We’ve all heard it, “Carbs are the enemy, I went low carb and lost x kgs in y weeks”, “I went keto and felt great and lost loads of weight”.
We really need to move away from this way of thinking for a number of reasons including low carb can be hard to maintain in real family life, your body might need carbs and mainly because it’s just not correct.
In this article, I’ll go through the following:
Carbohydrates are one of the three main macronutrients along with proteins and fats.
Without wanting to bore you with detailed science carbohydrates are chemically carbon, hydrogen and oxygen. Carbohydrates can be broken down into simple and complex carbohydrates each. I could go into disaccharides and monosaccahrides but I won’t bore you with that now.
Simple Carbohydrates are broken down quickly by the body and are found in many artificial and natural foods. Simple carbohydrate food include milk, fruit, sugar, soft drinks among others. They are absorbed and digested quickly by the body and can cause a spike in insulin.
Complex carbohydrates are broken down and digested slowly by the body as they have high levels of starch, fibre and are generally more whole. Foods in this group include: wholemeal pasta, brown rice and sweet potato.
For more information on the science of carbohydrates check this article here.
Let’s get to the juicy stuff.
According to the NHS website a healthy balanced diet should include a range of fruit, vegetables, dairy (or alternative), proteins such as meat, fish, beans or alternative, a small amount of unsaturated fats and plenty of water.
In reality the average person’s diet contains a large percentage of carbs relative to the other macronutrients. I’ve also witnessed vegetarians tend to be higher in carb intake for satiety reasons too. I’ll take the guess that most people whom go low carb don’t then replace those carbs with heathy fats or higher protein amounts. They essentially cut out a huge part of their diet causing a massive calorie deficit. The immediate result is a large drop in weight in the first 7 days.
Yes the diet is working, I'm losing fat, I’ll have those abs and beach body in no time just need to stay off the carbs!
Mmmm sorry not quite. That initial weight loss is related to glycogen, sorry we need a bit more science…
After carbohydrates are digested they are broken down to glucose. Glucose is used around the body and any surplus is stored as glycogen. Think of it as easy to use fuel for the body. Glycogen is primarily stored in the liver and in your muscles. In times of starvation (diet) or stress the body calls on this.
When you go low carb, your body uses up these stores of glycogen and you see an immediate drop in scale weight. Additionally glycogen is bonded to water molecules. So the result of going low carb is you lose stored glycogen and fluids. This can be as much as 2-3kg in a week depending on your size.
However when people get past this initial drop and their weight stalls and they wrongly blame themselves; they ate a biscuit here and a fish finger there. This all leads to an unhealthy relationship with food where they believe being more extreme is the answer.
It’s not.
You need a certain number of calories for your body to function at rest this is the resting metabolic rate. This number of calories are needed to keep your bodily functions working. Going below this is not recommended and especially not for long periods of time. It can result in fatigue, illness, a weakened immune system, hormonal issues, low sex drive among others.
Fortunately your body is pretty smart and causes the release of hormones to increase hunger such as ghrelin and the stress hormone cortisol. The body under stress wants quick energy in the form of glucose.
Ever wondered why you craved chocolates, cake and bread during that sleepless new-born phase? Bingo.
But I’d guess the average 30-40 year with kids, busy home and work life shouldn’t have to worry about eating.
So what can you do to lose weight? Remember what I said earlier about a calorie deficit? On a basic level calories in v calories out has always been relevant. To lose weight you need to have a deficit i.e. be using more calories than are available.
Eating protein, fats and carbs in the right amounts can help you lose weight and not feel like a carb deprived monster.
This can be achieved in two ways. Exercise/move more or consume less calories. The latter is preferred option for weight loss and both is the real ninja move!
Carbs are not the enemy, a calorie surplus is your problem. Below are some quick wins.
Other wins
If you want any help get in contact with me.
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