Week 1:
Welcome to a new series about everything carbohydrates. For a few weeks I’ll discuss the argument for carbohydrates. What are they, how are they used, what they do for us, and strategies for having a good relationship with this macronutrient.
Before we jump in, a quick Nutrition 101 lesson.
A nutrient is described as anything that our body needs and cannot function without. Nutrients are essential to human life. Nutrients are divided into macronutrients and micronutrients. Macronutrients are what provide us with energy, fuel, or calories (however you prefer to describe it). There are three different macros: carbohydrates, fat, and protein. Where ever you get your calories from for the day its all going to be coming from these three building blocks. Micronutrients do not provide calories, but they consist of the vitamins and minerals that we need to carry out all of the tiny amazing things that our body does to keep us alive.
Main takeaway here: nutrients are essential to life and therefore carbohydrates are also essential.
So, lets jump right in…
This week I’m going to tackle what a carbohydrate is:
- A form of fuel (it provides calories)
- The quickest of the macronutrients (fat & protein are the others) to be digested (quick source of energy)
- The body and the brain’s preferred source of fuel
- There are two main categories of carbs: Simple Carbohydrates and Complex Carbohydrates
So what is the difference between a simple carb and a complex carb:
| Simple Carbohydrates | Complex Carbohydrates |
| Basically plain old sugar | Long chains of sugar molecules |
| Fast Digestion | Slower Digestion |
| Processed Grains, white bread, dessert | Fruit, vegetables & whole grains |
| May also be high in salt/fat | Source of vitamins/minerals |
So, that’s your introduction to carbohydrates. Send me your questions if you have any. The main thing I want you to take away is that carbohydrates are much more than just bread and pasta. They’re in a lot of different things. The amount of carb in each item is going to vary but it’s still there. And yes there are some foods that don’t have very little carbohydrate or none at all (meats are a prime example of one of these foods – hahaha get prime like prime rib).
That concludes this week’s mini carbohydrate lesson! Send me your questions if you have any. I’ll do my best to answer them directly or in my post on carbs in the coming weeks. Look out for it and thanks for reading!
- Josie
