Some Forgotten Truths about Healthy Eating (for runners and no runners)

There is a ridiculous trend call the “low carb diet.” Carbs have wrongly become the enemy food and you can hear every one dieting talking about “zero carbs”, or “I am cutting out my carbs.”

“Carbohydrates are vital for providing energy for our bodies and brains. Without them, we would be comatose zombies… Yet all carbs are not created equal... Simple carbs suck and are as nutritional beneficial as toilet paper. They are mostly made up of sugar, which releases too quickly, almost violently, into our bodies, causing sugar highs and then crashes. This tends to leave us feeling hungry, so we eat more…”Complex carbs are made up of starch and fibre and “release gradually, providing a steady source of energy. They make us feel full and satisfied and are easily broken to release new energy.”

White rice, white bread, and regular pasta belong to the category of the bad boys’ carbs. They have been stripped away from all their nutrients, vitamins and minerals. For the sake of being refined, white and soft, they have lost all their nutritional integrity.

On the other hand, complex carbs like potatoes, yams, sweet potatoes, barley, corn, brown rice, millet, beans, hummus, lentils, quinoa and pasta (made from whole wheat, buckwheat, amaranth, etc.), are rich nutrient foods (they have lots of minerals, vitamins, protein, and natural fiber) that make a great source of steady, healthy energy.

Last week, I overheard a conversation between a fitness instructor and one of his clients (that wants to lose some weight) regarding not eating fruits to avoid the excessive sugars they have. I had to leave the place to stop listening to this high level of ignorance.

“The most irritating thing about the low-carb craze is the resistance to eating fruit. Fruit is the most perfect food in existence. It is unique in that it barely requires any work to be digested. High in enzymes, it effortlessly passes through the body, supplying carbohydrates, fiber, vitamins, minerals, fatty acids amino acids, and cancer-fighting tannins and flavonoids. Because it is made up of mostly water, fruit hydrates the body and aids in cleaning, detoxifying, and eliminating….

So shout it from the rooftops until every one of your dumb-ass misinformed friends hears: YOU CAN EAT BREAD AND FRUIT!”

Source: Skinny Bitch by Lori Freedman and Kim Barnouin.

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