Carbs - Friend or Foe?

Let’s face it… not everyone has the confidence of Derek Zoolander but we all want to look good naked. We’re constantly bombarded with images and videos telling us what that should look like; but beauty is in the eye of the beholder. It’s true! Self-love and self-esteem would be an entirely different topic so I’ll keep this to the point of a specific diet trend.  

No matter what fitness program you follow, hopefully CrossFit :), the workouts will only get you so far. As the saying goes “abs are made in the kitchen.” So what’s the secret to getting abs? A sustainable, healthy diet. Sustainable “diet” solutions should last a lifetime – not 7 or 30 days. 

Let’s tackle the issue of low-carb or carb-elimination diets.

First, what is a carb? Without getting into the weeds and scientific jargon, a carb or carbohydrate is essentially one of the major macronutrients; it can be simple or complex carbohydrate molecule depending on the chemical structure and digestibility of it. There are three types: sugar, starch, and fiber.

I don’t want to turn this into a dissertation, but carbohydrates are essential for basic bodily functions! Carbs are essential for brain health and function! The Institute of Medicine’s Food and Nutrition board asserts the brain alone requires minimum 130 grams of carbs for proper function. The war should be against added, refined sugars not the naturally-occurring sugars or carbohydrates. The American Heart Association explains “When you eat carbs, your body breaks them down into simple sugars, which are absorbed into the bloodstream. As the sugar level rises in your body, the pancreas releases a hormone called insulin. Insulin is needed to move sugar from the blood into the cells, where the sugar can be used as a source of energy.” 

Why was the Atkins diet and now Keto diet so popular? These are elimination diets primarily avoiding carbs or allowing very few carbs. These are appealing diets because while it cuts out lots of carbs it has no restriction of fatty foods or foods high in saturated fat (like bacon). Interesting fact; The Ketogenic diet was originally established as a means to manage symptoms for those with seizure disorders. So why are people without these disorders drawn to choosing this particular diet? Most likely because of the promise of immediate results. Like The Most Interesting Man in the World says “I don’t always diet, but when I do, I expect the results to be immediate and spectacular.” 

We see near immediate success because of a few reasons: (1) according to Medical News Today when we eat carbs, the energy we don’t use is stored as glycogen. Each gram of glycogen holds 3g of water. Cutting down carbs is a quick way to use up the glycogen stores and therefore loss of water weight, (2) losing muscle mass  and therefore loss of weight, and (3) removal of the refined carbs and processed foods that are high in calories but minimal nutritional value will be reflected in weight loss as well. 

That’s the basics so let’s talk about how carbs relate to fitness and performance.

Have you tried a low-carb diet and felt low energy, fatigue, brain fog, or felt your workouts have been a struggle? Carbs are muscle and protein-sparing. Our body’s main source of fuel is carbs. If you don’t consume enough carb in your daily diet your body will break down the muscle to turn them into carbs. In essence, low-carb or carb-elimination can and will cause muscle breakdown hindering muscle growth and lower your energy.  

Dietetics majors will say that especially for higher intensity training (i.e CrossFit and other athletics) low-carb would not be recommended. It is actually recommended that about half of our daily caloric intake come from carbs – the right type of carbs. These carbohydrates include, but not limited to; whole wheat breads/pasta, fruits, vegetables, legumes, and dairy products. All of these foods contain carbs, while also providing essential vitamins and minerals for overall health and wellness. 

Carb Timing. Now that we know how our body uses carbs as energy and we need to replenish our glycogen stores, when do we eat? We can discuss meal timing another day but for now let’s stick to timing carb intake. There may be a lot of factors that can affect it individually like last meal time, sleep, medications, type and length of exercise, and several others, but generally the body tolerates carbs best during and after physical activity and even more so with higher intensity activity. The best window for carb tolerance is within 3 hours post-workout.  

Above, I called out the three types of carbs but let’s see when the best time to eat those types would be. For fiber, you can eat often and any time of day. Examples of these foods can be vegetables, beans, legumes, peas, and fruit. Starchy carbs like spouted breads and pastas, corn, sweet potatoes, long grain rice, oats, and quinoa are best served during that three-hour post-workout window. Refined sugars are the sugary sweets, fruit juices, sports drinks, soda, dates, figs, raisins and other processed food that should be limited to small portions, rare occasions or within the three-hour post-workout window. Within this window these may give your body a quick boost and speed up recovery but outside of that these foods are empty calories and don’t do much for health. We should be asking ourselves what is this food doing for me? 

Don’t get me wrong, I’m no saint and I love me some sweets too. Pass me the Reese’s Cups or Tonight Dough from Ben and Jerry’s… but these treats should be few and far between.

The big takeaway from all of this should be that carbs should not be eliminated from your diet (unless a medical professional or dietician recommend it) and remember they are required for even basic bodily and brain function. So, it’s not Carbs – it’s the types of carbs.

Sources:

Medical News

Heart Association

Precision Nutrition

Dietetics majors