Thursday, May 18, 2017

Carbohydrates: Understanding how to choose between the Good ones and Bad ones


Carbohydrates -  are fibers, starches, and sugars naturally found in fruits, milk products, grains, and vegetables. It's also known as your body's "main source for energy"! 

You've probably heard a lot of people mentioned "good and bad carbs" without even elaborating on them, right? Well, don't feel alone because this post does not fall into that category. I'll try my best to go in depth just enough for you to get the understanding because carbohydrates can broken down in so many ways. So, let's get right to the difference.

The major difference between good and bad carbs relates to if they have been processed or not. Most foods that have been processed have ingredients listed on the back of food labels and the non-processed foods have not and are referred to as "Whole" foods.  


So, we will have to do our due diligence and take the time to read the back of food labels because there's a few ingredients that's a key give away that a food has been processed. Those ingredients are enriched, hydrogenated, hydrogenation, preservatives, refined, sodium benzoate, sugar alcohols, and the word "added". I'm pretty sure that they are several more ingredients, but those are just the main known ones.


Examples of whole foods are vegetables, fruits, nuts, eggs, poultry, fish, and meat. Remember that whole foods doesn't contain no extra ingredients. It's just the whole food itself. 


Just like carbs, the word "processed" is another confusing term and hasn't been legally defined but for the purpose of understanding carbohydrates, I will translate what it means.


One meaning of the term relates to companies taking foods, removing the impurities from them, and then infusing the nutrients back that was removed in the process. Another way can be as simple as you drying, freezing, baking, pasteurising, and canning foods to preserve the nutrients in them. So, according to that 2nd definition, you're probably eating more processed food than you thought.

Who's right and wrong can definitely be up for debate but that's another topic for another day. 

When it comes to working out, you definitely will need an adequate amount of energy to finish your workouts. Carbohydrates are crucial and you want to ensure that you're consuming the right amount of good carbs for eating and exercising.


Hopefully, this post help clarify some of the confusion when it comes to carbohydrates. So, I know there are some people out there who are using a no carb diet and I would say to reconsider that approach unless you have been directed by a doctor. I wouldn't recommend that you cut them out completely. If you're targeting the low carb route, please consume the good carbs. 

The FDA recommends that adults should aim at consuming 45 - 65% percent of carbs for your total calorie intake, which translates to about 130 grams a day. If you're pregnant, then you should consume about 175.


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