CARBS: R IS FOR REGULARITY Once you really grasp the benefits of carbs and the roles they play in your body, you can really make them work powerfully for you. Key to this is to understand what to eat, when. A massive concept here is the Glycemic Index (GI) and Glycemic Load (GL). Every food has a GI and GL scoring. GI is the measure of a foods ability to raise blood sugar levels. The higher the score the greater the foods effect on blood sugar. GL is a more reliable rating as it takes into account the portion size. For example, carrots have a medium GI yet a low GL, because unless youre a rabbit youre unlikely to eat a full plate of them. As a rule a medium/low GL diet will maintain your blood sugar levels and in turn control the insulin response in your blood. Interestingly consuming a small amount of fructose, ie an apple, 30 mins prior to a carb feed can actually lower the GI of that carb youre consuming. Wed encourage you to have a read around the GI and GL of foods or even buy a little cheap pocket guide to food ratings. Remember carbs are needed for muscular contraction in high intensity exercise so ideally you need to cycle carb consumption around your workouts. So, a high intensity session, ie a one hour Bootcamp, needs a sufficient storage of carbs. Otherwise your performance will deteriorate and you more than likely wont finish the session. On the other hand a low intensity workout, ie a one hour jog, will rely on your fat stores for fuel. So ideally you need to deplete your carb stores prior to this exercise so your body can run on the burning of body fat, rather than carbs. You can deplete your carb stores through high intensity exercise or lowering your carb intake. This is where jogging first thing in the morning before breakfast is beneficial as your carb stores will be low. You need to have in mind an exercise plan for the week and then pinpoint when and where carbs will come into your eating. No workouts? Very little carbs were afraid. Remember the body can only store a limited amount, any excess will be stored as fat. Coming tomorrow...the most powerful thing you have.
Posted on: Wed, 20 Aug 2014 09:00:00 +0000
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