Carbohydrates are not bad! I feel like the closer we get to the warmer months, the further away carbs get…because people start to run away from them.
This is not just a miserable mentality, but it is not even healthy. Yes, it is actually UNHEALTHY to eliminate all carbohydrates from your diet. With that being said, let’s go over the top 3 reasons why having carbs as part of your diet is actually beneficial!
1) Your metabolism will love you.
Yes it will! Think about your life as a whole and the things that aren’t necessarily good for you, but could also be harmful in the long run if you cut them out altogether. Let’s use germs as an example, and the fact that while they’re disgusting, our bodies wouldn’t be able to build immunity to anything without them at some point. Studies have been carried out that have shown over time that children playing in the dirt, etc. they had better immune systems as adults than children who were protected from all things germy during their younger years.
Now think about carbs… even though you may THINK they are bad (because you were lied to), they are actually becoming bad for you because you are cutting them out. Anyone who cuts carbs to lose weight faster will eventually GAIN weight once he returns to “normal eating” and may even gain more than he had to lose in the first place!
Removing carbohydrates from your diet will make your metabolism not recognize them as easily and therefore forget how to process them efficiently. What does this mean? It means that these excess carbohydrates will remain as stored body fat. The solution? Never eat carbs again…wrong! The solution is to educate yourself on how to eat carbs the proper and healthiest way so that they benefit you and definitely not harm you.
2) You need the energy!
Count how many times you have heard people on low or no carb diets complain of tiredness, lethargy, etc. Now count how many times you’ve heard people get excited and energized, all because of their amazing low carb lifestyle. .. exactly. Know this: the protein you eat can be used for energy, but it’s mainly there to maintain your body, help you build muscle, recover from exercise, etc. The healthy fats you eat are used to fight the bad fats you eat and are also used for energy at low intensity, like when you sleep. This brings us to carbohydrates and what they provide.
Carbohydrates are used for energy at moderate to high intensities which, depending on your daily activity level, can be the majority of the day…they’re also there to tell your body important things like “your workout is over, so stop decomposing.” muscle” or “hey I’m here so use me for energy instead of your protein…you need to build and recover your body”. These things are important and in many cases occur through insulin levels, in which carbohydrates have a lot of influence depending on what type they are.
To eliminate this opportunity for carbohydrates is to think that you can “fool” your body into thinking that this is wrong. I have had several clients come to me to be in at least pre-diabetes and just paying more attention to the types of carbs they are eating and when… this condition has completely eased for them, and this was not even the initial goal they had to achieve!
Are you eating the right amount for your goals? Ask a professional for recommendations for the best dietary choices you can make for yourself.
3) It just makes sense (for your body)!
Think about the vehicles we drive. I’m sure, for a decent enough time, cars can run on low or even low fluids, but would you do this intentionally just because someone told you your gas mileage might increase as a result? No, you wouldn’t. People cut carbs because they’re desperate to lose weight fast and someone tells them this is the way to go. Cutting carbs is not only a miserable process, it is NOT a healthy process.
I have a client who is a doctor and one day he had an interesting story that he “just had to share.” A woman comes to the emergency room with internal complications, specifically her intestinal tract. After more tests, scans, etc., she found the problem… and it was basically a traffic jam inside her stomach. The cause? Upon further questioning, it was determined that she had been cutting carbs on a certain ketogenic diet in order to put her body into ketosis and “lose fat fast.” After a situation like this, the person needs to be reintroduced to carbohydrates so that their body can relearn how to use/process them and begin the path back to normal and eventually health. This happens because cutting carbs just doesn’t make sense for your body, especially over a long period of time.
The moral of the story is this: it is never wise or even fun to completely eliminate something from your diet, especially an entire food group! This sounds like a great idea thanks to some great marketing and terrible information, but folks… you need to educate yourself! This is a problem, and if you’re not careful, the weight loss success you celebrate today could be the most difficult health problem you’ve ever faced tomorrow to come.
Ask questions about carbs and what they can do for you, and if you need a way forward, then a custom nutrition design may be your ticket, at least to get you in the right direction! The most important thing to remember is that no matter what the goal, this is your life and the conditions you throw at your body must not only be healthy, but also maintainable! Train and eat smarter… start today, ask questions, stay on track and go eat oatmeal… maybe even a little sugar in your Starbucks yoca-java-malta-lotta-calafriggin-mochachino!
