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Guide to Meal Planning
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Demo The VitaBot Meal Planner Now!Carbohydrates
Carbohydrates are your body's source for fuel and energy. The food you eat provides the carbs you need for energy.
Two of the major groups of carbohydrates are starch and sugars. Examples of natural sugars are fructose (fruit sugar) and lactose (milk sugar). Your body converts the carbohydrates you eat into glucose. Commonly called "blood sugar" it is the most immediate form of energy your body uses. It is the only source of energy your brain uses. Because many low-carb diets keep glucose at very low levels, many people who first choose this eating approach complain of fatigue and foggy-headed thinking.
Many nutritionists prescribe a diet of 40% - 60% carbohydrates. Caution should be used when choosing carbohydrates because many sources also contain high amounts of fats. In addition to natural sugars, starches provide a major source of carbs in your diet. Most people think of potatoes, bread, pasta, and rice when thinking of starches. Also consider oats, sweet potatoes and other sources of complex carbohydrates.
Diabetics must constantly watch their intake of carbs because of the impact that carbs have on glucose (blood sugar) levels. You may know that diabetics check their blood sugar with pocket testing kits to monitor their blood sugar level.
A good example of how the body uses carbohydrates as an energy source is when you exercise. As your exercise period begins, your body uses whatever glucose is in your blood. When that is depleted glycogen, a form of carb stored in the muscles and liver, is used as the fuel source. After about 40 minutes of intense exercise, elliptical, tread mill, running, etc., store body fat becomes your body's primary fuel source.
As you eat carbohydrates throughout the day, any amount that is not needed for fuel is stored as body fat. This is particularly true when you eat foods that have simple sugars or very processed starches. These enter the blood stream quickly and are meant to be used for energy quickly. If you aren't burning these calories immediately your body coverts those calories to fat right then. When you drink a soft drink while reading this article most, if not all, of those calories go right to body fat. You should avoid these simple and processed carbs as much as possible.
Complex carbohydrates are longer molecule chains and require extensive digestion to break down the carbs into glucose. Because of this digestive effort, blood sugar levels tend to stay more level without the spikes (thus causing insulin overload – a fat storing hormone) in blood sugar. Many athletes who require a low body fat level choose complex carbs like oats, sweet potatoes, and whole grains as their fuel of choice.
As we have discussed above, all carbohydrates have some affect on your glucose levels and your body's insulin production. Diabetics suffer from insulin resistance, which means that their blood sugar levels stay dangerously high. Constant, high levels of glucose can cause extensive organ damage of time. As a result, diabetics must use proper meal planning to limit their carbohydrate intake and manage their blood sugar levels. Also important is planning meals to balance out the other macronutrients, protein and fats, to moderate the conversion of digested carbs into glucose.
Meal Planning With Carbohydrates
- Each gram of carbs has 4 calories
- Avoid or eliminate simple carbs and refined and processed starches
- Use whole-grains when selecting breads and pasta and limit servings to 2 or less a day
- Eat complex carbohydrates like oats and sweet potatoes
- Eat the whole fruit instead of drinking fruit juices
- How many carbohydrates are in a kiwi? Total Calories: 46 Carb=11g Prot=0.75g Fat=0.33g
Discover more articles on carbohydrates by selecting from the list on the left.
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How The Body Uses Carbohydrates