Carbs are important to your diet

FITNESS SOLUTIONS

While I am not a licensed nutritionist or a registered dietitian, I speak with clients every day about healthy eating options and about simple ways they can improve their eating habits. I love starting off by teaching “the basics” and then helping them make better choices to move them closer to their health and fitness goals. If the need arises for a diet prescription or for specific supplements, I refer them to a colleague who specializes in that area and is legally able to write a detailed meal plan.

The “basics” that I teach include the recognition that there are three macronutrients the body needs to be healthy and fit. These nutrients are protein, carbohydrates and fat. The road to optimal health, from a nutrition perspective, is often determined by the ability to balance these three nutrients based on the demands placed on the body. This balancing act is not static, but is constantly evolving. For example, someone who is trying to lose body fat and/or weight might restrict their carbohydrate intake temporarily, while someone who is participating in an endurance activity would likely increase the amount of carbohydrates they consume while training or competing.

For the vast majority of adults, the macronutrient balancing act most often includes eating meals that are made up of all three of the nutrients. A typical, healthy diet would include between 30 and 60 per cent of calories from carbohydrates, between 15 and 30 per cent from protein and up to 30 per cent of calories from healthy sources of fat. The challenge is in finding and consuming the best sources of each of them.

As a food group, carbohydrates have been vilified in recent years and as a result, several popular diets urge people to attempt to remove them from their nutrition plans. It is important to remember, however, that carbohydrates are a primary source of energy for our bodies and also for our brains. In my opinion, the demonization of carbohydrates comes from the high intake of refined, highly processed foods that are popular in most of the western world and have been linked to obesity, diabetes, heart disease and cancer. In other words, not all carbohydrates are the same.

Both simple and complex carbohydrates provide the body with energy by turning into glucose (blood sugar) as they are digested. The difference is that simple carbs convert to sugar very quickly and result in elevated insulin levels. Insulin is a hormone that the body produces to deal with high levels of sugar in the blood. It is sometimes called a “storage” hormone as it helps the body store glycogen in the cells of the liver and muscles to be used for energy later on. This ultimately plays a role in elevated levels of body fat.

Complex carbohydrates take longer to break down and provide the body with consistent energy over a long period of time. This results in less spiking of blood sugar and a need for an alternate fuel source. To meet this demand, the body produces a hormone called glucagon that works in opposition to insulin. One of the roles of glucagon is to make body fat more available as a fuel source.

Aside from helping keep you lean and energetic, consuming unrefined complex carbohydrates, in appropriate amounts, provides your body with vitamins, minerals and especially fibre, which aids in digestion and promotes regularity.

Some other benefits of eating complex carbohydrates include improved sleep, more satiety or feelings of fullness after eating and enhanced mood. It is not uncommon for people who are restricting carbohydrates to feel irritable, sluggish or light-headed.

The simple carbohydrates to avoid include all refined grains and quick sources of sugar such as evaporated cane juice and syrups added to processed foods.

In next week’s column, I will be providing you with a detailed list of some of the best complex carbohydrate foods that you can add to your diet.

Medical exercise specialist Ernie Schramayr, CPT, helps his clients manage medical conditions with exercise. You can follow him at erniesfitnessworld.com. 905-741-7532 or erniesfitnessworld@gmail.com