5 things you need to know about carbohydrates…

 

There are 2 types of carbohydrates; complex (wholemeal) and simple (sugary based foods) or indeed sugar itself in its many forms. Complex carbs are hard to break down by the body, and this is a good thing because it means it takes the body longer to receive the energy (in the form of glycogen – blood sugar) meaning the energy release is slower, resulting in a much healthier process for your pancreas to deal with. Your pancreas releases insulin that regulates blood sugar. In a nut-shell, wholemeal products are at least 3 times healthier for you.

1. Eat complex carbohydrates

Spiffing’s Sprouted flours are a fantastic new way of achieving these benefits. The process brings the grain to life so that it has an increased vitamin and nutrient content coupled with enhanced ease of digestion. I call Spiffing Sprouted flour the triple whammy because;

1. It is milled from a live grain it contains increased vitamins and minerals

2. Its easy to digest which means your body is going to take more of those vitamins in – it creates an increased enzyme reaction which is awesome

3. You’re cooking your own food and there’s nothing more satisfying and healthy than that

Some other examples of healthy carbohydrate include: wholemeal pasta, wholemeal rice and breads and sweet potatoes.

2. Eat small and often

Nutritionists highly recommend eating small and often (every 3-4 hrs), these meals should contain complex carbohydrates, protein and a small amount of good fats (omega 3, 6, 9, unsaturated, no hydrogenated).

Eating small and often massively aids fat loss, increases energy and concentration levels, digestion (and digestive system problems), maintaining a high metabolic rate (excellent for keeping fat off) and better sleep (due to more harmonious hormone levels), to name just a few. So bearing in mind the 3-4 hrs rule, you should be ready to train at any time; indeed ready to take on ANYTHING at ANYTIME. With the constituent parts of all meals being carbohydrate, protein and a small amount of good fats.

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3. Keep moving!

Here’s how it works: Carbohydrate is stored in 2 places in the body in the form of glycogen (blood sugar) in the liver = brain and muscles = movement. When you ‘move’ either lifting your coffee or squatting 200kg then this action depletes carbohydrate. That pretty much means we are CONSTANTLY (all day, every day) and night, albeit at a slower rate, depleting our stores of glycogen.

 

4. Most important meal of the day

When our glycogen stores are empty this puts our body into a state of fasting. Which is why after being asleep for 8hrs (hopefully) we wake up and have our first meal of the day BREAK / FAST. Which literally means break the fast. So breakfast is NOT the name of a meal but actually what happens when we eat after being asleep. We should then aim to break the fast every 3-4 hrs meaning our glycogen levels will be at the optimum level. I recommend getting some complex carbohydrate in there and I have been eating my simple Spiffing Sprouted loaf which I make in my bread maker.

 

5. Food for your exercise regime

A good post-training regime should include a small amount of simple carbs or natural sugars (fruit, honey) Kintaro pop rice is excellent. Bite UK has brought a new range of Pure Bite snacks which are incredible tasting and have extraordinary nutritional credentials.

CHECK – RED and GREEN carbohydrates

Natural sugar is digested very quickly, bridging the gap until your next meal which, obviously, should contain complex carbs. The Glycemic Index (GI) is a universal scoring system for carbohydrate based foods. Complex carbs fall within the green range. These foods should form the base of your CHO intake. Sugar based foods (even the good ones) fall within the red range. These foods should be avoided as much as possible and only natural sugars should be consumed and only for breakfast or immediately post workout. This achieves a minimum amount of time in the fasting zone. Essentially the red zone has a very high risk of diabetes if eaten on a daily basis.