Do we rely too much on carbs? The answer is a resounding YES! They’re quick and easy to consume and manufacturers produce carbohydrate-based snacks and foods by the millions of tonnes. This, in my opinion, is one of the major contributory factors to obesity. One would assume the problem is that we’re consuming too much fat, and this would be an easy assumption, but in fact we’re consuming far too many wheat-based carbohydrates that convert into sugar, and not enough good fats and protein.
Too much energy through carbohydrates not enough fats?
Walk into any convenience food shop at lunchtime and take a look at your choices for a healthy lunch. Almost everything is wrapped in bread of some fashion: sliced bread, baguettes, pitta, tortillas. The alternative is a cold salad or soup if you’re lucky, and even then the soup is usually served with a bread roll. There’s no respite! Ask somebody on a Gluten Free diet what they do for lunch if there isn’t a canteen and they’ll share their pain!
The problem with carbs
Bread is delicious, there’s no doubt about it. Toast it, fill it, wrap it, fry it…it’s all tasty. Then there’s the fillings or accompaniments. But do the maths: by the time you’ve totted it all up your sandwich-based lunch can actually add up to more than ¼ of your daily food allowance, and it’s unlikely you’ll stop there. Perhaps you’ll have a bar of chocolate, a packet of crisps, or even a little dessert, all of which are laden with carbohydrates. Overall, your little lunch may well have added up to around 1000 calories! Don’t get me wrong, I don’t count calories but you can see where I’m going with this.
Put simply, carbs become sugar in the body. If you’re not eating obviously sugary foods then that’s great, but even the bread based sandwich will become sugar in the body by the time you’ve digested it. Since the sugar turns into glucose, and unspent glucose turns into fat, you need to ensure you expend enough energy to counteract the carbohydrates you consumed or you’re really consuming too much glucose!
Efficient energy sources
Proteins and fats on the other hand are amazingly efficient. They are still calories, but they take longer to digest and keep you fuller for longer, making them more efficient. When you consume fat and protein over carbs, your body will turn to the fat reserves to seek energy in the interim periods so you begin to burn excess fat. In this way eating good fats can help to burn the bad fat.
Additionally, your energy requirements should be supplied from vegetables of all varieties: sweet potato, butternut squash, green beans etc. All these contain carbohydrates and will release energy, but just not as quickly as the cereal-heavy foods do.
I’m not going to say it’s easy because it’s not, and for the first week you’ll crave the sugar your body is used to receiving through the carbs. After eating a protein, fat and vegetable based meal, you’ll be desperate for a sugar rush as the body is no longer getting a quick sugar fix from carbs. You may even suffer from mood swings since your body is going through a withdrawal of its dependency on sugar, but be patient and you’ll come through it. Even in just a week, you’ll notice the difference on the scales.
To Carb Or Not To Carb? My answer is a resounding: NO!
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Kumud Gandhi is a Nutritional Food Scientist bestselling Author, Broadcaster, and Keynote Speaker on the subject of nutritional health for productivity & performance in the workplace. In 2010 Kumud founded ‘The Cooking Academy’ a cookery school that focusses on cooking for nutritional health and wellbeing. Kumud regularly presents to international audiences on a variety of topics such as ‘Eating for Immunity and a Lifetime of Wellness’. She is an expert in the field of Wellness in the Workplace and works with organizations to create transformational change in employee health & well-being through nutrition and health coaching.
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