Nutrition Decoded: Carbs

What are carbohydrates?

Carbohydrates are one of the three macronutrients, the other two being protein and fat. Carbs provide your body with energy in the form of calories. Each gram of carbohydrate is four calories, therefore you can multiply each gram of carb by 4 and figure out how many calories are carbs on your nutrition label.

With popularity of diets like Atkins, and South Beach carbs has gotten a bad rep, however our bodies do need them. Carbs are made up of glucose, known as blood sugar when in the bloodstream. There are simple carbs which are monosaccharides, glucose, fructose, and galactose. Then the complex carbs are polysaccharides, amylose, amylopectin, and dietary fiber. Glucose is the fuel your brain needs in order to function. So it's easy to see why cutting an entire food group can be dangerous. Personally, if my body needs something to function at its best, well then it's going to get it.

How much do we need?

The recommended daily amount for adults is 130 grams. With many well known institutes saying to aim for 45%- 65% of your daily caloric intake to come from carbohydrates. It is best to aim for half of these or more to be from whole grains.

So whats a good carb versus bad carb? 

Unfortunately most of the carbs we like to consume are considered "bad" carbs. This would include refined (white) foods, like rice, bread, and white pasta. When a food is refined it becomes stripped of parts that contain fiber, iron, and B & E vitamin. Which means zero nutritional value, and no brain power. Things that are also included with "bad" carbs that have a lot of added sugars are cereal, juices, granola, salad dressings, and ice cream. Sorry. When we eat foods like these there is a hormononal mechanism that occurs leading to a surge of blood sugar, and ultimately just as fast of a drop. And the next thing you know you're hungry again. Sad times.

But here comes the good news. Whole grains. Grains is a type of blanket term covering, brown rice, barley, wheat, oats, bulgur, and some of the other fun stuff you find at Earth Fare. I'd go with which ever one fits in your budget and has pretty packaging, treat yo'self!   Fresh fruits and vegetables also provide your body with carbs while also getting some vitmains, minerals, and fiber.

Here are some tips that can help make the switch so half your carbs are whole-grain.

1. Switch refined, white, bread for whole grain, or whole grain bagels. 
2. Popcorn is a whole grain, and can be made healthy with little or no added butter and salt.
3. Cook half your barley or bulgur, and then freeze half for later.
4. Mix it up. Try a quinoa salad. 
5. Try brown rice, or whole wheat pasta instead of white.
6. Experiment substituting buckwheat, millet, or oat flour for up to half the flour in pancake, waffle, or muffin based recipes. 
7. Be a role model, snack on whole grain snacks. 
8. Read the ingredients list. The first ingredient should be whole grain ingredient. This would be whole wheat, brown rice, bulgur, oat, buckwheat, whole oats, whole-grain cornmeal, whole rye, or wild rice. 
9. Check the nutrition label for fiber. A good source of fiber contains 10% to 19% of the Daily Value.
10. Be a smart shopper. Foods that say 100% wheat, multi-grain, or stone-ground, sometimes don't contain whole grains at all. 

Please let me know if you have any questions, and after reading this post I'm sure your body is in need of some glucose!

Sources: 1

Paleo Follow Up

I'm back, and with my personal results from attempting the paleo diet.

I started on March 1, allowing myself one cheat day, and stopped on March 12. Not a very long time for a diet, but in that time I did see a change. 

I did some preparation before going paleo by loading up on fresh produce, meats, and some snacks. I then took an afternoon to meal plan for the week, being a student, preparing my meals ahead of time was helpful for my schedule. Also, as a first time meal planner I really like knowing exactly what I was going to be having each day instead of fretting over where I  would be grabbing my lunch. I was also able to try some new recipes. I created vegetable medley, spaghetti squash, egg & bacon cups, and whipped up some chicken salad! I really liked the way my body felt after eating all of the fresh foods and I didn't feel guilty consuming sweet potato fries, which are incredible by the way, go get some. With continuing my workouts, which is about 5 times a week, and this diet, I lost about 5 pounds in ten days, which is a bit dramatic. I think most of that was water weight, but hey if you're looking to slim down quick this might help! 

Overall I loved the idea of eating fresh foods, and fueling my body with natural things, instead of a cookie here, or mac n cheese there. The only trouble for me was continuing to have fresh fruits and vegetables. Being a student means stocking up for a few weeks at a time usually, I honestly don't have the time to shop every week, although I'd love to! So if you're able to keep fresh produce on hand this would be easy peasy. 

My overall rating for paleo diet, 4 out of 5 stars from me!

Let me know if you're going paleo and looking for any recipes, I created an entire pinterst board! :) 

Paleo Diet

Today I would like to address a diet that seems to be a new trend, the Paleo Diet.

If you're like me, then you're wondering what exactly is this diet?

This is a diet based off the cave man's diet. Hence the term paleo, meaning old or ancient and referring to geologic time periods. The idea is to consume what a cave man would have; this means no processed foods, refined sugars, legumes, dairy, or carbohydrates.

No bread. No ice cream. No cheese.

Yikes.

To me, restricting entire food groups can be a bit scary, considering as how 60% of my diet is grains. 

When I found out a dear friend of mine was on this diet my ears perked up and I became really interested. Since we consume quite a few meals together I knew I would eventually be influenced by this diet. After much research and recipe hunting I'm here to say this diet is doable.

Here is the great news, what you can consume.

• Grass-fed meat. Chicken, steak, pork, bacon, etc.
•  Fish/seafood. Shrimp, scallops, salmon, catfish, crab, etc.
• Fresh fruits & veggies. So many options!
• Eggs. Please refer here to a post about the incredible edible egg.
• Nuts & seeds. Almonds, walnuts, sunflower seeds, etc.
• Healthful oils. This includes olive oil, walnut, flaxseed, macadamia, avocado, and coconut. 

 

The skeleton of this diet is basically to consume all natural foods. Consuming all natural non-processed foods has many benefits for your body. Some examples include but not limited to are: less salt, higher fiber, lower sodium, higher vitamins and minerals intake, and higher protein intake. All of which can benefit your body. 

Now for the good stuff, the food. Here are some ideas to give you an overall picture of the delicious foods you can consume. 

1. Stuffed peppers with chicken salad.
2.  Roasted vegetable medley
3. Garlic herb encrusted pork tenderloins
4. Sweet potato fries
5. Garlic & herb mashed cauliflower

I'm excited about giving this a try for at least a week. You can do anything for seven days right? And as always, talk to your doctor before trying any new diet. 

sources: thepaleodiet.com/

http://health.usnews.com/best-diet/paleo-diet

New year, New me!

Hello 2013! 

With the start of the new year many have made resolutions to a better & healthier year. Today I would like to address a goal I've been working on and encourage everyone to give some attention. 

Water consumption.

Yes we are talking simple H2O.

Water is an essential component to your body, which we sometimes neglect.

How much water should I consume every day? 

Men : roughly 3 liters or 13 cups daily

Women: 2.2 liters or 9 cups daily

What does water do for my body?

Water has many functions that help our bodies function properly. Water acts as solvent, a lubricant, a temperature regulator, and most importantly for digestive a medium transport. 

We lose water constantly every single day, so it is very important we replenish our bodies to function properly.  With the next few winter months ahead of us its very important to stay hydrated. During the winter we don't perspire as much in the summer so we don't realize how much water we are actually losing. Water can also help keep illnesses such as the flu away. By constantly drinking fluids your system is "flushing" itself out continuously. 

So as you begin your new year resolutions I encourage you to drink more and more water!

Try setting reminders throughout the day, or mark times on a water bottle to remind you to drink up. 

Cheers to the new year!