Carbohydrates, And The Importance of Keeping Them Down

It would be fair to say that there has been plenty of debate around carbohydrates over the years. On one hand, they can be a Godsend for the body – providing it with more energy than any other food type. However, if it’s abused, it can soon turn sour and carbs can be one of the main problems in a lot of people’s diets.

In truth, a lot of the problems surround basic misunderstandings. There are multiple types of carbohydrates and the fact they provide such different results to the body perhaps understandably makes a lot of people use them incorrectly.

Well, this chapter is going to address such problems. We will take a look at what carbohydrates are, how they can be both good and bad as well as how you should look to lower your intake of the latter if you are to stay on track with your dietary goals.

How do carbohydrates affect the body?

Like a lot of food types, carbohydrates are hardly simple. To start with, there are two types; good and bad. The former is derived from the likes of fruits and vegetables, while bad carbs are typically processed foods.

Some will also class these as simple and complex carbohydrates but for the purposes of this chapter, let’s stick with our initial classifications.

It’s quite easy to get caught up in a lot of misconceptions about this food type because of the good and bad varieties that are available. A lot of emphasis is placed on the bad carbs, but if we turn to the ‘good’ side it’s clear that they can provide your body with energy for day-to-day activities.

As well as this, if used correctly, they can prevent your body from tapping into protein as an energy source – and reducing the effect this has on your muscle growth.

These good carbohydrates will allow your blood sugar level to slowly rise meaning that those sharp crashes are never experienced. It’s no coincidence that carbohydrates of this ilk also tend to contain a lot more vitamins and minerals.

Unfortunately a lot of us struggle with using carbohydrates correctly. Most of us will turn to the bad carbohydrates, and this is where problems arise. In contrast to the good variety, these will cause huge spikes in your blood sugar levels.

The consequence, at least from a weight perspective, is that your body will produce more insulin. As this is a hormone which can store more fat, we don’t need to say too much about the results from a ‘weight loss perspective’.

What foods contain ‘good’ carbohydrates?

We’ve touched on this a little already, but if you really want to tap into ‘good’ carbohydrates this might be really useful.

In short, you need to be avoiding any processed foods, as these tend to cause the spikes and all of the other disastrous results that we have spoken about so far. They contain minimal nutritional value and if we were to coin some common examples, foods as basic as white flour and sugar are prime candidates and can wreak havoc with your body’s system.

Instead, vegetables need to be high up on your list, alongside whole grains, fruits, legumes, quinoa and foods like sweet potatoes.

Keeping your carbohydrates to a minimum

Hopefully the message has been loud and clear so far; you need to limit the amount of bad carbohydrates that enter your body.

In fact, even though fruits are classed as a good carb, the fact that these contain so much sugar means that you should still exercise caution. Vegetables are by far and away the safest option.

There’s no doubt that a low-carb diet can really boost your fat loss attempts. You’ll be immediately pushing your body towards fat as a fuel source – which is the ultimate aim.

There are further reasons why a reduction of carbohydrates should be on the menu as well. The insulin spikes caused by carbs have been associated with spikes in hunger – meaning that you are much likely to snack if this is one of your primary food sources. By reducing the amount of carbs, those dangerous snacking periods are long gone.

However, don’t by any stretch try and cut out carbs completely. As we’ve already talked about, the aim is to top up your diet with good carbs. If you cut them out of the picture entirely, it will make you utterly unhealthy and severely low in energy.

So, how can you reduce the number of bad carbohydrates in your diet? Really, it boils down to smart choices.

For example, if you are about to eat a soup, replacing the rice or noodles with vegetables is the quickest way to eradicate those bad carbohydrates and replace them with good ones.

A simple substitution with whole wheat tortilla wraps as opposed to breads for sandwiches is another solution. Or, what about ditching the potatoes for butternut squash? As you can see, it’s very easy to switch foods here, and still keep the ‘principles’ of a meal relatively similar.