Is it like fat, like the saturated and unsaturated? Some good, some bad. I’ve read that the simple carbs are the bad ones but I can still not understand. Are carbs mostly sugars? And are they really that bad?
Ok so think of carbohydrates as chains of sugars. Our digestive system is designed to break these chains down and absorb the “links” which are sugars that transfer to our blood. Our cells need sugar to carry out their processes. It’s why regardless of our fasting/fed state, our blood sugar is tightly regulated at around 100. In fact, our liver can take proteins and turn them into sugars to maintain that number. If a lot of sugars enters the blood from a meal, our pancreas spits out more insulin which knocks on the doors of our cells and tells them all to remove the excess sugar from the blood.
With this background, we can now look at carbs from a dietary perspective. Simple carbs like a piece of candy, already have the carb chains broken down (which is also why those foods taste sweet). So when you eat it, your blood sugar rises quickly and your pancreas releases a lot of insulin at once which causes your blood sugar to drop relatively quickly. That’s why you don’t feel satisfied long-term when eating sweets.
Complex carbs like whole grains have long branching chains of sugars that are also encased in fiber. So your digestive system takes a lot longer to extract all of the sugars from the food resulting in a a slower steady supply for a longer period of time. So your insulin doesn’t spike, you are satiated for much longer, and you’re at a lower risk for diabetes because your cells aren’t hit with as high of concentrations of insulin
Most simply, carbs = sugar. Your body converts sugar molecules into glucose which is used by for energy.
Further breakdown, you have complex carbs and simple carbs. Complex carbs (whole wheat bread, carrots, broccoli, beans) take longer for your body to break down and enter your bloodstream more slowly as they have longer chains, whereas simple carbs - think white sugar, honey , maple syrup give you more of an immediate blood sugar jump.
There is a really good explanation on the NHS website. Carbs are an essential part of a healthy and balanced diet. They provide energy. They’re all broken down in to sugar, but white carbohydrates are broken down quicker than brown carbohydrates. Brown carbohydrates provide a much steadier release of energy, whereas white carbohydrates give something closer to a sugar rush.
https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/eat-well/starchy-foods-and-carbohydrates/
As someone with prediabetes, I’m highly attuned to my carb consumption. Excess consumption of carbs has been linked to disease, mainly type 2 diabetes.
Cross-sectional and longitudinal studies show that higher carbohydrate diets are linked to higher prevalence and incidence of T2D. However, the association seems to be stronger in Asian-Indians consuming diets high in carbohydrates and more marked on a background of obesity. There is also evidence for high carbohydrate diets and risk for MS and cardiovascular disease (CVD).
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30666980/
Sugar basically
Sugar is in produce, anything with flour, and obviously, desserts
More sugar is in fruits than vegetables. Certain fruits and vegetables have more than others
When reading nutrition info, just go straight to “total carbohydrates” that’s the number you want when tracking
Only other thing to look for is fiber
Fiber is a sugar and it contributes to the total carbs, however fiber is a sugar that does not get digested
Therefore you can subtract the fiber from the total carbs
For example, as a diabetic they want me to stay within 45 grams of total carbs in a meal. If I have a cup of berries that says it’s got 20 total carbs with 5 grams of fiber, I can subtract the fiber and I just count 15 carbs toward my total
Like I said, certain fruits and vegetables have higher fiber than others
A russet potato and a sweet potato can have the same total carbs. But the sweet potato had a higher fiber content
Similarly with white vs brown rice. Brown has fiber
This also applies to various breads and baked goods. Whole grain, 100 percent wheat etc.. cs white breads
Always read nutrition labels. Packaging can worded in a deliberately misleading way
Carbs are addicting and in high amounts if you are not working out and burning that “energy” sugar then that gets stored in the body as fat, they make full quicker then fats/protein but in a short period of time like an hour or more you get hungry again they make you eat more and more and if your not active youll gain lots of fat.
There are good carbs such as vegetables and they have fiber in them so you minus the fiber and you get left with very little amount of carbs, plus they have vitamins, minerals, potassium in them so eat as many as them as you can.
Proteins are needed for us to repair our hair, nails, and overall your body plus if you workout they repair your muscles and you need then more than an average guy that is not active.
Fats are alote alote better to us than carbs, im talking about the good fats the essential fats like olives/olive oil, avocados, nuts, hummus, dark chocolat, seeds etc and not trans fat. fats make you full for way way way longer , and they have alote of health benefits to eating them and they are essential fats that you need because the body cant make them thats why they are essential. your body can make glucose by itself and wont be depended on carbs if you dont eat carbs or it can use the protein if you ate in high amounts as glucose. Its true that fats has more calories than protein or carbs but because they make you full for longer you wont be eating alote and raising your insulin levels all the time like carbs and making you insulin resistance cause when you have insulin resistance which most people (because of carbs they spike the most insulin) you get symptoms like belly fat, brainfog, fatigue (especially after eating a high carb meal), addicted to carbs/sugar and more health problems you can research about it for more info
So i would try to avoid them if you can because they are so addicting and if you are eating carbs try to do low carb and eat them BEFORE your workout so you can burn them off and dont let them stick on your body
Have a good day friend
Yeah if they fit your macro profile or lifestyle based on activities you take part in or you like them then you should enjoy them. A dozen of strawberries and a dozen of donuts will make you feel and perform different. Doesn’t mean never have a donut. Live your life and eat a healthy balanced diet and be happy and ENJOY CARBS if you want and they fit what you do daily.
Simple carbs “bad” are like giving a dog a toy he destroys in 60 seconds and now he’s bored again.
Complex carbs are like giving a dog a toy that takes 2 -3 hours to break.
He’s sustained for longer.
Your digestive track is the dog;
Simple carbs are sugars that your digestive system break down easily giving you a crash shortly afterward and you’re hungry again.
Complex carbs take 2 - 3 hours to break down, therefore sustaining you.
Think of it like you eating “good food” as keeping your digestive track busy (which gives you energy) long term and “bad food” gives you a boost if you have to get something done quickly (like having coffee to focus on an exam) but you will “pay” for it afterward with the sugar crash if you don’t pair it with something long term.
Carbs are sugars like glucose and sucrose. Starchy carbs like rice, bread and potatoes are complex carbs made up of strings of simple sugars. Carbs are not bad for people like athletes or those who are usually active; it provides a quick source of energy but otherwise try to avoid them as they are high in calories.
carbs are very complicated because there’s a bunch of ways to describe and analyze them. For me, and for simple purposes such as diet, i just think of starchy and fibrous carbohydrates. Starchy (potatoes, pasta, bread, rice…) are bad and you should eat them only when you have working out in your life (or else they just become fat and they stuff you), fibrous (veggies) are better and healthier.
The day i understood carbs I was doing my first half marathon. I remember clearly my legs being in pain, heavy and cold, I was running out of any energy, every step was so hard. Than I drank one of those pocket gels full of carbs. The feeling was incredible. Almost instantly the pain stopped, legs become lighter and i just started picking up speed again.
If you are not doing sports or any activity after eating carbs you are just not using all that energy… so carbs will become fat.