Why you should avoid carbohydrates
Carbohydrates are the main source of blood glucose, which is a major fuel for all of the body’s cells and the only source of energy for the brain and red blood cells. Except for fibre, which cannot be digested, both simple and complex carbohydrates are converted into glucose. The glucose is then either used directly […]
Carbohydrates are the main source of blood glucose, which is a major fuel for all of the body’s cells and the only source of energy for the brain and red blood cells. Except for fibre, which cannot be digested, both simple and complex carbohydrates are converted into glucose. The glucose is then either used directly to provide energy for the body, or stored in the liver for future use. When a person consumes more calories than the body is using, a portion of the carbohydrates consumed may also be stored in the body as fat.
Dr Osi-Ogbu, Consultant Physician and Geriatrician, National Hospital Abuja, says “if you already have the propensity to be diabetic and you are in the state where you are not processing carbohydrate appropriately, and you take a lot of simple sugar or high carbohydrate diet, it increases your risk. If your insulin level is giving you only 50 percent activity and you keep flooding it with sugar, you will eventually get to the point where your sugar level instead of being around 100 is getting to even 180 and you don’t have enough insulin to drive sugar into your tissue. So for people at the impaired glucose stage, and still eat so much sugar and carbohydrate, then very quickly it will transcend to full blown diabetes.”
Explaining further, she says whenever one eats carbohydrate, fat or protein, in whatever form it is broken down to glucose this makes one’s blood glucose goes up. If you don’t have insulin to drive the glucose into the organs that need them like the muscles or the brain, then there is tendency for the person to become diabetic. Inappropriate eating habit has led to this especially diets with high carbohydrate and high sugar foods.
Mrs Serah Abagai, head, Dietetics at the National Hospital Abuja, says “Carbohydrate that will be termed healthy is the one that have fibre in it. Fibre that is contained in carbohydrate helps to control blood glucose. Mrs Abagai says when one chooses to eat Irish potatoes, rather than peeling them, one can choose to wash the back and cook it along. One can eat it that way because it is rich in fibre. Also, when you soak gari to drink, what you remove as the chaff is fibre but the one you find in wheat and cereals generally helps to control blood glucose.”
When choosing carbohydrate-rich foods for your diet, always select unrefined foods such as fruits, vegetables, peas, beans, and whole-grain products, as opposed to refined, processed foods such as soft drinks, desserts, bread and sugar. Refined foods offer low, if any, of the vitamins and minerals that are important to your health. In addition, if eaten in excess, especially over a period of many years, the large amounts of simple carbohydrates found in refined foods can lead to a number of disorders, including diabetes and hypoglycaemia (low blood sugar). Yet another problem is that foods high in refined simple sugars often are also high in fats, which should be limited in a healthy diet. This is why such foods, which include mostly cookies and cakes, as well as many snack foods are usually loaded with calories.
Although most fibre is not digested, it delivers several important health benefits. First, fibre retains water, resulting in softer and bulkier stools that prevent constipation and haemorrhoids. A high-fibre diet also reduces the risk of colon cancer, perhaps by speeding the rate at which stool passes through the intestine and by keeping the digestive tract clean. In addition, fibre binds with certain substances that would normally result in the production of cholesterol, and eliminates these substances from the body. In this way, a high-fibre diet helps lower blood cholesterol levels, reducing the risk of heart disease.
Carbohydrates are often seen as the nutrient to avoid when it comes to healthy eating and weight loss. However, without carbohydrates your body will become malnourished and inefficient. Hence, as long as you eat sensible amounts and stick to unprocessed, natural carbohydrates you can give your body the energy and nutrients that it needs and enjoy multiple health benefits.