What’s the deal with Carbs?
Carbs! Such a scary word for so many people.
Tell me, how many of you have wanted to lose a little bit of weight or ‘tone up’ and have cut so-called ‘carbs’ out of their diet? I know I have.
It makes me so sad that so many people leave the healthy carbohydrates out of their diets.
*According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2.3 million Australians were reported to be on a diet of sort, with 19% of 15-30 year olds following a ‘low carb diet’*
In fact, glucose is the preferred energy source for your body (running on fat is good but a different story for another time). Your brain specifically takes around 130g of glucose per day, regardless of whether you are extremely sick or have incredibly low blood glucose your brain will take those last bits of glucose to fuel it. Crazy hey!
Those 130g of glucose, does not mean you need loads of carbs to survive, your body is clever to break down some protein and glycogen stores to get the GLUCOSE for the brain. However feeding your body quality carbohydrates will help in the balance of the body’s mechanisms.
Let me tell you I was once pretty scared of this macronutrient myself, with this message of ‘carbs are bad’, constantly being pushed by society, family and friends. It took me a while to start to feel comfortable eating enough carbs. Now with moderation, I include carbohydrates and it has made me happier, while providing me with more nutrients and energy to combat fatigue.
Can we please take away this stigma of “carbs are the evil”?
The Not So Happy Carbs
However, with that said, there are some types, not so good for health.
Let’s just reevaluate what those carbs are:
REFINED carbohydrates!
Yep THESE are the problems:
- White bread
- Pies
- Biscuits
- Pastries
- Cakes
Those HIGHLY processed foods, in which most have high GI’s. This high GI is what will spike the sugar levels and then cause a horrible sugar crash, leading to fatigue, and cravings for more of these simple carbs.
In addition to this, there is often little to no nutritional value to most of these types of food. So instead of fuelling our body, we are actually damaging it!
There are studies completed with reference to Western style diets, which are typically defined as high in refined carbohydrates. These articles demonstrate the negative impacts on brain health with diets high in refined carbs and sugars. One article compared those following a Western diet to have a significantly higher type of decline in brain health, an issue with dementia and Alzheimer’s development.
But! It’s ok I am here to tell you, you can have carbs, I know crazy right!
The Happy Carbs
I am talking about the amazingly nutritional complex carbs, AKA some grains and starchy veggies, which are beneficial for the heart, brain and energy levels.
Just to clear it up, I am not saying have an abundance of them all day, with little protein and fat. It is once again about balance, where the complex carbs can fill up around ¼ of your plate, as well as including protein and fats.
Most of all fill up half the plate with non-starchy veggies (For example; cauliflower, spinach, broccoli, zucchini).
| Refined Carbs | Complex Carbs |
| White bread
Rice Pies Biscuits Cake Pizza Burgers |
Wholegrain bread (with little/no added sugar)
Sweet Potato Quinoa Amaranth Buckwheat Brown rice Oats Partly starchy veges – carrot, pumpkin |
Last of all, I want to point out every BODY is different and therefore some people metabolise foods and carbs differently. My advice is to find what works for you.
Fun fact
- Pair your carbohydrate snack with some protein or fat, to help lower the GI, so your energy is released slower!
- For example roasted sweet potato chips with some hummus.
