Top 3 Reasons Carbs are NOT Bad!
Carbs are not bad! I feel like the closer the warm months get, the farther away the carbs are … because people start to run away from them.
This is not just a miserable mindset, it is not even healthy. Yes, it is actually not HEALTHY to eliminate all carbohydrates from your diet. With that said, let’s go over the top 3 reasons why consuming carbohydrates as part of your diet is really beneficial.
1) Your metabolism will love you.
Yes, yes it will! Think about your life as a whole and the things that are not necessarily good for you, but can also be harmful in the long run if you eliminate them completely. Let’s use germs as an example, and the fact that although they are disgusting, our bodies could not develop an immunity to anything without them at some point. Studies have been conducted that have shown over time that children who played on dirt, etc., had better immune systems as adults than children who were protected from everything that had germs during their youth.
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 back on carbs to lose weight faster will eventually suffer from weight GAIN once they get back to “normal eating,” and may even gain more than they had to lose in the first place!
Eliminating carbohydrates from your diet will make your metabolism not recognize them so easily and thus 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 … bad! The solution is to educate yourself on how to eat carbohydrates in the most appropriate and healthy way so that they benefit you and definitely do not hurt you.
2) You need the energy!
Count how many times you have heard people on low or no carb diets complain about being tired, lethargic, etc. Now count how many times you have heard people get excited and energetic, all because of their incredible low carb lifestyle. .. exactly. Know this: the proteins you eat can be used for energy, but they are there primarily 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 it is also used as energy at low intensities, such as when you are sleeping. This brings us to carbohydrates and what they provide.
Carbohydrates are used for energy at moderate to higher intensities which, depending on your daily activity level, can be for most of the day … they are also there to signal your body to important things like “your workout is over, so stop breaking down muscle “or” hey I’m here so use me for energy instead of your protein … you need to build and restore your body. ” These things are important and in many cases they happen through insulin levels, in which carbohydrates have a lot of influence depending on the type.
To eliminate this opportunity for carbohydrates is to think that you can “trick” your body into thinking that this is wrong. I have had several clients coming to see me. less prediabetic and simply paying more attention to the types of carbohydrates they are eating and when … this condition has been almost alleviated for them, and this was not even the initial goal they were supposed to achieve!
Are you eating the correct amount for your goals? Ask a professional for recommendations for the best diet options you can make 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 low on fluid or even low on fluid, but would you do this on purpose just because someone told you your gas mileage could go up as a result? No, you wouldn’t. People cut back on carbs because they are desperate to lose weight fast and someone tells them this is the way to do it. Not only is cutting carbs 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 “had to share.” A woman is admitted to the ER with internal complications, specifically with her intestinal tract. After further tests, scans, etc., the problem was found … and it was basically a traffic jam inside his stomach. The cause? Upon further questioning, it was determined that he had been cutting carbs on a certain ketogenic diet to put his body in ketosis and “lose fat fast.” After a situation like this, the person must be reintroduced to carbohydrates so that their body can re-learn how to use / process them and begin the path back to normal and eventually to 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 seems like a great idea thanks to great marketing and terrible information, but people … you have to educate yourself! This is a problem, and if you’re not careful, then the weight loss success you celebrate today could be the toughest health problem you will ever encounter in the future.
Ask questions about carbs and what they can do for you, and if you need a way to go, a custom nutrition design can be your ticket – at least to get you going in the right direction! The main thing to remember is that no matter the goal, this is your life and the conditions you throw into your body must be not only healthy, but also sustainable! Train and eat smarter … get started today, ask questions, get on the right track, and have some oatmeal … maybe even get some sugar in your Starbucks yoca-java-malt-lotta-calafriggin! -mochachino!