Why You Should Never Cut Out Carbs
The idea that "carbs are bad" has left a lot of people confused about carbohydrates and their significance to our health, maintaining a healthy weight and losing weight. Since the “Atkins era” of the late ’90s, the low carb movement fluctuated in popularity which has left most people assuming carbs are inherently bad; over the last few years, carbs have wrongly taken on a reputation for spiking blood insulin, a catalyst for fat gain/inflammation and our favorite, “carbs aren’t actually required in our diets unlike proteins and fats.”
Here is all you need to know about carbohydrates, with all the true pieces of information you need to make up your mind about what we call “carbs” once and for all and shed some light on the topic surrounding it.
What are carbohydrates?
Carbohydrates are one of 3 macronutrients found in food with the other two being fats and proteins.
There are 3 different types of carbohydrates found in food, namely sugars, starch, and fiber. Carbs are essentially created by plants via the process of photosynthesis - a combination of carbon dioxide, water, and chlorophyll.
Fruits are often more than 90% carbohydrate while most other vegetables, grains, and tubers range between 70-80%. There are however no carbs in animal foods, with the exception of lactose found in milk.
In essence, if you choose to discard carbs from your diet you will, by default, be avoiding incredibly healthy and wholesome plant foods like fruit, vegetables, and whole grains, which are a necessity for your body; and you’ll be intaking far too much unhealthy substitutes found in meat, fish, and dairy such as cholesterol and other unhealthy fats.
Why do we need carbs in our diet?
Carbs & Energy
Carbohydrates are the body's main source of energy in a healthy, balanced diet.
They're broken down into glucose (sugar) before being absorbed into the bloodstream. From there, the glucose enters the body's cells with the help of insulin - insulin is natural and normal for your body to make, don’t associate this to diabetes! Diabetes means that the pancreas doesn’t regulate the insulin level well naturally as it should. Glucose is used by your body for energy, fuelling all of your activities, be it going for a jog or simply breathing. On the other hand, unused glucose can be converted to glycogen, found in the liver and muscles.
If more glucose is consumed than required, this can then be stored as glycogen; it's converted to fat for long-term storage of energy.
Carbs & Disease prevention
Fruits and vegetables, legumes, wholegrain and wholewheat varieties of starchy foods and potatoes eaten with their skin on are extremely good sources of fiber.
Fiber is a vital part of a healthy, balanced diet. It promotes good bowel health, reduces the risk of constipation, and some forms of fiber have also been shown to reduce cholesterol levels.
Research shows diets high in fiber are associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and bowel cancer.
carbs & calories
Carbohydrate contains fewer calories per gram than fat, and starchy foods can be a good source of fiber, which means they can be a useful part of maintaining a healthy weight.
By replacing fatty, sugary foods and drinks with higher fiber starchy foods, you'll automatically reduce the number of calories in your diet, but more than reducing calories, you’ll replace bad calories with good ones.
Also, most high-fiber foods add bulk to your meal, helping you feel full, which will stop your snacking habit.
carbs vs. proteins and fats
While carbohydrates, fats, and proteins are all sources of energy in our diet, the amount of energy each one provides varies:
- carbohydrate provides: about 4kcal (17kJ) per gram
- protein provides: 4kcal (17kJ) per gram
- fat provides: 9kcal (37kJ) per gram
In the absence of carbohydrates in your diet, your body will turn towards the first proteins it’ll find, (directly from the source, in your muscles), and convert this into glucose, leading to muscle atrophy (over time), and unhealthy sugar levels, thus unregulated insulin levels (diabetes).
Note: You certainly know someone (or at least know someone that knows someone) that cut out carbohydrates and lost a lot of weight, know that this person may have lost weight, but it’s very likely that this isn’t the only thing she or he has been doing, she/he certainly has started exercising more, and be more careful about the entire diet, more specifically refined sugar and bad fats. But also, note that a healthy-looking person (or healthier than she/he used to be) doesn’t necessarily mean that the person’s body is actually healthy, or will stay healthy. Lacking any type of nutrients isn’t healthy and cannot last in the long run, which is why that same person will certainly put that weight back on in the following months and will suffer from a nutritional deficiency at some point. And, cutting out food of your diet will always lead to weight loss as your body will be missing nutrients - FYI, any fast weight loss is caused by a nutrition deficiency, and will be gained again, and damage your organs on the way to the loss and the re-gain.
good carbs vs. bad carbs
You shouldn’t cut out carbs (or any other healthy nutrients for the matter), not at any point; but some carbs are indeed better than others. Here’s a list of some of the best carbs out there, which doesn’t necessarily mean that you should completely cut off the rest of them if you love them. The good old plate of plain pasta has been out there for the longest time, so if you love them, keep eating them! Just know that there are better options and from time to time you may want to switch to whole grain pasta for example. Here’s a list to make it easier for you (and it’s Pin-able!).
carbs & weight loss
The glycemic index (GI) is the rating system for carbohydrates. It shows how quickly each food influences glucose (sugar) levels in your blood when a particular food is eaten on its own. Some low-GI foods, such as wholegrain foods, fruits, vegetables, beans and lentil (good carbs), are foods we should eat as part of a healthy, balanced diet. But using GI to decide whether foods or a combination of foods are healthy or can help with weight reduction, can be misleading; however, low-GI foods cause blood sugar levels to both, rise and fall slowly, which may help you to feel fuller for longer, but not all low-GI foods are healthy. For example, watermelon and parsnips are high-GI foods, while chocolate cake has a lower GI value.
Essentially, the way a food is cooked and what you eat it with as part of a meal can alter the GI rating quite significantly.
This evidently means GI alone is not a reliable way of deciding whether foods or combinations of foods, are healthy or will help you lose weight.
Carbs & Weight gain
Any food can cause weight gain if you overeat. Whether your diet is high in fats or high in carbohydrates, if you frequently consume more energy than your body requires, you're more than likely to put on weight. In fact, gram for gram, carbohydrate contains fewer than half the calories of fat. As mentioned above, wholegrain varieties of starchy foods are good sources of fiber and foods high in fiber can add bulk to your meal and help you feel full. Alternatively, foods high in sugar are often high in calories, and eating these foods too often can contribute to struggles with overweight. However, there is some evidence that shows diets high in sugar are associated with temporarily increased energy levels, which over time can lead to weight gain.
Carbs & Exercising
Carbohydrates, fats, and proteins ALL provide energy, however exercising muscles rely heavily on carbohydrates as their main source of fuel.
Carbohydrate stores glycogen in muscles are naturally very limited therefore need to be topped up regularly to maintain energy levels. A diet low in carbohydrates can ultimately lead to a lack of energy during exercise, early fatigue, and delayed recovery.
Carbs & Time
There's very little evidence that indicates that one time is better than another to intake carbs. Although, it is recommended that you base all your meals around starchy carbohydrate foods (50% to 65% of your daily intakes should be carbohydrates) and that you try your best to opt for higher fiber wholegrain alternatives. For optimal results, eat most carbs around your workouts - before training, they’ll be used for energy so you get a much better session plus can also help in post-workout recovery.