (they keep your blood glucose levels up for a longer period of time). Since complex carbs take longer to break down, the sugar isn't released into your blood as quickly. This allows your body to burn off it's stored body-fat for energy instead of utilizing that rush of glucose that comes from simple carbs. Whole grains still contain their outer shells, and look darker than more highly "refined" grains (well, some white bread is artificially colored white too, but that's a different story). Whole grain bread is better for you than white bread. Whole grain oatmeal is better than instant oatmeal. Brown rice is better than white rice. Whole grain pasta is better than regular pasta (actually I love spinach pasta!) Avoid the highly refined "sugary" kids breakfast cereals. You know the ones (I'm not mentioning any names here so I don't get in trouble). How Many Carbs Should I Eat? First of all, make sure you stretch your carbs out throughout the whole day. Don't just eat one high-carb meal and figure you're done for the day. Also, if you're going to exercise, try to eat your carbs 30 to 60 minutes before your workout. This way your body can take those carbs, start making glycogen (store muscle sugar) for your workout. You'll also burn off the excess glucose in your blood. I like to eat a Powerbar about a half hour before I play softball. This way I don't feel run down by the 5th inning. Avoid carbs late at night before bed. I know, I'm a sucker for a bowl of oatmeal or cereal before bed myself. Try to get a good supply of carbs in the morning (like cereal or oatmeal for breakfast), some carbs with lunch (like whole-wheat bread for your sandwich), and then a healthy amount for dinner. If you're on a healthy weight-loss diet (say 1800 calories per day), you should be getting between 40% and 60% of your daily calories from carbohydrates - preferably complex carbs. If you're eating 1800 calories a day, you should eat 900 calories worth of carbs. Since there are 4 calories for every gram of carbs, that equates to about 225 grams of carbs. This is a good measure for a 200+ pound man looking to lose weight. Good v. Bad Carbs
I have starchy vegetables listed as OK carbs because they're good for you, and are a great energy source, but watch the calories. Sweet potatoes and yams are very good for you. Again, you don't have to totally avoid these bad carbs. I love green peas and sweet potatos. Just remember that they're going to unleash a rush of glucose into your blood stream. Plan on working out after your starchy carb meal. High v. Low Glycemic Carbs High-glycemic carbs produce a sharp rise and subsequent fall in blood glucose levels. They are also low in fiber. You should avoid eating lots of these foods if possible: soft drinks, white rice, white bread, honey, french fries, cooked potatos of all kinds, jams, sugary breakfast cereals, crackers, corn, corn flakes, puffed rice, puffed wheat, raisins, orange juice, corn chips, bananas. Low-glycemic carbs release sugar into your bloodstream more gradually: whole wheat bread, sourdough bread, legumes, lentils, chick peas, split peas, kindey beans, white beans, soybeans, barley, whole-grain rye bread, barley, high-fiber whole-grain cereals, whole-grain pasta, peanuts, skim milk, yogurt, apples, apricots, brown rice. Rick's Carb Tips A low-fat, high-carb diet will not boost your metabolism. Some people think that if they strip all of the fat from their diet and eat lots of carbs (pasta, rice, bread) that they will crank up their body's metabolism and burn off calories faster. While it is true that you will gain a minute amount of metabolic activity from the carbs this way, it does not offset the extra calories you're eating - nor your body's need for fat. You don't need to add carbs - just cut calories. Yes, you can get fat eating carbs if you don't watch the calories! Some people actually think that carbs cannot be converted into fat. This causes lots of people to actually go nuts with "fat free" products like cookies and chips. Remember, fat-free doesn't mean calorie-free, and these products have lots of calories in them. Eating a low-fat, high-carb diet actually turns your body into a fat-making machine. Your body knows it needs fat because you're not getting any in your diet, so it will take those carb calories and manufacture saturated fat to store in your body. You need carbs. Don't go on one of these crazy diets that has you eliminating carbs completely from your diet. Your body needs carbs. Your brain needs carbs to function properly. As with all things, eat a healthy amount of carbs, and just keep an eye on your calories. Cut off the carbs when you're done exercising. Here's the deal with carbs... your body needs carbohydrates as a fuel source, so when you're done exercising for the day, cut back on the carbs. Try to eat the majority of your carbs for breakfast and lunch. Have a moderate amount with dinner unless you exercise in the evening. For example, have a whole-wheat cereal for breakfast; some brown rice with lunch; a sweet potato for dinner. After you go for your post-dinner walk, stop eating carbs. You don't need any more fuel for the evening. If you have excess carbs in your system, the excess energy will more likely be stored as fat.
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