Is Carbohydrate A Villain in Our Body ?

In this modern era where many people are not only health conscious but also appearance conscious, they take Carbohydrate as A Villain in our body.

Many articles or diet program scrap or discourage carbohydrate and blame it as the cause of weight gain. But is it really true that carbohydrate is bad for our body ?

Let's take a look further

What is Carbohydrate ?

Carbohydrates are the sugars, starches and fibers found in grains, fruits, vegetables and milk products.

This is one of basic food groups that's important in our healthy life.

Carbohydrate is one of the three macronutrients -  the source of energy and calories. The body need this macronutrient from the meal since our body cannot produce it on its own.

What is the function of Carbohydrate ?

It provides fuel for the central nervous systems and energy for working muscles.

Carbohydrate is also important for brain functioning. They are an influence of mood and memory as well as quick energy source.

What are the type of Carbohydrate ?

Basically there are two categories of Carbohydrate. SIMPLE VS COMPLEX

SIMPLE CARBOHYDRATE

It's digested and absorbed more quickly and easily than complex one.

It contains one or two sugars, fructose (found in fruit) and galactose (found in milk products)

Simple Carbs found in candy, soda and syrup. However, these food are processed and refined sugars, no minerals, vitamins and it's called empty calories and can lead to weight gain.

It can lead to spikes in blood sugar level and sugar high 

COMPLEX CARBOHYDRATE

It takes longer time to digest and absorb.

It contains more than 3 sugars. They often found in starchy foods include potatoes, sweet potatoes, corn, beans, legumes, lentils, wholegrain breads, cereals.

Complex Carbs provide more sustained energy. 

How our body absorbs Carbohydrate ?

In body, carbs are broken into glucose by liver and carried through blood stream accompanied by insulin and converted into energy for basic body functioning and physical activity.

If the glucose is not immediately needed for energy, the body stores up to 2,000 calories in the liver and skeletal muscles in the form of glycogen.

Once glycogen stores are full, it transforms into fat. 

If our body is insufficient with carbs intake, the body will consume protein for fuel.

Using protein instead of carbohydrate as fuel will put kidney into stress in the long term.

Fibers is essential in our body system, it helps in digestion and promote bowel movement and decrease the risk of diabetes.

Source of fibers are fruits, vegetables and grains.

What Carbohydrate that's good for us ?

GOOD CARBS Vs BAD CARBS

GOOD CARBS

Complex carbs such as whole grains, fruits, vegetables, legumes, are considered good because they are not only processed slowly but contains other nutrients too.

BAD CARBS

Bad carbs are commonly found in highly processed food, soda, white bread, white rice and other white flour food. These are simple carbs and no other additional nutrients.

What are the benefits of Carbohydrate ?

1. Mental Health

People on high fat and low carbs diets have more anxiety, depression and anger than those who are on high carb and low fat diets. Carbs help with the production of serotonin in brain.

Carbs may help in memory too.

A study had shown that overweight woman who cut carbs entirely from their diets have worse cognitive skills, visual attention and spatial memory than those who are on low calorie diets with healthy amount of carbs 

2. Weight Loss

Though mostly people blame carbs as a source of weight gain, the right kind of carbs help us to lose and maintain the healthy weight. It's because good carbs especially whole grains and vegetables with skins contain fibers.

Studies also shown that even though low carb diets can lose weight in short term but in long term they will be back in a similar place.

3. Hearth Health

Fibers also lower cholesterol. As our digestion improves, the liver pulls cholesterol from the blood to create more bile acid and reducing the amount of bad cholesterol.

What happen if our body is deficient in Carbohydrate ?

The body gets no energy, the central nervous system will suffer and may cause dizziness, mental and physical weakness. And when the body has insufficient carbs as fuel, it will take protein as fuel and puts stress on the kidneys.

TRUTH AND MYTHS ABOUT CARBOHYDRATES

Myth 1 : CARBS MAKE US GAIN WEIGHT
Fact : Yes, if you cut carbs you will lose weight because we take large amounts of calories. While it's true that few kgs drop off from our weight scale, it may be water weight.
Low carb diets may not be the answer for long term.
The real problem is not the carbs but the portion that we have and added sugars that we take from somewhere else. It's after all alright to eat one slice of bread or small portion of rice.

Myth 2 : BREAD AND PASTA ARE ENEMY
Fact : they are not enemy, if you can control your portion and know what types of grains that we pick.
Choose more wholegrain types of bread or pasta and if there's no choice for that, you can have a small portion of white bread or pasta and filling it with loads of vegetables and other fibers sources.

Myth 3 : ALL CARBS ARE EQUAL
Fact : As mentioned before, there are two types of carbs, simple and complex carbs.
Choose more complex carbs like starchy vegetables, wholegrains, legumes, lentils. These have more fibers and more filling than simple carbs.

Myth 4 : LOW CARBS DIETS ARE HEALTHY
Fact : Just because our diet is low in carbs doesn't mean it's healthy. Replacing all fats with bagels and pasta isn't good option too and cutting out carbs by eating nothing but bun-less double cheeseburger isn't healthy either.
Carbs are our body's preferred source of energy and not having enough can lead to brain fog. Healthy carb-rich foods provide essential nutrients and vitamins.

In conclusion, it comes down to finding the right balance of mostly whole and fresh food.
If we are planning to switch up our diet, we can start by cutting unhealthy processed carbs and sugars and making lifestyle changes by eating more balanced diet.