What are carbs and why are they
important for weight loss?

What are carbs and why are they important for weight loss?

This is a very important question because for your organism to function properly 50% of your daily calories should come from carbohydrates.

Carbohydrates are your body’s most preferred fuel, and even though your organism also uses fat for energy it is simply a more concentrated fuel source it is not more efficient.

There are two types of carbohydrates, simple and complex, and it is their chemical structures that make them different.

What are carbs (simple)?

The simple carbohydrates consist of two categories: monosaccharides, made up of a single sugar molecule and disaccharides which are made up of two single sugar molecules that are linked together.

The monosaccharides category includes glucose (blood sugar), fructose (fruit sugar) and galactose.

Disaccharides, the second category of simple carbohydrates, are a combination of two monosaccharide molecules. Sucrose (table sugar) and lactose (dairy sugar) are two examples.

What are carbs (complex)?

Polysaccharides are complex carbohydrates formed from thousands of sugar molecules that are linked together in long chains called polymers.

There are two types of Polysaccharides, starchy and fibrous.

Some examples of starchy carbohydrates are beans, bread, cereals, oats, brown pasta, baked and sweet potatoes, brown rice, wheat, whole grains.

Fibrous carbohydrates include asparagus, broccoli, cauliflower, onions, mushrooms, spinach, peppers, and most varieties of dark green leafy vegetables.

The reasons why carbohydrates are important for weight loss are very simple:

1) Consuming carbohydrates fuels high intensity activities without which long term weight loss is impossible.

2) Carbohydrates help your organism to function properly by providing the necessary nutrients, vitamins and minerals.

What are carbs (processed/refined)?

Knowing the difference between natural and refined/processed carbohydrates is the most important element in effective weight loss.

Consuming too many refined/processed carbohydrates is the major cause of weight gain for people with endomorph dominant body types and should be avoided at all costs.

Refined/procesed carbohydrates are the natural carbs that have been processed in a factory and have lost their complexity.

Once this happens they take on the properties of a simple carb and when consumed by themselves cause a rapid rise in sugar blood levels and large releases of insulin into your bloodstream.

These processed and refined simple carbohydrates have no nutrition value and should be consumed only once in a while and together with lean protein.

This slows down their absorption into the bloodstream, and creates a steady release of insulin which is very important for people that are losing weight.

The fact that the processed/refined carbs have a very high calorie density causes many people to consume too many calories and this surplus is driven into the fat cells.

This causes weight gain, and also leads to a desire to consume more and more of these foods. It is a vicious cycle, and the only way to get out of it is to consume less of the foods thatcontain these processed/refined carbs.

Foods containing white sugar and white flour are the ones to avoid like the plague if you want to create a lean, healthy body and eventually reach your ideal weight!

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