If you pay attention to mainstream media you have hopefully noticed awful things regularly showing up like massive amounts of children with type 2 diabetes, the obesity epidemic, or the insane amounts of sugar we ingest on a daily basis. Excessive carbohydrate intake could literally collapse the entire US of A’s healthcare system. I am not kidding you.
Watch this video if you don’t believe me: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPujtrae_WM&t=1s
With all of the doom and gloom in the media paired with a constant barrage of misinformation on nutrition, it is hard to decide which carbs are the “right” choice. Hopefully, this article gives you some insight into making an informed decision for you and your family.
We all need carbs, they are a necessary part of life. Even the newly popularized ketogenic diet includes carbohydrates, just in much more limited amounts. There may be keyboard warriors reading this thinking well what about people who eat only meat?! They don’t eat carbs and they’re fine… The human body is so good at surviving that is has figured out a way to convert fats and proteins into carbohydrates through a process called “gluconeogenesis”. So my point stands, you need carbs people!
Carbohydrates fuel your brain constantly as well as ALL of the activities you do throughout the day.
How do I decide what type of carbs to eat? How much should I eat?
When we look at the obesity epidemic under a microscope it is interesting to find the cause and solution are both incredibly simple.
Cause: sitting around and not moving paired with a high intake of refined carbohydrates like store bought bread, cereals, bagels, candy, ice cream, and cookies.
Solution: move your body 5-6 times per week and eat vegetables, fruit, nuts, seeds, unprocessed grains, beans/legumes, and ditch the sugar.
See, I told you it’s quite simple.
What happens to my body when I eat refined carbohydrates? Why is eating a bagel any different than a vegetable stirfry?
The bagel has the same effect on your body as sticking a garden hose in your mouth and turning it on full blast. In this case the water is sugar. Whereas eating a vegetable stirfry is like slowly drinking a glass of room temperature water. Refreshing, healthy, and just what the doctor ordered.
Blood sugar and insulin levels spike rapidly when ingesting refined carbs that are high in sugar. These foods are also high on the “GI Scale”. This is why you can eat so many slices of pizza! Your body doesn’t stay full for long and it really feels like you need to eat more to satisfy your needs. Foods low on the GI scale like yams or steel cut oats are nearly impossible to over eat. When was the last time you heard someone say “man I ate five bowls of oatmeal for breakfast!” Low glycemic foods are incredibly filling and give the body a level supply of energy rather than a rapid high. Think about fueling up on bio-diesel compared to nitrous-oxide. Being a diesel burner isn’t such a bad thing!
Our bodies only have so much storage capacity for glucose (the carbs you just ate) and once the liver and your muscles have taken their fill the rest of the pizza you ate is going to be converted to stored energy. That is a really nice way of saying body fat. This is where the massive issue lies in today’s society.
Because the human body is so resilient to death it can keep up with added body fat, high blood sugar levels, and insulin spikes over many, many, many years. This by no means dictates health it just displays the durability of the human body. Eventually though, something will give.
Moving forward if you wish to feel satisfied after a meal, avoid crashing, and would like to change the way you look and feel here are a few simple steps.
1) Limit sugar intake OR remove it completely.
2) Eat only whole foods and ditch the processed stuff.
3) If you absolutely must eat something sugary do so immediately after a STRENUOUS workout. Not after a 15 minute walk.
4) Eat vegetables with each meal and limit fruit intake to 2-3 servings a day. A serving is one cup.
5) Move your body 5-6 times per week. Ex: CrossFit classes, running, biking, swimming, hiking, yoga classes
6) Try one new recipe each week to spice up your carb game! Eating raw veg can get really boring so the importance of learning to cook increases on a whole food diet.
Stay tuned for next weeks Doctor approved pizza recipe!
All the best,
Coach Tyler
