The Importance Of Carbohydrates
Fatttening Food Or Fantastic Fuel

With the hype surrounding the Atkins Diet and other "anti-carb" eating plans, it seems the importance of carbohydrates as an essential energy source has been overlooked, but has an injustice via misinformation just transpired?

Carbohydrates or "carbs" as most people know them have been blamed for sugar blues, fat gain, sluggish energy levels and overall dieting drama.

The solution put forward by H.P.L.C (High Protein Low Carb) proponents is to reduce your carbohydrate intake to bare minimums whilst simultaneously increasing your protein intake.

Rise Of The High Protein Low Carbohydrate Diet

Dr Atkins back in 1972 formulated his now famous diet based around the principle that low blood sugar led to less cravings and protein + fat led to increased satiety.

In 1992 the whole diet was reprogrammed to be more user friendly and then it completely revolutionized the way the world looked at the importance of carbohydrates for years to come.

His mode of thinking stipulated that carbohydrates increased blood sugar levels and when these sugar levels dropped a person of low carbohydrate tolerance would then develop cravings for excess carb based food. Carbs made you want more Carbs.

His solution - Get rid of the carbohydrates and destroy the cravings, but to do that paradigms of eating habits had to be shifted.......immensely.

Gone Are The Carbohydrates - Gone Is The Fiber

As people scrambled to eat bacon, eggs and all you can eat beef, the importance of carbohydrates as the bodies main fiber source was starting to be appreciated by those with intestinal trouble and what might be best described as "Blockage By Beef".

The major thing that the Atkins diet didn't provide for was a natural high fiber intake from naturally occurring food and the best foods for fibrous intestinal cleansing were....carbs.

Amid the hype, common sense had been misplaced by anti-carbohydrate hysteria (well maybe just a small panic), this could have been avoided with a more sensible approach to dieting rather than the "banning" of a major food group.

Health Problems, Alternatives And Carbohydrates Making A Come Back

The resultant bowel problems that many Atkins diet sufferers endured opened the doors to alternative views for those once strict adherents to the H.P.L.C plan.

Many that refused to budge from the low carb phenomenon simply added supplemental fiber to their diet, but many sought a more rounded solution to their nutritional woes and the beginning of a comeback was emerging as The South Beach Diet encouraged a little more variation and The Low G.I Diet ushered in the era of common sense carbohydrate consumption.

The Importance Of Carbohydrates Was Being Recognized At Last.

Carbs And Sensibility

The Low G.I Diet showed that just about all natural carbohydrates only have a mild effect on blood sugar levels whilst a lot of them actually help maintain blood sugar stability. As long as carbohydrates weren't processed into oblivion, they were actually good for us providing vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and dietary fiber.

Eating low glycemic foods became the sensible approach as it enables one to consume the benefits of carbohydrates without the ensuing "sugar blues" that the bad carbs created.

Most people agree that the low carb diet will make you lose weight, but leaving out an entire food group simply isn't rational let alone practical.

Viva la Revolution

Nutritionists now espouse the virtues of a diet containing a Wide range of foods to ensure the presence of the maximum amounts of nutrients possible.

Now that the importance of carbohydrates is finally resonating with the general public, common sense is starting to prevail.

Carbohydrates are not the enemy. Excessive consumption of calories is the cause of weight gain and it matters not what the source of the calories are, be they carbs, fat or protein - Eating too much of any one or indeed any combination of these will result in weight gain.

Low glycemic carbohydrates combined with lean protein and good fat is the key to smart nutrition. Any diet that bases it's rationale around the elimination of an entire macronutrient (or close to it) is simply an eating plan that will in the long term rob you of vital nutrients.

Don't be afraid of carbohydrates - Be afraid of the extremes.

The Importance Of Carbohydrates By A.J James & Darius Clements"



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