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Carbohydrates: What You must know

By: famoustrainer This scares me to death, every day you walk down the street it
is becoming more and more apparent that the average
person is becoming larger and this trend has escalated over
recent years.

Why are they getting fatter? Here are some reasons...

* Less incidental activity
* Automated and computerized lifestyle
* Longer working hours and less leisure
* Increased consumption of processed foods
* Our food servings are larger than ever

Being overweight, or obese, has now moved from a social
nuisance and domestic embarrassment to an official disease.
The American Heart Association has announced obesity is a
major risk for heart disease.

Obesity itself has become a major and dangerous epidemic.
More than 70% of US adults are overweight and that figure is
rapidly increasing.

What do most people do to rid their body of unwanted fat?
They diet! Dieting is now a trillion dollar industry and just
about every month a new diet is announced.

If you do have weight problems how do you find a diet that is
safe, effective and sustainable?

What you do is try to find a diet that includes a variety of foods
that you can live with comfortably. You have to take a long-
term view and include plenty of exercise.

A good diet is one that supplies all of the essential vitamins
and minerals, and is not high in fat or protein.

Research on people, who have successfully lost a lot of
weight and kept it off long term, shows that the vast majority
succeeded by consuming a low fat diet high in fibre coupled
with strength training and cardiovascular activity.

Be wary of diets that

* Ban a specific food group
* Promise a quick fix
* Replace a balanced meal with a drink or a snack bar
* Make recommendations based on single studies
* Make recommendations to help sell a single product

Excess weight does not appear overnight and nor will it
disappear overnight! In fact the faster you lose weight, the
more likely you are to pile the pounds back on.

Seek out a program that will help you maintain long-term
body fat losses by providing attainable solutions such as a
program that promotes lifestyle changes, healthy eating and
regular exercise.

Regular exercise is important (i.e. strength training) as it
burns fat, boosts your metabolism and also increases your
energy levels.

Dietary changes can lead to initial weight loss, but this is only
for the short term. Exercise is essential for maintaining weight
loss for the long term.

Now let's take a closer look at what food is made up of and
then you will have a good idea of what to look for in your daily
eating plan. Firstly we need a wide range of nutrients to
perform various functions for a healthy life.

These nutrients include carbohydrates, proteins and fat and
are all present in the food we eat on a daily basis.

The foods containing these nutrients are cereals, legumes,
nuts, vegetables, fruits, milk products and flesh foods (fish,
meat and poultry).

We need all these nutrients to live and thrive and since we
receive them through the food we eat, our food must be well
balanced and in the proper proportions. Food is a fuel; the
body requires this fuel for energy, which is measured in fats,
carbohydrate and protein.

Each of these nutrients provides different amounts of energy
and these are measured in calories.

Nutrient Calories per Gram

Carbohydrate 4
Protein 4
Fat 9

Let's look at carbohydrates first, carbohydrates supply energy
for our body, they provide fibre for the prevention of disease
and taste and texture to food. They are found in cereals,
potatoes, fruits and vegetables.

They come in two basic forms, simple and complex. Simple
carbs are easily identified by their taste and are sweet.
Complex carbs, such as potatoes are pleasant to the taste
buds, but are not sweet.

They are then divided into two groups, high fibre and low
fibre.

High-fibre foods are the healthiest choices for nutrition and
the intake of these foods is associated with a lower incidence
of cancer and diabetes. Carbohydrates supply the sort of
calories easily burned during cardiovascular exercise.

They are often wrongly feared and considered fattening, but
the most important factor in weight control is balancing the
energy (calories) consumed.
Please remember:

Energy In is more than Energy Out = Weight gain
Energy In is equal to Energy Out = Weight maintenance
Energy In is less than Energy Out = Weight loss

Different foods affect the ability to exercise at different levels.
High levels of exercise (cardio and strength training) require
carbohydrate as a fuel source; at lower levels it is fat.

A lack of carbohydrate in the diet will lead to fatigue, the
inability to exercise effectively, and excess fat consumption.
When our food is digested, carbohydrates are broken down
into simple sugars.

These sugars are absorbed by the body and used by the
muscles or stored as glycogen in the muscles and liver. As
our glycogen storage capacity is limited, carbohydrate needs
to be continually topped up by the foods we eat.

But the body has an unlimited storage capacity for fat!

The average person is extremely vulnerable to fad diets and
extreme dieting behaviours. The low carbohydrate diet is one
of the latest eating plans to hit the streets.

This current diet craze is very popular but there are safer and
more effective methods based on scientific research, to
reduce body fat levels.

Low carbohydrate dieting is simply wrong.

Why is this? Just as a car runs better on a certain fuel, so
does the human body. Unfortunately the latest low-
carbohydrate fad diets are not the fuel mix the human body
was designed to run on.

Carbohydrates contain 4 calories per gram, whereas fats
contain 9 calories per gram. For weight loss, the priority is to
decrease total calorie intake. Reducing the amount of fat in
the diet will make the biggest difference in reducing total daily
calorie intake and hence weight loss.

Carbohydrate intake is not fattening, excess calorie intake is
fattening.

If you aren't having enough carbohydrates in your diet you will
experience:

* Fatigue due to low blood sugar levels inadequate intake
of vitamins and minerals
* Low fibre intake, which may affect bowel movements
* 'Bad' breath due to the breakdown products of fats
(called ketones)

The bottom line for carbohydrates and weight loss is to:

* Try to balance carbohydrate intake with activity levels
* Maintain energy levels by eating carbohydrate rich foods on
a regular basis
* Carbohydrate rich foods are normally low in fat and
nutrient-rich

A real weight loss program includes all the food groups,
strength training, and low-level aerobics, a slight decrease in
your daily calorie levels and a program that can be followed
for life.

In conclusion try to achieve a balanced diet, eating a
balanced variety of foods will help you to feel great every day,
ensure better long-term health and improve weight control.

Article Source: http://www.lifeweightloss.com

Gary Matthews is the author of the popular fitness eBooks Maximum Weight Loss and Maximum Weight Gain. Please visit www.maximumfitness.com right now for your 'free' weight loss or muscle building e-courses.

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