Carbohydrates: hero or villain?
Sausage, Asparagus and Walnut Quinoa Pilaf with Cranberries
Complex Carbohydrates are essential.
Carbohydrates are blamed for many evils related to our health, causing many of us to limit or avoid them entirely. But are they really the villain they’re made out to be? Carbohydrates have an undeserved reputation. As a result, our health is at risk.
Google “no or low carbohydrate diet.” A long list of diet plans will fill the page. Your search results will include advice and books touting that eating a diet low or devoid of carbs helps us:
lose weight
tackle Type 2 diabetes
lower blood pressure, and even
perform better in endurance sports.
This is quite true when referring to simple carbohydrates, like cookies, fruit juice, and corn syrup. But believers beware: long-term diets devoid or low in all types of carbs may cause or worsen some disease processes and starve the body of key components for health and wellness.
Repair of the body—whether due to injury, illness, aging, or overworking while training—requires a tremendous amount of energy. The best source of fuel is harnessed from complex carbohydrates. Without them, the body will instead consume protein. We need that very protein to build and repair the body.
Body repair requires complex carbohydrates + protein.
These examples show the relationship between complex carbohydrates and recovery.
Example 1:
Injured Person with Chronic Back Pain and Sciatica (inflammation of the sciatic nerve)
With this condition, nerves, muscles, and fascia are inflamed and, in some cases, scarred and torn. Think of a frayed electrical cord. There are many treatments that can help, but without protein and energy from carbohydrates, the body will not have the components needed for repair. As an added bonus, complex carbohydrates decrease inflammation.
Example 2: Endurance Athlete Training for a Marathon or Triathlon
To prevent injury and enhance performance, endurance athletes require complex carbohydrates. An endurance athlete training for a race is in varying states of high volume and intense load with minimal recovery. The endurance athlete requires complex carbohydrates not only so that the body doesn’t break down muscle during activity, but also to decrease inflammation and aid in repair microtearing of skeletal muscle and tendons after and between workouts.
The key to garnering energy from carbohydrates is eating the right kind and the right amount.
Healthy carbohydrates are referred to as complex carbohydrates. They have the following characteristics:
Low or moderate in calories
High in nutrients
Devoid of refined sugars and refined grains
High in naturally-occurring fiber
Low in sodium
Low in saturated fat
Very low in, or devoid of, cholesterol and trans fats
Examples of complex carbohydrates:
quinoa
oats
buckwheat
bananas
sweet potatoes
beet root
blueberries
grapefruit
apples
kidney beans
chickpeas
How many carbohydrates do we need?
According to The Dietary Guidelines for Americans carbohydrates should make up 45 to 65 percent of your total daily calories.
When healing from injury, five servings per day is needed (1 serving = 15 grams).
Examples of one serving:
1 slice bread
1/2 cup cooked cereal
1/2 cup rice or pasta
3/4 cup dry cereal.
Whole grain sources give you more protein.
Endurance athletes should consume 0.5–0.7 grams of carbs per pound of body weight within 30 minutes after a training session that exceeds 60 minutes. For a 120 pound athlete, that is 60 - 84 grams of carbohydrates or 4 - 5.5 servings. This is in addition to consuming an adequate amount of carbohydrates during the activity.
Whether your body needs to repair as a result of aging, endurance training, illness, or injury, your body requires complex carbohydrates. Even in daily life, a healthy amount of carbohydrates, as listed above, is essential for a healthy diet.
And now we’re down to it: are carbs heroes or villains? Like many things, it’s all about balance. Just the right amount of complex carbohydrates make them a hero to your body, both for healing and prevention.
Let’s change our perception of this key component of our health so we can move better, work better and play better!
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In the next article in our Nutrition and Healing series, we discuss what to eat to promote muscle repair. Stay tuned and subscribe to CoachAmyPT. In case you missed them, check out CoachAmyPT’s previous three articles on nutrition and healing:
In the state of Kansas, licensed health professionals including physical therapists may use nutrition tools as an adjunct to their profession. Coach Amy will not advise patients who require extensive meal planning, specific values for macro or micronutrients or patients with specific disease processes or on specific medication that are affected by dietary manipulation such as a diabetic. Patients in these circumstances should seek help from a registered dietician.