About Good And Bad Carbohydrates
According to the German Nutrition Foundation adults should get between 50-55% of dietary energy from carbohydrates. For example, if you consume 2000 calories per day 1000 to 1100 calories should come from carbs.
They are enormously important for the human body for a number of reasons. Partly because our brain and the red blood cells need to be supplied with carbohydrates or glucose respectively. The human brain can only function on a high level if there are enough carbohydrates in the blood. If that is not the case an emergency supply system kicks in (using ketones, if you’re interested). But obviously this should only happen in emergencies!
Furthermore, carbohydrates and glucose are really important for our muscles which can only function properly when the carbohydrate reservoir is full (more about carbs in training and competition in the upcoming part 3 of this series).
Also important is the fact that the blood sugar concentration is determined by the amount of glucose present in the blood and normally quite constant due to the interaction of insulin and glucagon as well as hormones of the different glands (namely pituitary gland, adrenal gland and thyroid). The blood sugar level of healthy humans range between 4.5 and 7.0 mmol/litre. Eating food rich with carbs raises the blood sugar level which is counteracted by the production of insulin which brings the level down again to where it should be.
Not eating for a long time brings us into a low blood sugar zone. As a result the body releases glucagon and hormones into the blood stream. When they reach the brain this creates the demand of an immediate intake of carbohydrates or glucose. The lower the blood sugar level gets the more we start craving simple sugars like cookies, candy bars etc.
That’s why it is so difficult to abstain from sweets and bread during a low carb diet. The less carbohydrates we eat the more we crave them.
Which carbohydrates should be eaten and when?
If our body produces too much insulin we get tired and even run the risk of getting in a low blood sugar zone. Therefore it is much smarter to increase the blood sugar level slowly. That’s best done by eating long chain carbohydrats (ie. oligosaccharides and polysaccharides) which are present, for instance, in whole grain pasta. As explained in part 1 of this series the complex carbohydrates in whole grain pasta are broken down into simple sugars which takes a while raising the blood sugar level slowly.
The goal should be to get 50 to 55% of your daily dietary intake from carbohydrates consisting of complex sugars. How that translates into your training routine and competitions will be explained in our netx part.
