Did you know that there are different kinds of carbs?
Carbs in general tend to get a bad rep, but we need them to operate our bodies. So cutting them from your meal plan just won’t work.
In fact, eliminating carbs from your diet completely is dangerous.
Carbs are the main source of energy for your body. Without them, you'd have no go!
Instead, understanding them, what they are, and how they work will help you create miracles in your meal planning.
"Carbohydrates, or carbs, are sugar molecules," Medline Plus explains. “Your body breaks down carbohydrates into glucose (which) is the main source of energy for your body's cells, tissues, and organs.”
Let’s look at how I like to break them down into two main types when building my favourite meals plans.
#1 Heavy's
Heavy, high-density carbohydrates condense a whole lot of nutrition into one small package, like a seed, a nut or a potato. It’s important to eat a serving of this type of carb with every meal.
Examples of good quality high density carb sources include:
grains such as quinoa, rice and oatmeal
seeds and nuts such as hemp hearts and almonds
legumes such as lentils, chickpeas and black beans
fruits and vegetables such as potatoes and bananas
breads and crackers full of whole/sprouted grains and seeds
#2 Light's
Light, low-density carbohydrates are lighter and less filling, like: lettuce, tomatoes and watermelon. It’s important to eat two servings of this type of carb with every meal.
Examples of good quality low density carb sources include:
fruits and vegetables such as cucumbers, carrots and apples
For a full list of Heavy and Light carbs, check out my Mix-and-match meal-plan guide.
The Washing Machine Effect
When building your plate, it’s important to mix high density carbs with low density carbs to create a washing machine effect in your body.
The low density carbs will provide the majority of nourishment that your body needs and the high density carbs will help process the nutrients of their low density counterparts once inside the body, after the chewing process.
As I explain in my article about eating whole foods more often, a whole food will be processed by the body in a much different way than a highly processed food.
For example, imagine that high density carbs actually work like little scrubby brushes washing away all the gunk on the sides of the walls of your insides.
If you were to reduce that scrubby brush to a washcloth, or even a paper towel, the results will be quite different!
If the scrubby brush can push everything along, through the gut like it is supposed to, then, once it’s all digested, there are way more nutrients for the body to absorb than if it were a highly processed food, leaving anything that isn’t expelled to be utilized.
That’s why it’s important to limit starches and replace them with grains, legumes, nuts, seeds and other whole, high density foods. We want our scrubby brushes to scrub, not stick, or fall apart.
Again, in case you missed it when I mentioned it before, for more information, check out my article on why you should choose whole foods more often.
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