Carbo-whaaa?

So what exactly does that title mean, basically it’s in regards to the need of carbohydrate when you are getting lean. In my opinion carbohydrate is the main macro nutrient that causes people trouble when they are trying to lose weight or just get cut for whatever reason. I also think people show vast difference in carbohydrate tolerance. I for one have the metabolism of a raging bull, so can eat around 200g of carbs and still maintain a good weight loss rate. Others will find this too much to get down to the low body fat region of 5-6%.

How important is carbohydrate?

They certainly are important even if your are trying to lose weight they just need to be moderated and the right sort consumed. Getting your daily carbohydrate allowance in the form of sugars is going to be well, not great for you. Firstly you will burn these sugars very quickly ultimately leading to hunger cravings later on. A lot of people struggle massively with cravings and without being to hard on them and telling them to man up, eliminating the cravings altogether  is a much better solution. A carbohydrate such as sugars found in fizzy drinks etc is known as a high GI carb. The GI is the glycemic index, essentially it characterises the rate at which a carbohydrate is burnt. High being faster and low being slow.

In fitness the phrase complex carbohydrate is thrown around as the sort of carb you need to be eating whether you want to be a bodybuilder or a fitness model. It’s slightly ambiguous because not all complex carbohydrates are in the low end of the GI. Why is this an issue? Well having a high GI food is going to cause insulin surges because the carbohydrate is broken down all in one go. When insulin levels are high, you will put fat weight on. Not only that it can also cause you to lose muscle. When insulin is released to deal with a large amount of blood sugar there can be an excess leading to low blood sugar. To combat low blood sugar bodyfat is normally used as energy but the insulin will stop this happening causing muscle catabolism. From this just take it not  to binge on rubbish low quality carbohydrate, stick with brown rice and sweet potato.

Here is a list of foods and their GI index, we want to be getting carbs that have a GI of below 60 ideally.

The glycemic index range is as follows:

Low GI = 55 or less Medium GI = 56 – 69 High GI = 70 or more

Breakfast Cereal Low GI All-bran (UK/Aus) 30 All-bran (US) 50 Oat bran 50 Rolled Oats 51 Special K (UK/Aus) 54 Natural Muesli 40 Porridge 58 Medium GI Bran Buds 58 Mini Wheats 58 Nutrigrain 66 Shredded Wheat 67 Porridge Oats 63 Special K (US) 69 High GI Cornflakes 80 Sultana Bran 73 Branflakes 74 Coco Pops 77 Puffed Wheat 80 Oats in Honey Bake 77 Team 82 Total 76 Cheerios 74 Rice Krispies 82 Weetabix 74 Staples Low GI Wheat Pasta Shapes 54 New Potatoes 54 Meat Ravioli 39 Spaghetti 32 Tortellini (Cheese) 50 Egg Fettuccini 32 Brown Rice 50 Buckwheat 51 White long grain rice 50 Pearled Barley 22 Yam 35 Sweet Potatoes 48 Instant Noodles 47 Wheat tortilla 30 Medium GI Basmati Rice 58 Couscous 61 Cornmeal 68 Taco Shells 68 Gnocchi 68 Canned Potatoes 61 Chinese (Rice) Vermicelli 58 Baked Potatoes 60 Wild Rice 57 High GI Instant White Rice 87 Glutinous Rice 86 Short Grain White Rice 83 Tapioca 70 Fresh Mashed Potatoes 73 French Fries 75 Instant Mashed Potatoes 80

Bread Low GI Soya and Linseed 36 Wholegrain Pumpernickel 46 Heavy Mixed Grain 45 Whole Wheat 49 Sourdough Rye 48 Sourdough Wheat 54 Medium GI Croissant 67 Hamburger bun 61 Pita, white 57 Wholemeal Rye 62 High GI White 71 Bagel 72 French Baguette 95 Snacks & Sweet Foods Low GI Slim-Fast meal replacement 27 Snickers Bar (high fat) 41 Nut & Seed Muesli Bar 49 Sponge Cake 46 Nutella 33 Milk Chocolate 42 Hummus 6 Peanuts 13 Walnuts 15 Cashew Nuts 25 Nuts and Raisins 21 Jam 51 Corn Chips 42 Oatmeal Crackers 55 Medium GI Ryvita 63 Digestives 59 Blueberry muffin 59 Honey 58 High GI Pretzels 83 Water Crackers 78 Rice cakes 87 Puffed Crispbread 81 Donuts 76 Scones 92 Maple flavoured syrup 68 Legumes (Beans) Low GI Kidney Beans (canned) 52 Butter Beans 36 Chick Peas 42 Haricot/Navy Beans 31 Lentils, Red 21 Lentils, Green 30  Pinto Beans 45 Blackeyed Beans 50 Yellow Split Peas 32 Medium GI Beans in Tomato Sauce 56

Vegetables Low GI Frozen Green Peas 39 Frozen Sweet Corn 47 Raw Carrots 16 Boiled Carrots 41 Eggplant/Aubergine 15 Broccoli 10 Cauliflower 15 Cabbage 10 Mushrooms 10 Tomatoes 15 Chillies 10 Lettuce 10 Green Beans 15 Red Peppers 10 Onions 10 Medium GI Beetroot 64 High GI Pumkin 75 Parsnips 97 Fruits Low GI Cherries 22 Plums 24 Grapefruit 25 Peaches 28 Peach, canned in natural juice 30 Apples 34 Pears 41 Dried Apricots 32 Grapes 43 Coconut 45 Coconut Milk 41 Kiwi Fruit 47 Oranges 40 Strawberries 40 Prunes 29 Medium GI Mango 60 Sultanas 56 Bananas 58 Raisins 64 Papaya 60 Figs 61 Pineapple 66 High GI Watermelon 80 Dates 103 Dairy Low GI Whole milk 31 Skimmed milk 32 Chocolate milk 42 Sweetened yoghurt 33 Artificially Sweetened Yoghurt 23 Custard 35 Soy Milk 44 Medium GI Icecream 62

As you can see from the table brown rice has a much lower GI than white rice, which is one of the main reasons it’s better for weight loss and muscle gain, it gives you a much more sustained energy release.

What time should you be eating carbohydrate

I’ve heard on countless occasions that after 3pm or something you shouldn’t eat carbohydrate. Up until that point however it’s fine to eat whatever. TOTAL BULLSHIT, excuse my french. The only time that carbohydrate is essential is post workout. Apart from that it doesn’t actually matter. I personally like to have 25% of my carbs for the day at breakfast at around 6:30am. Then another 25% post workout which is at around 9am then I spread it out depending on how my body is. Do what suits you and do not follow this rubbish idea. It reminds me of another silly one I heard about peoples perception of the effects of smoking, and drug taking. ‘It’s fine until you get to a certain age then you have to stop’, I hope that it is a joke but it’s gone around enough and stupidity has a way of getting through to some people. Rant over, just don’t do it.

How much carbohydrate should you eat to lose and gain weight.

This is again only guidelines, to gain weight you need to be eating 300g+ of carbs a day. To lose weight you should be eating minimum 75g of carbs with no maximum as it all depends on your metabolism etc.

Hope this was interesting leave any comments/questions you have below.

Cecle.

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