Carbohydrates

Many people believe many different things about the pros and cons of eating carbohydrates and what the best kind of carbohydrates are. Few of these beliefs are based on a sound understanding of nutrition. Here is some science to help put the record straight.

The carbohydrate food group comprises all the sugar foods, found in bread, oats, potatoes, pasta, rice, fruits, sweets, cereals, juices, fizzy drinks, vegetables, beans and legumes etc. The most healthy carbohydrates are whole food, complex carbohydrates. Eg, fresh whole fruit, Whole meal bread, brown rice. Carbohydrates to avoid are refined simple sugars, eg chocolate, white bread, corn flakes. Whole food complex carbohydrates contain fibre and lots of vitamins and minerals, are absorbed slowly and provide long lasting energy. Refined carbohydrates are released and used up quickly, tend to be stored as fat more readily and do not contain vitamins and minerals. The carbohydrates you eat are stored in both the muscles and the liver in the form of glycogen. These stores weight up to 5 kg. Dieting will reduce these stores more than fat in the short term.

Liver glycogen stores are essential to maintain blood sugar levels and to supply the brain with the glucose it needs to function. Therefore to enhance energy and mood regularly eating whole food complex carbohydrates is very important. Muscle glycogen stores are used to fuel exercise. Without muscle glycogen exercise is very difficult and less effective. Therefore to benefit from exercise you must eat enough carbohydrates to fill your muscle glycogen stores.

A single portion of carbohydrate can be judged by the size of your fist, regardless of the food. Breakfast, lunch and dinner should contain one or two portions of whole food carbohydrates to maintain energy levels, ideally with fruit snacks between meals to top up liver stores.

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