One of the leading causes of weight gain and metabolic disease is the misconception of understanding what proper foods are made up of and how consuming them affect the functions of the human body. Some examples include overeating, consuming too many carbohydrates that effect insulin resistance, and making detrimental food decisions by choosing poor sources of food. There are many popular diets promoted by television and social media that prove to be very beneficial to the general population such as intermittent fasting, veganism, and ketogenic diets. Something that is missed in the description of these diets are simply going over what a carbohydrates and protein are. It’s very important to understand what these substrates are, where they come from, and how they affect the function of the human body. Understanding substrate metabolism is critical to maximizing the benefits of weight loss and maintaining wellness in a person’s overall quality of life.
A common question that I get from personal training clients in Napa is,
“what are carbs?”
“why are carbs bad for you?”
The truth of the matter is that carbs are not bad for you at all. It’s the abuse of carbohydrates that is detrimental to health. Carbohydrates are essentially sugars. Eating sugars have gotten a bad rap in the past due to the increase in obesity and other metabolic diseases, such as diabetes, throughout our nation. Consumers are eating too much processed sugary food such as cereals, candies and breads. Sugars are essentially a molecule that when ingested in the human body are meant to create energy. The human body needs energy to be able to perform daily human functions and operate on the cellular level to ensure that the body has fuel so that our heart can be, our brain can think, and our stomach can work to absorb food.
A common misconception of carbohydrates is that they are bad because they are sugars. Carbohydrates, as listed above, are critically important to the well-being of the human body. However, when ingesting a processed carbohydrate like cereal or bread, the body will not be able to break that down as efficiently as a carbohydrate from a raw state. Raw carbohydrates are things such as sweet potatoes, fruits, and other raw grains that are not cooked down, package, or processed. It’s when we get the burger at a fast food restaurant and ingest a white flour bun problems occur. When bread is consumed in a regular occurrence, such as five to seven times a week, the body will not be able to absorb the large quantity of carbohydrates contained in the bun at one time. In addition, processed foods elicit a high insulin response in the human body. When insulin is released on a regular occurrence, we become more prone to diabetes.
Another popular questions that is brought up from some of our personal training clients here in Napa is” how much protein should we eat?” It’s important to understand what protein is and how it functions in the human body. Once you understand how protein works in the human body and how it can also help you lose weight, protein consumption can be a very good thing. It’s commonly perceived through diets that are advertised in magazines, television, and social media threads that a diet rich in protein will help you lose weight. This is true to a degree. Replacing carbohydrates with protein will help mitigate the harmful effects of increased carbohydrate consumption. Proteins are meant to rebuild connective tissue throughout the body, mainly lean muscle mass. It makes sense that replacing carbohydrates with protein will help decrease putting on extra fat. However, we have to be careful with the amount of protein that is consumed in one meal. Just like carbohydrates, if we consume too much in one sitting, protein will be stored as unwanted fat just like carbohydrates will. The body can only consume so much at one time. That’s why we coach our clients to avoid consuming more than a handful size or protein during a meal. For example, when eating a breast of chicken, we coach our clients not to eat more than the amount of chicken that they can fit in a handful of their hand.
Overeating and weight gain have become increasingly more prevalent in our society. However, there have been various methods to rectify the epidemic of obesity and metabolic diseases caused by becoming overweight. New diets are constantly being featured in social media, magazines and websites that focus on specific methods to eat the proper foods. It’s a great idea to try out new diets that promote a healthy lifestyle. It is equally important to understand what the function of protein and carbohydrates are.
When our clients come to us on how to improve their Life Time Fitness, we need to approach it from various angles. If you have any questions or suggestions on what you would like to learn more about regarding Wellness, Exercise, Nutrition or Hobbies , please feel free to reach out to Napa Tenacious Fitness at napatenacious@gmail.com or give us a ring at 707-287-2727.
