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CARBOHYDRATES
Many
of us cut our adult teeth on the idea that carbs are bad for us. Untrue!!
Carbs are essential and offer an abundance of great phytonutrients including
antioxidants, vitamins, minerals and more. Yay for carbs!
As a society, we tend to lump our carbs into one big bread basket, but the diversity here is worth exploring. You might hear an athlete talking about cutting carbs - they're referring to grain carbs and other starchy carbs - because their diet is chock full of carbs like asparagus, zucchini, lettuce, spinach, kale, cucumber, mushrooms and more. Carbs are much more than just bread and pasta.
Carbohydrates are the body's preferred source of energy. As your body functions - from involuntary tasks like blinking, breathing and basic brain power to more complex tasks like walking, talking, and exercising, it's burning carbohydrates as fuel. In the absence of plentiful carbs, it will turn to fats and burn them - only in extreme circumstances will the body make use of protein as fuel (catabolism).
Now let's talk about the different types of carbohydrates. There are two - simple and complex. The simple carbs provide a quick boost of energy, via natural sugar. Examples of simple carbs are fruit, vegetables, and milk products. On the undesirable side (meaning: will not help you reach your goals) - traditional white pasta, white bread, candy, soda, cake, etc. It's important to note that fruit, while a 'sugar' is a healthy part of any diet and brings with it the added benefit of fiber.
Complex carbs provide time-release energy - they keep us feeling full longer, and keep our brains energized and focused. Also known as 'starchy' carbs, examples are beans, legumes, potatoes, sweet potatoes, cereal grains, quinoa, etc. The complex carbs take longer to digest, stretching out the availability of food energy, keeping blood sugar levels, well, level.
So how many carbs, and what kind, should you be incorporating into your healthy eating? Number one point of fact is that your carbs should be unrefined. No white junk - that's white bread, white pasta, white sugar. It should be noted, however, that there are white varieties that are perfectly acceptable - you'll know them (bread and pasta) by their ingredient labels - "unbleached whole white wheat". Yes, there is such a thing. (Yay!)
I've listed a variety of carbs below, but the "how much" largely depends on your lifestyle and your goals. There is no one-size-fits-all when it comes to macronutrient ratios (how many of your daily calories (Learn about caloric needs here) come from each macronutrient - protein, carbohydrate, and fat), but a good place to start for most of us is to simply include 2-3 serving of fruit (simple carb), 2-3 servings of starchy carbs (rice, quinoa, sweet potato, bread, pasta), and 5-6 servings of vegetables (simple carbs) each day. Your goal is to load your plate with color. Not only is it more appealing, but you'll get a wider variety of vitamins and minerals.
Healthy Carbohydrates
|
Simple Carbohydrates |
Serving Size |
|
Apple |
1 small fruit |
|
Strawberries |
5 berries |
| Grapefruit | 1/2 fruit |
| Blueberries | 1/2 cup |
| Banana | 1/2 fruit |
| Zucchini | 1 cup |
| Asparagus | 1 cup |
| Salad Greens (lettuce, cabbage, spinach, kale) | 1 cup |
| Milk | 1 cup |
|
Complex Carbohydrates |
|
|
Potato |
4 oz |
|
Sweet Potato |
4 oz |
| Brown Rice | 1/2 - 1 cup |
| Quinoa | 1/2 - 1 cup |
| Beans | 1/2 - 1 cup |
| Pasta (whole grain or quinoa) | 3/4 - 1 cup |
| Whole Grain Bread | 1-2 slices |
|
Why is there a range on some serving sizes? |
|
Downloads and Custom Plans. Recipe For Fitness, offers a variety of nutrition plans as downloads, just choose the caloric-goal that's right for you. If you want a custom nutritional plan, designed for you and that will adjust with your progress, contact us.
