Good Carbs, Bad Carbs

After a great seminar put on at Fit It In Fitness by TLS Wellness Coach & FII Nutrition Coach Melinda Osbourne I wanted to share some take home points.

Over-consumption of carbohydrates is the leading cause of obesity, adult onset diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Obesity is ultimately a leading cause of death in our country.

It is true, your body demands carbohydrates to maintain basic cell function.
Recommended daily amount of carbs is 65% of your diet. But what kind?

Let's start with Simple Carbohydrates vs. Complex Carbohydrates.
Simple carbs break down to simple sugars and have little to no nutrition value. Your body breaks down these carbs very quickly which is the reason having too much is not good. The fast breakdown of simple carbs effects blood sugar and insulin levels in the body.  The excess carbs will be stored as body fat. and eating these regularly will lead to many other sugar cravings.

Examples:
White Flour pasta
White flour bread
white potatoes
table sugar
juice
most packaged cereals

Complex carbs include fiber, vitamins and minerals. Because they have a much more complex chain structure they take longer to break down. They are used for energy over a longer period of time therefore sustain blood sugar level and energy.

Examples:
spinach
yams
broccoli
beans
lentils
whole grain pasta, cereal

In our seminar Melinda gave us an example of a white pasta:
One serving included 65 grams of carbohydrates and 2 grams of fiber. THAT IS 50% OF YOUR DAILY CARB ALLOWANCE!!
To combat the quick breakdown of these simple carbohydrates be sure to add fiber rich foods to your pasta serving.

She then gave us an example of Dreamfields Pasta (a whole wheat pasta):
41 grams of carbs, 5 grams of fiber. You'll notice less carbohydrates than the white pasta and more than twice the fiber. This will help maintain blood sugar levels. The added protein also helps in the carb breakdown process.

The key to losing body fat is to control your blood glucose levels; how fast sugar enters and leaves the body. Eating foods low in carbs and sugar will help keep this in check.

Tips:
1) Eat 2-3 cups of veggies with every meal.
2) eat 4-6 oz of protein with every meal.
3) Stay away from simple carbohydrates for energy.
4) Start eating sweet potatoes instead of white potatoes, high fiber cereals, wheat pasta instead of white.
5) Eat every 2-3 hours to avoid sugar cravings.

Thank you Melinda!