If you’re trying to lose weight it’s important to keep a tab on how many carbohydrates, or carbs, you eat every day. Carbohydrates are foods such as cookies, breads, fruit, pasta and potatoes.
These foods are transformed into glucose once the starch and sugar they contain have been broken down inside your body. Glucose gives your brain and muscles the energy they need to function correctly.
Any glucose that isn’t used immediately by your body is stored in the form of glycogen. It’s kept in your liver and muscles as a reserve of energy.
About half of your body’s daily glycogen requirements can be stored in this way. However, if you eat more carbohydrates than you can burn off or store as glycogen, then whatever’s left will be turned into fat. This is what you don’t want to happen if you’re trying to reduce your waistline.
There are both simple and complex carbohydrates. Let’s try to understand them better.
Simple carbohydrates are contained in very sweet tasting foods such as candy, honey, sugar, fruit and cookies. They are known as ‘simple’ because they go into your bloodstream very quickly to supply your muscles with the power they need.
Complex carbohydrates are provided by vegetables and grains, such as rice or wheat. More nutritious than simple carbs because they furnish our bodies with necessary vitamins, minerals and fiber, they also have the advantage of releasing energy into the bloodstream more slowly.
To avoid taking in too many carbohydrates at once, it’s advisable to eat several small meals in a day, rather than three large ones. That way you’ll provide your body with the energy it needs and cut down on the storage of fat.
A lack of carbohydrates in your diet reduces your energy and leaves you feeling very tired. You always need to have a reserve of energy in order to stay healthy and active.
By reducing the amount of carbohydrates you eat every day in a reasonable way, you’ll be able to carry on living life as normal. Your body will start to use up its reserves of fat and you’ll be sure to reduce your weight!
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