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Carbohydrates are necessary for energy,
just choose the right kind
Carbohydrates defined the simplest way are sugar. One of the
macronutrients along with protein and fats, our bodies get most of our
calories from carbohydrate sources.
Since our bodies
require the right balance of carbohydrates and fats to properly metabolize
food into energy, viewing all ‘carbs’ as bad or following a ‘low-carb’
diet is not a smart or healthy thing. Without the right amount of carbs,
our bodies will turn to our protein stores to burn fuel for energy before
our fat stores, and this can lead to some serious future health problems.
Protein is not utilized by the body as an energy source, at least it’s not
supposed to be. That being said, not all carbs…or sugars…are created equal
and this is where most of the confusion is.
 Many
people for a long time were under the mistaken belief that if the product
stated ‘low-fat’, it was a good way to lose weight. Not necessarily. Many
low-fat products have a lot of sugar added to them to enhance the flavor
robbed from the lack of fat. Unused or unburned sugar
is stored as fat by the body. Remember, sugar as a main fuel source is
made to be burned. Different sugars cause different reactions within the
body. All sugar causes an insulin response within our
bodies upon consumption. Insulin is responsible for ‘sweeping’ the sugar
out of the blood stream and into our cells. Simple
sugars, refined sugars, those mostly found in the ‘goodies’ we eat like
cakes and pies cause a faster higher insulin response and tend to be
stored as fat a whole lot faster if not burned off right away. Hear me
couch potatoes?? But sugar is hidden in other foods
too that many people don’t realize because they’re not necessarily sweet
to the taste. These higher glycemic foods are foods such as white bread,
white rice, white potatoes and some pastas. These
foods cause a similar spiked insulin response. So what? Besides weight
gain, constant barrage of high insulin in the blood stream over time can
eventually lead to the body’s insulin receptors to get tired of ‘answering
the call’. When this happens, sugar stays in the blood
stream at higher levels, hence ‘high blood sugar’ readings that we all
know today can turn into Type II diabetes. High levels of insulin in the
blood can cause hypertension and high levels of sugar in the bloodstream
is like sandpaper rubbing against the artery walls and we all should by
now see the relation to heart disease too. So if carbs
are our main energy source, finding and consuming the ‘good’ ones is
necessary and vital to your health, and may answer a lot of your questions
as to why your body has not dropped weight fast enough or why you are
heading toward Type II diabetes. The good news is that
even if you have been told you have high normal blood sugar, or you have
developed Type II diabetes, these conditions can be prevented and
sometimes reversed by dropping high-glycemic or ‘bad’ carbs and getting
your proper fuel source from the low-glycemic or ‘good’ carbs found mostly
in whole-grain foods that are higher in fiber and most fruits and
vegetables.
These foods do not cause a spiked insulin response and break down slower
giving you a more steady feeling of energy. Some
simple suggestions: drop most or all the goodies (eat once in a while
only); drop bread unless its whole-GRAIN (look for the big pieces of
grains within the bread); drop the baked potatoes and all white rice(eat
brown or wild rice once in awhile); when choosing fruits or vegetables,
choose those with a glycemic index of 50 or less(food listings can be
found on the internet these days, everything can). And
by all means don’t forget to keep on burning that fuel. Get up and MOVE!
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