Before you reach for that bag of chips or another cookie, read this. Food is definitely fuel and power for your body. You will always need it and even more when you choose to work out. There are obviously the good and bad foods, bad foods being junk: highly processed foods (e.g. Jamaican patties), high sugar (e.g. Coke), and fast foods (e.g. pizza, Chinese takeout). I’m not saying that you have to get rid of anything that is essentially ‘junk’, but making smarter food choices will let you enjoy food, leaving you filled than filling you out. I just want you to realize this: you are ALLOWED to eat ‘junk’ food in moderation, meaning that you should choose to eat healthier food first.
Let’s talk about carbohydrates.
Carbohydrates
Simple Carbohydrates (Sugar): There are two types of sugar: glucose and fructose. Glucose is the sugar form that your body needs and is the primary source of energy for your body. This also means that this sugar would easily get absorbed in your body, spiking your sugar levels. Fructose however needs to go through your intestinal tract and convert into glucose before it can be used. Fructose would not spike your sugar level. Having said that all that sugar is energy, if you don’t use it, it becomes fat. Your body has a natural instinct to help you to survive in extreme cases (like if you were to get lost in the woods). Your body needs a bit of sugar to help you throughout your day. When you eat too much of it, your body would take this extra sugar and store it as fat in case you were stuck in the middle of a forest without food. So, each gram of sugar contains about 4 calories. That seems like a small number, but it adds up. For example, Coke in a can contains about 39 grams of sugar, which is 175.5 calories.
Complex Carbohydrates (Starch and Fibre): These complex carbohydrates are composed of more than two sugar molecules. Starch is usually found in plant type foods such as grains, potatoes, root vegetables, and legumes. The sugar molecules in starch are held by weak chemical bonds and easily break into glucose in your body, spiking sugar levels. Fibre on the other hand is non digestible and composed of many sugar molecules. It does not have an effect on your blood sugar levels because your body does not have the enzymes to break it down. The benefit to fibre is that it slows down the absorption of starch and leaves you feeling full longer. Fibre is found in vegetables, fruits, and grains.
To conclude my column for the term, make sure you don’t restrict your diet to only certain types of food. You are allowed to eat whatever you like, but make sure that if it’s a food you categorize as junk you eat it in moderation. Try to eat food from every food group prepared from fresh ingredients. Eat until you’re satisfied, not until you’re stuffed.
Happy eating and good luck.
Leave a Reply