Carbohydrates over the years have gotten to be considered evil, being blamed for causing weight gain. But is this really the case? A lot of diets would argue that by almost completely eliminating carbohydrates from your diet, you will in fact lose weight. While this may be true, you have to also ask yourself is it healthy to completely get rid of carbohydrates. Well before making any decisions lets take a look at the different aspects of carbohydrates.

Carbohydrates or saccharides are sugars and starches that are gotten from different foods that we eat. When these sugars and starches are brought into our body, our body converts these sugars and starches into energy. This energy (fuel) is used by your body to keep your body running all day long.

Carbohydrates are in fact not all the same. There are 2 different types of carbohydrates, simple (monosaccharides) and complex (polysaccharides). Simple carbohydrates are usually found in foods like fruits, candy, soda, refined foods etc. Complex carbohydrates are found in foods like vegetables, whole grains, pasta, breads, etc.

Simple carbohydrates are absorbed into the body at a quick rate, thus giving your body quick energy. This however can become a problem for an individual looking to lose weight, because since these carbohydrates are absorbed so quickly, your blood sugar rises very quickly and your body then excretes insulin to try to regulate your blood sugar down to normal. The problem is that insulin promotes the storage of fat.

This doesn’t mean to cut out all forms of simple carbohydrates. This just means that you have to cut down on the amount of simple carbohydrates that you’re taking in. It is important also to remember that when cutting out simple carbohydrates to focus on foods like junk food, and refined sugar(aka empty calories), and stick to naturally occurring sugars found in fruits, some vegetables, and dairy products. The reason being that these foods have vitamins and nutrients your body needs.

Complex carbohydrates are however absorbed by your body at a much slower rate. This is because these carbohydrates are made up of chains that have to be first broken down, before they can be absorbed and used by your body. Foods containing complex carbohydrates also contain dietary fiber. Fiber is basically a nutrient that cannot be digested by our bodies. Dietary fiber helps to slow the rate at which these complex carbohydrates are broken down. This in turn leaves you feeling full longer, and curbs your appetite, which assists with weight loss.

Carbohydrates should never be cut out completely, even if you are looking to loose weight. It is recommended that if you are after losing weight that about 50% of your daily calories come from carbohydrates. This may seem like a lot of carbohydrates but it really isn’t, because it is based off your total daily calorie intake.

Here’s an example for you, lets just say that you need 2000 calories a day to maintain your current weight, so to lose weight you would drop that intake to 1500 calories. 50% of which will be carbohydrates which leaves 750 calories for fat and protein.

The way the body works is that it will burn carbs first then fat then protein. So even though you’re taking in 50% carbs your total calorie count is still below what your body needs to maintain its weight, so you once you’ve burned off the carbs you’ve eaten in that day your body will start burning off your stored fat.

Right off the bat I am going to say that “absolutely” low carb diets do allow you to lose weight. As a matter of fact low carb diets are fairly popular these days given that people that try these diets experience a fairly quick, and noticeable weight drop. However before you jump on the bandwagon let me just make mention the downsides of a low carbohydrate diet.

The biggest misconception is that this sudden drop in weight is due to the burn off of body fat when in reality it is due to the loss of water and muscle from your body’s muscles and liver that inadequate carbohydrate intake brings on.

For the simple fact that carbohydrates are your body’s number one source of energy, the fact that you are taking in next to none, is going to mean that you will be left with VERY little energy to do much of anything let alone exercising.

Your muscles need carbohydrates for fuel, and so if you are not getting enough to feed your muscles, when they need it the most then you chance actually losing muscle. This is also know as muscle atrophy. The sad part is, is that since metabolism happens within the muscles in your body, a loss in muscle means a slow down in metabolism.

Because you are staying away from complex carb foods, this means also that these diets lack a very important component called fiber. Fiber is what helps to collect and move the waste of food and other things through our body, without fiber we are more prone to cancer, and problems within the digestive tract.

These types of diets do allow you to lose weight, but it is not a very healthy way of going about weight loss. Not to mention that upon completion of these diets, most people will regain half if not more weight back as the muscles re-hydrate. People just don’t realize that its not really rocket science to lose weight all it is, is a balance of healthy nutrition, and exercise.

Whether you are thinking about loosing weight or not, it is very important that you get the recommended amount of the right carbs (complex, natural sugars) in a day, in order for your body to run correctly. Contrary to common belief as shown above in this article carbs are not the “bad guy” society makes them out to be, and they are even beneficial to our bodies, and even go as far as indirectly helping to lose fat and not water.