Are All Carbs Created Equal...?

Are all carbs created equal?

When you are chasing the physique of your dreams, and spending hours in the gym each week I can’t stress how important understanding your nutrition is!

We’ve all heard the term 30% training and 70% nutrition. While I prefer to think of it as 100% commitment to the entire process, training, nutrition and mindset. The point is if you are eating the wrong foods, you are not going to achieve the results you truly want, and it’s as simple as that.

For so many people who are getting into health and fitness and trying to make healthier nutrition choices, a common problem I always see is confusion over the differences in carbohydrates. This problem is often made worse by these fad diets that we all see on TV and in gossip magazines promoting ketogenic diets where carbohydrates are completely cut from the diet in order to lose weight fast. Ok, so yes this tactic may work in the short term, however it is not a sustainable or healthy way to go about things. 

The way I always recommend my clients, is to learn and understand what carbohydrates are, the ones to include in the diet, and the ones to avoid.

This brings me now to what are carbohydrates and why are they important?

Carbohydrates are one of the three major macronutrients our body needs to function, and one of the primary sources of energy production. Once carbohydrates are digested by the body they are converted into glucose and ready to be used as energy. Excess glucose is able to be stored in various places around the body until the energy is required. However the body is only able to store a certain amount of glucose, if there is a surplus of glucose it will be converted to fat for long-term storage in the body.

Not only is glucose the preferred fuel option for the body during physical exercise, the brain and other vital organs rely heavily on glucose supply to be able to function optimally.

Now you may think a carb is a carb… However this is far from the case.

Carbohydrates come in two forms, complex carbs and simple carbs. Also known as ‘good’ and ‘bad’ carbs.

We will start with the Simple Carbohydrates.

A simple carbohydrate generally is where the food has been heavily refined so that it has a short chain of sugar molecules, usually only one or two molecules. This makes the carbohydrate simple to digest and provides instant energy but wears off quickly. You will notice this when you have a soft drink such as Coke for example. The Coke will give you a quick sugar hit that is quickly digested and converted to glucose for the body to use as energy. Insulin is then released from the pancreas and this tells the body that it has just been fed, which stops the body from burning fat as fuel and onto the nutrients that have just been ingested. Also just like how insulin opens up muscle cells for nutrient delivery, it also opens up fat cells for nutrient storage to begin.

As you can see from this, spiking your insulin levels other than at times of exercise is a bad idea as it is directly promoting nutrients to be stored in the fat cells.

Pre and post workout spiking the insulin is however a good idea, as it opens the muscles cells for nutrient delivery that you should be fueling your body with around your workouts, but this topic is a blog post for another day!

Because most of these simple carbohydrates have been so heavily refined, they do not contain the vitamins, minerals and fiber that are found in the complex varieties. It is for this reason that simple carbs are often referred to as ‘empty calories’ due to the fact they have minimal nutritional value…if any.

While simple carbs are generally bad, there are however a couple of food types that fall into this category but act differently once inside the body and offer plenty of nutritional benefits. These are fruits and certain vegetables, so don’t go thinking that because they are technically listed as a simple carbohydrate that they should be avoided.

For individuals who are on serious fat loss nutrition plans (I’m talking getting below 10% body fat) I would recommend limiting fruit to 1 piece per day and preferably post workout, and opting for more low energy vegetables instead, due to the high fructose content found in fruits.

For the majority of people, even those on diets a couple of pieces of fruit a day is fine.

Simple carbs to avoid are:

• Fizzy drinks (Coke, Pepsi, and Lemonade etc.)
• Lollies (Candy)
• Chocolate
• Artificial Syrups
• Sugar
• White Bread
• White Pasta
• Pastries and Desserts

Complex carbohydrates are considered the ‘good’ carbs because of the fact that they are made up of long and complex chains of sugar molecules. This chain of sugars can be anywhere from three to hundreds of molecules long. This means it takes the body much longer to break them down and be released into the bloodstream for energy, and because of this they will keep you feeling fuller for longer. Unlike the simple carbohydrates which have refined or processed sugars, the sugar found in complex carbs are naturally occurring sugars and are far better for the body.

When consuming a healthy diet, the vast majority of your carbohydrate intake should be coming from the complex category. Not only are these slower digesting carbs, but they also contain high amounts of vitamins, minerals and fiber which are highly important for our health.

Sources of complex carbs:

·   Whole Grains – such as Brown Rice, Corn, Wheat, Oats, Quinoa etc.
·   Whole Grain Bread and Pasta
·   Nuts, Seeds and Legumes – such as Lentils, Kidney Beans, Split Peas, Chick Peas, Soy Beans etc.
·   Vegetables – such as Sweet Potato, Onions, Green Vegetables etc.

For people trying to gain lean muscle, you should be aiming for a serving of one of the above with each meal, plus a high quality protein source to give your body the best chance for growth.

Now that you have a basic understanding of the different carbohydrate types and how they digest, you will be able to make wiser choices next time you are at the supermarket. It may take a little time reading the labels until you are totally familiar with what carbohydrate is what type, but the more you do it the easier it becomes.

Another great way to remember things, is ‘if the food product is not going to go off and start rotting in a few days, it should probably be avoided’. Foods in their natural form are not meant to last, think fruits, vegetables and meat. This however does not apply to rice and beans etc. which will last a long time.

I hope this makes some sense to you all, and it gives you some clarity on which carbohydrates to be filling your shopping trolley up with!

If you would like more info on this topic, or you need some help achieving your goals, head on over to www.danwhitehandfitness.com

Alternatively email me at dan@danwhitehandfitness.com

Until next time!

Dan Whitehand