The first time most of us probably learned about Carbohydrates was in school — most likely in our early primary levels. And the most common form of carbohydrate that would be listed down would be RICE — especially if you’re of Asian descent. Next to that would be bread, then pasta and other forms of grains, like oats. We also learned it through a food pyramid. And it carbohydrates would be at the very base of this pyramid. That was then. Today, and in more recent studies, have shown that many illnesses stem from consuming and having too much sugar — carbohydrates turn into sugar in our body– causes inflammation and other metabolic disorders, such as Type 2 Diabetes. But is it really all that bad? Let’s rethink carbs.
So is consuming carbohydrates bad?
Not at all.
- Carbohydrates are 1 of the 3 major food groups that our bodies need to function, called Macronutrients.
- Carbs form as 1 of 2 sources of fuel for our bodies, the other is Fat.
- Contains starch, which turns into sugar, which turns into energy fuel for our cells.
So why is it such a big deal about carbohydrates and sugar these days? Suddenly many of the yummy bread, cakes and baked goodies we like to eat have become ‘bad carbs’.
There really isn’t any ‘bad’ or ‘good’ food out there. Labeling food as ‘bad’ or ‘good’ won’t help anyone trying his/her best to keep a healthy outlook on food. But there are definitely “better options”/ ‘healthier options’ to simple-carbohydrates because the problem happens when we consume too much of the simple-carbohydrates.
Simple-Carbohydrates are food that breakdown easily into simple-starch and sugars. White or bleached flour and food made with these (yup! our white pasta, bagels, doughnuts, cakes, packaged snacks, pastries..) are in this category. These types of Carbs are easily digested and therefore give us a quicker release of fuel and energy. The “bad” happens is when too much sugar in our blood becomes stored fat, which these types of food are usually high in. Our bodies don’t get enough time to burn the pre-existing fat as fuel because it’s busy burning off the insulin and sugar brought about by what we just ate. We eventually become sugar/ carbo-fueling rather than fat-fueling, and the fat just keeps increasing.
Let’s Rethink Carbs: Baked Sweet potato Vs. Pancakes
You may know someone who’s an athlete – a runner, swimmer, ironman marathoner — and you’d probably hear them say they have sweet potato/ yams from breakfast or snack. Have you wondered why? Vs. having, say, pancakes, for breakfast? Athletes need healthy carbohydrates, it’s really critical that they have this as their source of fuel together with healthy fats. You probably also have heard of ‘carbo-loading’ a week to a few days before a marathon, and it’s highly advised to do so.
Let’s take a look at why sweet potatoes over pancakes. *source: https://www.calorieking.com/us/en/
- 1 medium-sized Sweet Potato (about 5inches long and 2 inches thick), baked
- 100 calories,
- 0.2g Fat,
- 23g Carbs,
- 3.7g Fiber,
- 2.2g Protein.
- 1 plain Pancake, 4-inch diameter (1.3oz, made from a dry mix) may give you
- 74 calories,
- 1g Fat,
- 13.9g Carbs,
- 0.5 g Fiber,
- 2g Protein.
But I’m not an athlete! you say. Consider with such as low calorie, low fiber, and low protein, high-fat content of a pancake, our bodies will likely go hungry in just an hour or two. And when we’re hungry, we eat. And if our meal or snack is a simple carbohydrate (again) it will breakdown easily (again), get us on a hunger path in another 2 hours or so, never allowing our bodies to have a chance to burn the stored fat we have because it’s burning up the simple carbs and sugars instead.
Conclusion
It’s a spiral, really. And to stop the habit of carb-binging, we need to rethink our carbs. If we consider the ‘healthier’ options of carbs that contain higher fiber, higher protein, higher calorie, lower fat, (and low sugar), we feel fuller for longer periods that allow us to have time and chance to use the stored fat as energy, leading us to fat-burn and better weight management. It sounds like a tall order for many of us, but if we just rethink our carbs and choose those that have better nutrition value, nothing will ever by ‘bad’ again.