For years, we have been inundated with the message that carbs are bad and that in order to lose weight or maintain a healthy weight, we should avoid them. What is a carb? Do we need carbs?
Food consists of 3 macronutrients (fat, protein and carbohydrates) and thousands of micronutrients. We have discussed fat and protein in recent months, and now we turn to understanding carbohydrates. Our body uses two main fuel sources for energy: carbohydrates and fats. It is healthy to have a balance of both for our fuel source, but where weight becomes “out of balance” is in the overconsumption of carbohydrates, thereby not allowing our body to burn fat as a fuel source.
Carbs come from sugars, starches, grains, legumes, vegetables and fruits. Vegetables and fruits are very nutrient-dense, meaning we get a lot of nutrient bang for the calorie buck. The greater activity we have on a daily basis, the more carbohydrates we can consume/burn for fuel. In fact, we need some carbs if we are exercising and working out. The problem comes when we are not very active and don’t burn our carb intake in a day. We want our body to burn carbs at the start of activity, but then we want our body to be able to convert to utilizing fat stores to provide long term energy.
So, if we have an average activity expenditure, some nutrient-dense carbs are good… but if we consume too many carbs and don’t burn them as fuel, we store them fairly quickly as fat. Good protein and fats, with some carbs, such as veggies or a piece of fruit prior to a workout may be just the balance we need to get started with our activity and then utilize fat stores as the activity continues.
