Complex Carbohydrates and Weight Loss
Low carb, low fat, Adkins, Protein Power, Weight Watchers, South Beach, Dr. Phil, the Idiot’s Diet…the list is endless. There are gazillions of weight loss programs available, and the information about weight loss is confusing and contradictory. It’s hard to figure out what is true and what could actually work—especially if you’ve already tried a bunch of them.
Let’s go back to basic nutrition. We need three types of food: protein (for healing, growth and building muscle), carbohydrates (for energy) and fats (for body metabolism and energy storage) plus vitamins, minerals and electrolytes. We need each of these substances in varying amounts. We only need a little fat. We need more protein, and kids need more than adults. Most of what we need is carbohydrates. In a normal, non-weight-loss diet, most people eat over half of their calories as carbohydrates.
It’s not carbohydrates that are the bad guys in weight gain; it’s the kind of carbohydrates we eat. Simple carbohydrates break down quickly into sugar, get dumped into our bloodstream and are rapidly used or converted to fat. Then you want more, and you want it now. Simple carbohydrates are sugars.
Complex carbohydrates, on the other hand, take time to digest, so you feel full longer. They are released slowly into the bloodstream, so sugar levels don’t peak and fall like they do with simple carbohydrates. They sustain your energy for a longer period of time.
Complex carbohydrates are usually packaged with protein, such as in beans and whole grains. They also come with fiber, which helps regulate digestion and prevents colon cancer.
Eliminating simple carbohydrates to lose weight makes sense. Eliminating complex carbohydrates does not. Complex carbohydrates are good for you. If you eat a variety of foods containing complex carbohydrates, you will get all the nutrients you need for a healthy body.