Carbohydrates and the calories deficit

FOLLOWING on from last weeks article, I wanted to talk about the second macronutrient we will be covering – carbohydrates.

Carbohydrates are the body’s preferred energy source and can be broken down into two categories – simple and complex carbohydrates.

Simple carbohydrates are foods such as chocolate, sweets, biscuits etc with little nutrient value.

Complex carbohydrates are foods such as potatoes, rice, pasta etc with a much greater nutrient value.

When consumed, carbohydrates break down into glucose, aka sugar. However, when we consume the simple carbohydrates, we are almost skipping the breaking down process as they contain little nutrient value. Complex carbohydrates take a lot longer to break down, due to them having fibre, nutrition and other beneficial parts. This is why simple carbohydrates give us a quicker energy source but will not keep us as full as complex carbohydrates.

You may have heard ‘sugar’ demonised as the enemy, but it is not that sugar is bad for us. Sugar and carbohydrates cannot make us ‘fat or gain weight’ unless we overconsume the daily calorie allowance we need. We could eat 100% sugar and not gain fat if we are in a calorie deficit – it is a calorie surplus that make us gain weight/fat!

The carbohydrates consumed after being turned into glucose are transported by the blood to muscles and cells for immediate use as an energy source. But if we do not need the energy, they are stored in the muscles/cells for later use as glycogen.

My advice is to try and have more carbohydrates on the days you’re more active – but with the goal of fat loss, remember it is a calorie deficit you need for fat loss, not the decrease of carbohydrates!

You may have heard of ‘ketogenic/ low carb’ diets where people eradicate more or nearly all carbohydrates from their diet. Although people do lose weight and fat doing it this way, the reason is because they have eradicated a third of their diet creating an automatic calorie deficit without knowing. But they think it is because they eradicated the carbohydrates and sugar, which is not the case. Just remember, you could be on the ketogenic/low carb diets and still gain weight by consuming too many calories, proving it is the calorie deficit that causes the weight and fat loss!

For those looking for muscle growth as well as performance, carbohydrates are going to be much more beneficial and going to aid with recovery as well.