Nutrition 101: Carbs
“I’m staying away from carbs…”
“Drink protein right after your workout…”
“Fats make you fat…”
I’m sure you’ve heard one of the above comments at least once in your lifetime. Nutrition and dieting typically get chalked up to simple catch phrases without an explanation as to why the phrase is important or tangible steps on how to follow through on the concept. These sentences lightly touch on what to eat, how much to eat, and when to eat it all. But they likely leave more questions than answers for you. Don’t worry. We’re here to help clarify a few things.
Today, we’re going to focus on one of the 3 macronutrients mentioned above: carbs. You’ll walk away knowing what they are, how to know how much you should have, and when you should focus on incorporating them into your diet on a daily basis. For this post to be as beneficial as possible, however, you must know the answers to the questions in last week’s post. Go back and read it to get the most out of this week’s discussion.
Carb Sources
Bread, pasta, and pastries.. That’s what most think of when they hear the word “carbs”. What most don’t think of are fruits and vegetables. For the general public, those sources should make up the majority of your carb consumption. They contain vitamins, minerals, and nutrients such as fiber that will enhance your overall health while the carbs from the food give you energy.
Fruits like bananas, grapes, and mangos are higher glycemic carbohydrates. That means they will hit your bloodstream to give you energy quicker than options like berries or peaches, which are lower glycemic. Furthermore, vegetables like potatoes and peas are going to be higher glycemic than options like broccoli or carrots. But how do you decide when to eat a high glycemic carb and when to eat the lower glycemic options?
More importantly, when is it ideal to eat the breads, pastas, and even the pastries, which are also relatively high glycemic?
High vs. Low Glycemic Carb Timing
High glycemic carbs are best to have around your workouts. A banana is a great option to include into your pre-workout snack. It will give you a quick wave of energy that you can ride for your training. Foods like breads, potatoes, rice, and pasta would be great to include into your post-workout meals because they’ll provide a rich source of carbs that reach your muscles quickly, which will help you recover. Opt for whole grain high glycemic carb sources when looking for things like breads and pastas. These will also provide more of those vitamins, minerals and nutrients that I mentioned above. Low glycemic carb options are ideal to have throughout the rest of the day.
Balancing your high and low glycemic carb intake in this way will help to keep your blood sugar levels regular. High glycemic carbs will give you energy quickly, but they will also be used quickly because carbs are our bodies’ preferred source of energy. If you’ve ever had a sugarcrash before, you know what I’m talking about!
Low glycemic carbs stick around with you for a longer period of time. They’ll give you energy that will sustain you throughout the day as opposed to quick sources of energy for workouts or recovery.
How Much Should I Have?
As we discussed last week, the amount of food you “should” eat is situational and personal. Therefore, the amount of carbs you should have also depends on your goals and lifestyle. Splitting your macronutrient intake into a percentage of your total calorie intake helps to grasp how much you should eat.
If your goal is to run a sub 3-hour marathon, and you’re training in a way to achieve that goal, 60-65% of your calories should be coming from carbs as you use the high and low glycemic strategies mentioned above to strategize what you eat and when.
If your goal is to put on muscle… roughly 50-55% of your calories should be from carbs to fuel the resistance training that you’re doing.
If your goal is to lose weight and maintain muscle, you’ll likely need to make about 45% of your calories come from carbs to increase protein intake and stave off muscle loss.
If your goal is to simply have more energy throughout the day, and you haven’t really started your training program yet, you could start with having 40-45% of your calories come from carbs. Use the high vs. low glycemic strategies, and adjust that percentage a bit to find what method provides you with the energy you’re looking for.
There are countless scenarios I could go over. Ultimately, carbs will provide energy, key nutrients, and help with recovery. But there is no one-size-fits when it comes to how many carbs you should have in a day. So now, we’re back to square one with our goals and lifestyle conversation. If you answered the questions from last week, add this knowledge to your repertoire as you continue to build your optimal diet. Next week, we’ll dive into another popular, but highly misunderstood macronutrient: Protein. Stay tuned!
Perseguir la mejoria!
- Craig Conley
