Carbohydrates and Weight Loss
Unveiling the Truth Behind the Role of Carbs in Achieving Your Ideal Body
Do carbohydrate foods make you put on weight?
There is a lot of confusion among people regarding carbohydrates and weight loss.
Some people seem to think that carbohydrate foods contribute to weight gain. The simple answer is that you can gain weight if you eat too much of any particular macronutrient. Some carbohydrate foods will help you lose weight and body fat, and some will give you more calories than you ever wanted, contributing to weight gain.
It’s a matter of eating the right carbohydrate foods most of the time. However, the fact is that unrefined carbohydrate foods are essential for long-term health and essential as part of a fat loss and weight management healthy eating plan.
Refined or unrefined?
Not all carbohydrate foods are the same.
I used to think that complex carbohydrates were the good carbs and simple carbohydrates were the bad ones. But it’s not just about simple or complex; it’s about refined and unrefined carbohydrates.
When you look at a field of rice or wheat or rows of planted corn or walk through an orchard with fresh fruit hanging off the trees, you’re looking at plant foods as nature intended them to be eaten.
Unfortunately, many of these natural foods are processed and refined by food manufacturers. When a plant food is processed or refined, most of its fibre is stripped along with many nutrients.
Processed and refined carbohydrates are generally a poor source of fibre, have very little or no nutritional value, and can be calorie-rich. As a result, they leave us unsatisfied, stimulating our appetite and wanting more because they are easily digested.
If you consume more and more of these rapidly absorbed calories and go over and above your recommended daily calorie intake, you will gain weight.
So when trying to lose weight and reduce body fat, try to minimise or avoid processed and refined carbohydrates such as:
- white bread
- white flour pasta
- white rice
- refined and sugary breakfast cereals
- soft drinks (soda)
- cakes
- biscuits
- crackers
- potato chips
- candy
On the other hand, unrefined carbohydrates from whole plant foods are nutrient-rich and low in calories keeping you satisfied. They are also higher in fibre and water and take a lot longer to digest, keeping you fuller for longer and providing the body with a steady supply of energy over a longer period.
For example, we use a wood burner to provide heat in winter. Think of your body as a wood burner; your fuel choice is either paper (refined carbohydrates) or logs (unrefined carbohydrates). If you throw paper onto the fire, you will get a big burst of flames and very little heat. But throw on the logs, and you would get a steady flame and heat for hours. In other words, unrefined carbohydrates provide you with longer-lasting fuel.
Losing weight and reducing body fat
When it comes to losing weight and body fat, you should fill up on unrefined carbohydrates such as:
- vegetables
- fruits
- whole grains
- legumes
- nuts (a small hand full a day is quite sufficient)
Try whole-grain bread, pasta and rice rather than white. Brown usually tells you that the grain is whole and still contains most of its fibre. These options can be more filling than their white counterparts.
At the end of the day, if you want to eat a diet with health-promoting foods, it would be wise to include plant foods like vegetables, fruits, legumes and whole grains, which means you need to eat carbohydrates.
Ever since I can remember, my diet has consisted of far more unrefined carbohydrates, and I have always maintained a healthy weight. Who said a high carbohydrate diet is unsuitable for losing body fat or managing weight? You just need to eat the right types of carbohydrates.
Eating unrefined foods from whole-food sources is the key to carbohydrates and weight loss.
For more information on carbohydrates, click to view an article from Precision Nutrition - All about carbohydrates.