Carbohydrates

Carbohydrates (sugar and starches) are the main nutritional source of our energy, whether we exercise, move around our office, or sit in our chairs. Its advantage is that it is easily digested and turns into a simple sugar (glucose) which quickly reaches the bloodstream, and from there to all parts of the body, and the remaining calories are stored in the liver as glycogen.

However, they — like anything else — can be misused, especially if we eat large amounts of them or eat harmful products. Here are the most important questions that are asked about this type of staple food:

1- Are there “good” and “bad” carbohydrates?

We can say that the good carbohydrates are not processed or that humans have disrupted their processing very little.

This group includes: vegetables, fruits, beans and whole grains. All of these types are high in dietary fiber, which slows their digestion, thus preventing sudden hyperglycemia (which is followed by the flow of the hormone insulin into the blood), and it is also rich in important nutrients such as antioxidants, vitamins and minerals.

As for processed carbohydrates such as white sugar and white bread, if they help us get calories quickly (which helps us in intense physical exercise), a rapid increase in glucose (and with it insulin) must be followed by a sudden, unwanted drop.

For athletes who want fast food fuel consumption, the best option is to get energy from fruits.

2- Can carbohydrates cause obesity?

If carbohydrates do not contain dietary fiber or if they are not eaten with protein and fat, blood sugar levels rise after eating and then fall rapidly, which makes the person hungry and craves more. food.

This may be what is behind the ads accusing carbohydrates of causing obesity, but carbohydrates don’t make us obese more than any other type of food, and cutting them down doesn’t lead us to slimmer except in the beginning, and the weight quickly returns to what it was once we ate it from the News, the wise policy is to get the right kind of carbohydrate in the right amounts in proportion to our activity level.

3- What is the ideal percentage of carbohydrates in our diet?

It is recommended that the carbohydrate portion be 50–60% of the dietary calories we eat per day (while the recommended portion of protein is 15–20% and fat is 25–30%).

If you get hungry quickly after consuming carbohydrates, you need to eat more protein or fat (not more carbohydrates), and doctors advise you to observe these portions at each meal (instead of applying them to the daily food intake).

Perhaps the simplest rule that can be applied in this area is:

Make half of your plate of fruits and vegetables + a quarter of high protein foods + a quarter of good quality fats.

4- If we want to do intense exercise, do we “load up” with carbohydrates or fats?

It was believed that fats were better than carbohydrates as an energy source because the stores of fat in the body are much more important than the stores of glycogen (which represents complex carbohydrates) in the liver.

But a famous study published in the Journal of Applied Physiology in 2015 showed that the opposite is true and that carbohydrates are the best source of energy in stressful exercises, working muscles rely on carbohydrates as the main source of energy. nutrition, and analysts in one study found that carbohydrates provide 91% of the energy needed by joggers.

5- Is it useful to “load” carbohydrates before a competitive sport?

The goal of carbohydrate “loading” (which is consuming nutrients that are high in carbohydrates in certain amounts) is to provide fuel for athletic activities that last longer than 90 minutes. After this period, the glycogen is stored (complex carbohydrates) in the liver is consumed and the body needs more energy quickly.

But this process must be done intelligently, because it begins a week before the sporting event, where the athlete consumes 10 g of carbohydrates per kilogram of weight, distributed in the meals of the day, and these carbohydrates should not be in addition of normal daily calories, but rather as a substitute for other sources of energy such as fat. In addition, the “load” should be lower the night before a sporting event.