Why Eating Carbs Alone is Bad
Is this you???
“I don’t understand why I am so hungry; I ate a bowl of oatmeal this morning for breakfast.”, “I feel like I am always snacking and nothing satisfies me, I make healthy choices like a piece of fruit but 20 minutes later I want something else.” Have you ever had these thoughts? I hear it all the time from people I coach…even my husband says it lol!
Carbs are not bad!
I’m going to make a bold statement and say carbs are not bad, however, eating carbs alone will not satisfy you. Let me explain. Say you eat a bowl of plain oatmeal for breakfast. Oatmeal is classified as a carbohydrate and when consumed alone, your stomach empties the contents of this meal very fast into your small intestine where most of carb absorption takes place. This may be good if you need a quick burst of energy before a workout, but if not, it will cause a spike in your blood sugar levels. This surge will cause your pancreas to secrete the hormone insulin which will signal to the cells in your body to absorb the sugar (glucose). Insulin will also trigger your body to store energy as fat if your body does not utilize the fat for energy.
What if you were to take the morning bowl of oatmeal and add some healthy fat or protein…say a tablespoon of nut butter or sun butter to be allergy friendly. 😊 The stomach needs to do extra work to empty the contents of the nut/sun butter also shunting the quick spike in your blood sugar levels. The slower increase in blood sugar levels over time means your pancreas will not produce a lot of insulin. Your body will still signal to absorb the sugar (glucose) as energy, but it does not send in the troops of enormous amounts of insulin that also stores energy as fat.
To make this simpler, you want to eat a combo of carb plus added protein/healthy fat to avoid excess fat storage in the body and satiate you longer.
Eating very refined carbohydrates and processed carbs will have the same negative effect on your body. Take white bread versus multigrain bread. You can see the difference just from looking at both breads, but the multigrain bread contains a good source of fiber which also helps to slow digestion along with added protein/fat from the grains also slowing digestion.
Want a winning combo? Multigrain carb + protein/healthy fat + fiber = full for hours! This is what will contribute to weight loss (or just a satisfying meal or snack). So….let’s try not to label all carbs as bad!
Here are some ideas:
Pink lady apple + 2 T almond butter + cinnamon (this one is my most favorite snack)
Oatmeal + 1 T sun butter + blueberries
Greek yogurt + paleo granola + strawberries
Toast + hard-boiled egg + avocado
What carb pairing are you going to try at your next meal?
