We are bombarded constantly with information and misinformation everyday.
A topic that gets a massive amount of coverage is the carb debate: One week they are good, next they are bad, then you can't eat them after 4pm, then they are poison etc, etc.
Diabetes Is On The Rise The unfortunate thing is diabetes rates are rising.
Then you have the pre-diabetic group who are being warned by their doctor to clean up their lifestyle or suffer the consequences.
But it isn't just these people who need to be aware of the situation when it comes to their diet and lifestyle.
We all need to have an understanding of what is happening inside your body so we can make better food choices to not only reduce disease, but promote good health.
Everyone will have heard of "Carbohydrates" but there is a lot of bad information surrounding them.
In this article we are going to learn a little more about them and how the body uses them.
Some Useful Points About Carbohydrates - Carbs are our main source of energy.
- They are higher up the usage chain.
This means they get used for energy before other sources (like muscle).
This is especially important for those reducing calories to lose weight.
- Simple carbohydrates are short chain sugars.
- Complex carbohydrates are long chain sugars.
- All carbohydrates are sugar.
- All carbohydrates cause an insulin effect to help lower blood sugar.
- Different carbohydrates digest at different rates.
- All carbohydrates are around 4 calories per gram.
The Amazing Machine Your body is a great machine; when you eat any kind of food, the body uses a series of processes to break it down.
For example, when you eat carbohydrates of any type, the body releases insulin in response to a rise in blood sugar to counter it.
Insulin Insulin is an amazing hormone that can be manipulated for maximum benefit.
It enables your body to make use of the carbohydrates you eat in different ways: to be used as an instant energy source, store it for use as muscle glycogen or as body fat.
Insulin will not use body fat; what this means is if your body has a high level of insulin it tells the body to store more body fat.
To stop this happening we want to avoid spiking levels of insulin.
How do you do it? Don't ride the blood sugar roller-coaster of highs and lows.
Avoid the afternoon chocolate bar cravings.
By eating this, your blood sugar spikes so you feel more energised and awake then insulin kicks in and you bottom out.
This leads to either more chocolate or caffeine to maintain the high and get through to your next meal.
How common does this sound? Simple Fixes A simple solution is to stay away from sugary foods and eat more complex carbohydrates.
But a more effective solution to reduce the insulin response is to have some protein or healthy fats along with the carbohydrates.
Keeping your hunger at bay by eating every 2-3 hours will help in resisting those temptations.
Choose whole grains, lean proteins and plenty of fruits and vegetables.
Let's be honest you have a pretty good idea of what you should be eating.
But it's a case staying consistent with those choices that is most challenging.
By having a proactive approach to your health you'll have a much better chance of staying healthy, fit and disease free.