Carbohydrates are sugars in various forms such as glucose and fructose (found primarily in fruit), sucrose, lactose (found primarily in milk), starch, glycogen and cellulose (indigestible cell wall of plants).
High carb foods are grains, roots, tubers (e.g. potatoes) and fruits. More interestingly, humans can convert protein into carbohydrate which explains why some cultures have very low ‘carb’ diets and are healthy.
However, studies tend to show that 55-75% of calories from carbs is best. This is the amount recommended by the World Health Organisation. Carbs contain 4 calories per gram.
They are a rough classification of sugars depending on the number of ’sugar units’. Bread and potatoes are thought of as ‘complex’ and fruit as ’simple’ (generally).
There is a common myth that complex carbs give a more sustained energy but the complex carbs in grains and potatoes are broken down very quickly compared to the overall sugars in fruit. This apparently, is because the ‘fructose’ in fruit has to be converted by the liver which takes time.
Perhaps the myth is largely created by the cereal companies who give us mental images of our little Johnny having a lovely glow as he walks to school then having loads of energy to do all his maths ’til lunch. :-)
These measure how quickly carbohydrates get into the bloodstream. This is important because if sugar gets into the blood too quickly it causes all sorts of nasty problems. Short term it can lead to unstable blood sugar levels and energy crashes. Long term to insulin resistance and diabetes.
The relevance here is that grains, potatoes and refined sugars dominate the top of these charts! NOT fruits, NOT even bananas, dates and figs which have the fastest releasing sugars of all the fruits. And that so called healthy baked spud? One of the top contenders for causing swinging blood sugar levels and insulin problems!
If you want nice even energy levels you need low to medium glycaemic foods eaten not too far apart (3-4 hours I suggest).
All natural foods are rated low or medium in the glycaemic load data so if you eat naturally you don’t need to worry about it. What a surprise! :-)
The glycaemic load more accurately describes what’s going on as it takes into account portion size. I don’t consider grains to be a natural food since you can’t eat them raw directly from the plant – not in any quantity anyway.
When we get carbs from natural foods, you get to eat a lot of food! These foods are naturally bulkier and are more nutrient dense — that is they have more vitamins and minerals and other factors per calorie than processed and refined foods.
Fruits and veg come ready packed with nutritional factors our bodies’ need. It’s great that science has just discovered phytochemicals (special chemicals in plants) and how amazing they are at protecting our health. But guess what guys, they’ve ALWAYS been there! :-)
The refining of grains to produce white breads, flours, pastas and so-on is an abomination in nutritional terms. Whereas natural foods are nutrient dense, these are nutrient deficient, containing low levels of micronutrients per calorie. Not good! As well as this, they are the worst offenders on the Glycaemic Index.
Coming from a diet that gets nearly EVERY carb calorie from the TOP of the Glycaemic Index as a lot of people do, eating such a bulky diet takes a bit of getting used to.
Plus there are cost implications too. Grains and potatoes are far cheaper sources of calories than fruits and veggies.
For our health’s sake though, we would do well to eliminate refined grains altogether and decrease the wholegrains and potatoes in favor of more fruit and veg.
I hurt for 13 years. It was hell... torture... feeling very bad for a very long time. And that had a devastating effect on every aspect of my life.
With the little energy and focus I had, I hunted for answers. In fact I spent twenty YEARS trawling for answers. You can just imagine the trying, and stumbling, the desperation and frustration...
But now I've seen BOTH extremes of life... from wanting to die every day to the joy of health and happiness. The truth is that all my suffering drives me with a passion to help you not to suffer. Why I can't say, because it's just there, in me.
So don't make the same mistakes I did. Life is too short... I want you to feel good without falling into the pitfalls. I have this knowledge now and I would love you to have it.
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