In selecting a dietary coursework they must be very honest about the limitations of the human body, and respectful of what our body needs. Proper weight loss must follow a sensible and realistic progression and also incorporate a realistically sustainable program of resistance exercise. Before even delving in to the workings of body fat reduction through carbohydrate modification I must stress that without a long term exercise program, it is not going to yield long term results.
One of most common dietary questions that arise with my clients, as a personal trainer is the idea of carbohydrate intake - how much is - and should they eat them at all. Firstly it is important to acknowledge that the even the most motivated among us cannot sustain a diet that calls for severe restrictions on their carbohydrate intake for a prolonged period of time. It is basically impossible to maintain.
The truth is that when it comes to carbohydrates our bodies still have yet to come to terms with 21st century life. The human body is not made to handle a large influx of carbohydrates at once. Here's why: Naturally occurring carbohydrates all are very high in dietary fiber. Dietary fiber is the term for several materials that make up the parts of plants your body cannot digest. Its composition promotes satiety by slowing gastric emptying, leading to an overall decrease in the amount of food you are able to ingest. (As an example- consider how filling a bowl of oatmeal can be, that filling sensation that stops you from eating a large amount is due to the high fiber content. Low fiber content foods such as pasta, however can be eaten in relatively larger quantities due to the low dietary fiber that such foods contain.)
However with the advent of food processing technology in the 19th century, meant to supply a large amount of food to an ever increasing population in the Western world, they were able to make foods 'light and tasty' by removing significant amounts of the naturally occurring fiber. Foods cook faster and more can be consumed at a time, which equated to consumers buying more of it. Consider the contents of the average human diet before the advent of speedy foods outlets such as Krispy Kreme, McDonald's and other speedy chains, as well as mass produced items that were two times home made, such as cookies, cakes and pastries. The refined carbohydrates of today were not around yet and more importantly, neither was prevalent obesity and the slew of dietary related diseases such as Type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease, all of which make up the leading causes of death in our world today. The trend of the past few years has been to restrict carbohydrate intake as a means to weight management and overall health improvement, however there's major flaws with this approach, as carbohydrates in general are viewed as the cause of obesity, not the refined carbohydrates that are truly the major culprits.
Carbohydrates cannot be continuously restricted as they are necessary for so plenty of metabolic functions. Carbs are broken down in to glucose (a form of sugar) and is the primary fuel source of the cells in your body, including your muscles and your brain. If you don't eat you will feel fatigued and experience a very noticeable loss of energy. You will also have a hard time concentrating and maintaining your focus, since your brain will literally be low on fuel. To combat a low carbohydrate intake, your body is forced to burn off valuable muscle to fuel itself. This method, called gluconeogensis, is not a nice thing at all, as muscle mass plays an important role in the overall health of the human body and you don't require to lose it. Plenty of proclaimed the effectiveness of the low carb diets, however the weight loss that they saw on the scale was mainly water and muscle. Consequently, even though they lost some weight they still did not get the toned and firm look that they were seeking since they lost so much muscle in the method. So they have established the importance of carbohydrates as our body's primary fuel source and negated the idea of taking plenty of of them out of our diet. Now they are going to look at what the real issues are regarding healthy carbohydrate management and proper weight control.
Refined carbohydrates are usually made from white flour products and have a high glycemic index. Foods with a high glycemic index require the pancreas to secrete large amounts of insulin to break them down. These large spikes causes the body to over compensate for this sudden rise in insulin, so you experience a short term energy boost, followed by a drastic drop in sugar low that creates a sense of urgent hunger causing you to gravitate toward similar foods that elicit the same response. (Sound familiar). The pancreas then has to work overtime making insulin to store glucose and triglycerides and depending on your genetics; this can set the stage for adult onset diabetes. This up and down experience with blood sugar levels also gives rise a condition known as hypoglycemia. Two of the unfortunate side effects of hypoglycemia is again that urgent and unbearable hunger and a require to eat much more calories than the body needs. The result- you get fat.
Eating plenty of carbohydrates, which is so easy with today's low fiber refined carb sources, can indeed make you fat. When you ingest excess amounts of carbohydrates, your blood sugar levels increase triggering your pancreas to release insulin, like they said before. Insulin controls where blood sugar is stored. A number of it is used for energy, and some is stored in the muscles as glycogen (the stored form of sugar). Since your body can store only a sure amount as glycogen, the excess is stored as fat. Insulin also prevents existing fat from being used as energy. Having continuously high insulin levels means continually storing the carbohydrates as fat while keeping the fat you already have. These two aforementioned factors are the among the main reasons two thirds of the population of the US is fat!
The Trans- Fat Link
Note also that most of the refined carbohydrates today are made with trans fatty acids. There is a great deal of research that has shown that trans fatty acids (usually listed as partially hydrogenated oils) can elevate your bad cholesterol levels and increase your risk of diabetes and heart disease. There's also some studies that suggest that it may damages blood vessels. Crafty manufacturers don't list it but fortunately legislation is being passed to force them to do so. What carbohydrate sources contain trans fatty acids you ask? You may not like the answer- Italian Fries, donuts, potato chips and even crackers. You can find them by reading the ingredient listing, if you see partially hydrogenated oil listed put it down.
The other reason carbohydrates is given a bad rap is the other deadly nasty indulgence of the average American- soda and fruit juice. They all know (I hope) that soda is bad but so are '100% natural juices'. Again here you have a large amount of carbohydrate in the form of corn syrup and table sugar with no fiber- so you can drink it forever whereas you could never eat the dozens of fruits used to make two bottle of fruit juice because of their fiber content. I should also mention the relationship between simple sugars and mucus formation. The biochemical name for mucus is mucopolysaccharide which means "mucus of plenty of sugars." Mucus is basically formed through the linking together of sugar molecules. If you have a condition, such as asthma in which mucus is part of the problem, you can do yourself a lot of good by minimizing your intake of simple sugars and refined foods.
Author, personal trainer
NYC and champion natural bodybuilder, Kevin Richardson is the
founder of the Naturally Intense System of Diet & Exercise. Read
his blogs, download Kevin's free ebooks and learn more about his
unique NYC personal training service
at his official website.
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