The Fear of Carbs: reality vs. myth

When I say the word, “carbs” what is the first thing you think of? For a lot of people they think of unhealthy or “bad” foods or things they shouldn’t have but want oh so badly! Especially with rise of fad diets like the keto diet that boasts of helping people loose weight and “eat like our ancestors”.

What would think if I told you everyone needs carbs? I know some people that would sit there and argue up and down that that is not true. But let’s instead examine facts;

Did you know that your brain needs about 130g of glucose a day? Most of us have felt and seen someone with a brain fog. It doesn’t feel that great. Your brain just doesn’t function like it needs to. Okay, so how does our body get glucose? First of all the easiest way is: you guessed it! Carbs. Can your body convert fats and protein into glucose? Yes. But remember this is also making the liver work harder than it needs to or is designed to to get you the same result as just eating some carbs. Fats are energy dense even though your body needs them (more on that in a later blog) you shouldn’t take in more to meet a glucose deficiency. This will cause other avoidable health problems down the road.

Yes!! So I can just eat that cake and loads of bread and... no.

There are different kinds of carbs. Those of many foods we eat on a regular basis are refined and highly processed carbohydrates. You may find that you can eat a ton of these and even though you might feel full you aren’t satisfied and it usually causes over eating. These types of carbs include: white bread, some pastas, cakes, and other sweet bread deliciousness 😜.

The carbs your body needs are complex carbs. This goes back to the whole food, back to the basics way of eating (and no, not like a caveman, that’s non sense) Think whole grains and even vegetables! What?? Yeah. They have carbs in them! Good carbs: whole wheat, wild rice, quinoa, oatmeal etc.

Carbohydrates are essential for digesting protein properly.

Everyone is different and needs different amounts of carbs. Some people need a larger amount while others need a smaller amount. And you might be somewhere in the middle. This has a ton of different factors that play in to figure out what is best for your body and activity level and so on.

One of the great ways to find what your body needs?? Get with a nutritional coach! Guess what? I do that! Good nutrition is about 70% of good health! That’s HUGE!! Message me to get started!