Carbs
What do you think when you see or hear that word?
You probably associate it with pretty neg connotations, or perhaps not. I would not want to make any hasty assumptions about my lovely readers, no judgement here we are all friends.
BUT, I think we all know that over the past few years carbs as a food group have been bullied (poor carbs!!! nah I’m sure they’re fine and don’t want a pity party!) and demonized as ‘the bad guys’; they make us fat and spike our blood sugar, they hinder any weight loss and if you want to loose weight you simply MUST cut them out of your diet!! I’m guessing these are the kinds of things you have heard about carbs and whether you believe them or not these rumours are real and very much ‘a thing’.
And before I started my course (your going to be sick of hearing that turn of phrase in a few blogs time!) I was a self confessed carbophobe (I think that’s how you spell it..but then again I don’t think it is even a word so there’s no definitive way of spelling it but i’m sure you know what i’m getting at). I was pretty much carb free and avoided them at all costs as if they were contagious or some shit, I was the low carb queen. I’d go as far to say I was probably verging on keto (I will do a blog post on this absolute BS really strange diet fad and explain it at a later date), not sure if I was hardcore enough to be in the keto category completely (keto-gory, again defo a made up word but today they are just rolling off the tongue) but I gave it a pretty good go. I, like many other people believed carbs were evil and don’t even get me started on bread or any gluten containing carbs cos they terrified me! (Remember ‘gluten is like sandpaper for your gut’? Yup, i totally believed that and thought gluten was also the work of the devil. So, I got on with my low carb life feeling really really smug and judging other people who ate loads of carbs (jeeezzz, I am not making myself sound like someone you’d wana hang out with am i, trust me on this one, i’m not like this anymore, so bear with me PLZ whilst i tell my tale).
Your probably wondering, ‘did you feel good?’ or something along those line of what were the effects it had on your body. So, here goes, it’s truth time…to be honest, I felt AWFUL, there I said it, I admitted it. Oh that felt good.
But in all seriousness, I did. I felt tired, grumpy, lacking in energy and really foggy brained, I couldn’t really exercise so I never felt amazing after my runs or like I’d achieved anything (because I hadn’t, because I didn’t have the energy DUUHHH). Not only did it affect my energy levels but my cognitive function too, I didn’t feel as alert or quick thinking. I kept saying to myself ‘oh let your body get used to it’ and other BS like that, and other people who were also on the low carb brigade churned out similar shit to try and make me stick with it. So I did, I persevered for a long time even though I felt really shitty but I honestly believed it was the right thing to do according to loads of, what I know now is, PSEUDOscience (basically, fake science).
Then September came and I started my MSc, one of the first modules was Molecular Nutrition & Biochemistry- which BTW I LOVED, it was totally my thing because I love science and detail and learning complex shit, god, that sounds really nerdy but anyhow, I loved it and did really well in the exam too because I was so passionate about it. It was all about how our body uses food at a molecular level, how its dispersed in the body and affects the body’s processes and functioning. One of the topics was human metabolism, basically- how we convert food into energy within our cells, and the pathways along the way i.e. glycolysis, pyruvate dehyrogenation and TCA/ citric acid cycle- these all sound super scary and complicated but they’re actually not its just how we break down our food and use it as energy to keep us alive (if you are interested in the step by step pathways then there’s some great youtube vidoes explaining it all). In metabolism glucose (glucose is from carbs when we break them down) is a hugely important energy source, and actually is the preferred energy source for our bodies and the brain. Basically glucose is our bodies preferred energy source and we get glucose from carbohydrates when our bodies break them down, starting in the mouth where starch is broken down to maltose via the enzyme amylase in our saliva. We even store glucose in the liver and our muscle cells as glycogen so that our bodies have it readily available as a constant source of energy when blood glucose levels are low.
Anyway, I’m not going to bore you with a science lesson because i’m sure that’s not what you are here for, but I will say that as I started learning more and more about metabolism, it dawned on me that actually carbs are a pretty essential part of our diet. I also learnt more about the different types of carbs- does ‘good’ and ‘bad’ carbs sound familiar? So, not all carbs are made equal and there are different types- simple and complex carbs. I shall explain: simple carbs are broken down really quickly and absorbed into the blood really readily, like sugar (sweets) and white bread, they tend to be foods which aren’t particularly fibrous or foods which are more processed (white, refined). Then you have the ‘complex carbs’ which are harder for our bodies to digest, therefore we digest them slower and they give a more steady slower release of energy and do not spike our blood sugar (they have a low GI), these foods tend to he high in fibre, e.g. brown rice, quinoa, wholegrain bread which is why they are digested slowly because fibre slows down digestion as it increases the viscosity of chyme (the food mixture in our belly becomes more viscous).
Both types of carbs have a place in our diet which is why I dislike the term ‘good’ and ‘bad’ carbs because the ‘bad’ carbs (simple) carbs provide our bodies with immediate energy i.e. they are good for long distance running or if you feel like your lacking in energy as you haven’t eaten in a while then consuming something such as a jelly baby or a date or dried fruit might be just what you need as a quick pick me up. Complex ‘good’ carbs are great for sustained energy levels to ensure you feel energised throughout the day (oats, brown rice, wholegrains etc). It is about the quality AND quantity of carbs you are consuming. I would always advise eating more ‘complex’ carbs for 2 reasons: they have a lot of fibre (we should be getting around 30g per day of fibre)and fibre is really beneficial for health (more in a later post where i will explain why fibre is SO good for us), plus they provide you with sustained energy and prevent blood sugar spikes to keep you feeling fuller for longer and energised all day long.
Oh and another reason, did I mention carbs are GREAT: they are satisfying and yummy and a diet with no carbs is really dull and dreary and boring and you spend the whole time wishing you were eating that delicious looking mouth watering bowl of creamy pasta that your mate ordered so you have insatiable food envy which just makes you miserable whilst you chomp away on your grilled chicken salad sans bread sticks knowing fully well your going to be knackered later and your tummys already rumbling….
On that note I’m going to go and make a portion of wholemeal pasta with tomato and mascapone sauce YUM. So remember guys, enjoy your carbs but try to opt for complex ones to ensure you get your fibre fix and if you just don’t feel like brown pasta cos you want white instead or want white toast instead of brown sometimes- just go for it, listen to your body and don’t deprive yourself. Just don’t eat it everyday and remember, moderation and balance is the key to a happy and healthy diet, we all know that depriving yourself is just f***king miserable and aint nobody got time for that!
Nutritionel 