Publié le par jean-guy
When we consume carbohydrates, the liver feeds itself and leaves the remainder circulate in the blood to reach muscular cells and brain cells which are very dependent on carbohydrates. The trick is to choosing wisely the type of carbohydrates and in which quantity.
Solid or liquid? It is advised to favor solid carbohydrates, such as fruits that diminish the risk of diabetes, instead of juice, that increases it. First, the intact structure of fruits contains more nutriments. Secondly, it allows the sugar to arrive at a slower pace in the blood stream and liver. How about our favorite soda drinks? When you drink those, the liquid is separated into glucose and fructose. Fructose, on the opposite of glucose, is fully absorbed by the liver, whether it is satiated or not and transformed into fat in our cells. While those drinks are “rich in energy”, half of it never reaches our brain that needs it.
The degree of transformation. The more we consume food in its original form, the better. For example, replacing white pasta, rice and bread by whole wheat cereals products is very beneficial. For white wheat products, the grain has been so pressed, that most of its minerals, fibers and nutriments have been removed. When you grind a grain of wheat, you lose 58% of fibers, 83% of magnesium, 79% of Vitamin E, 79% of zinc, etc …
Fibers and Glycemic index. Before eating food with high carbohydrates percentage, ask yourself how much fibers it contains (you want as much fiber as you can). A good proportion of carbohydrates compared to fibers is under 10g for 1g. You may also look at the glycemic index, which is the rapidness at which carbohydrates arrive in the blood. The lower glycemic index the better, to avoid sugar rush and or lows (hypoglycemia) two hours later. We consider that a high index is above 77 and a low one is below 55. A big shoutout to legumes that distinguish themselves with a low glycemic index and are very rich in fibers.
Information retrieved from the reading “The Diet Compass” by Bas Kast, 2020