Wellness
4 Reasons To Eat More Carbs
Want to lose weight or get rid of brain fog? Think that the low-carb diet is the way to do it? Read this first.
A normal-sized serving of good carbs
Carbs And H-U-N-G-E-R
Your carbohydrate intake is directly correlated to a hormone called leptin in the body, which is produced by your fat cells and monitors incoming energy levels. When energy levels drop (due to lack of carbs), fat cells stop producing as much leptin. This sends you in a tailspin for the worse. You’ll feel ongoing hunger that’s so strong you simply cannot ignore it. You’re going to feel so tired all you want to do is lay on the couch – and skip your workouts. Not only tired and hungry, but you’re going to feel miserable, and you might even start to feel depressed.
If you’ve been on this carb reduced diet for a while, you certainly understand hunger. In fact, you might be hungry right now as you read this.
Doesn’t sound so pleasant, does it? But that’s precisely what you have in store for you if you opt for a very low carb diet plan. You might even be experiencing some of these symptoms right now.
Adding carbs back into your diet is going to help to boost your Leptin production up higher, allowing you to sidestep all of these problems.
Obama knows the difference between good and bad carbs
Carbs and Your Brain
Finally, the last reason that you must eat carbs is for your mental health. Ever feel slightly ‘foggy brained’ after using a low carb diet? It’s not just your imagination. Using low carb diets does make your brain run slower and can cause problems with memory, basic functioning and going about your day.
Why? Because your brain requires 100 grams of carbohydrates per day otherwise it starts to switch to an alternate source of fuel called ketone bodies. The brain’s primary source of fuel is glucose, just like the muscles during intense exercise, so it needs so much of this on a daily basis to function properly.
If you value your mental health, getting more carbs in is important.
While some women are impacted by this to a slightly lower degree, most will notice a marked change in how they feel when on a low carb diet. Further, you’ll also increase your risk of depressive-like feelings while on low carb diets because your brain won’t be releasing as much serotonin, which is the feel good brain chemical that is released upon eating carbohydrates. So if you feel sad after using a low carb diet, it’s not your mind playing tricks. There’s actually a scientific reason you aren’t as happy as usual.
Hopefully now you can see why it’s so critical that you are adding carbs back into your diet. This doesn’t mean you should go crazy with them – around 150 grams per day tends to be a sweet spot for most active women and still allows for enough calories to meet your dietary fat and protein needs as well. So eat that apple without guilt or even treat yourself to some mashed sweet potatoes. It’ll do your mind, body, and mood some good!
Jill Stocker
Very informative, I shall take your advice. Well presented article. Thanks for your advice.
Emily Foulkes
Great info and im going on a full veggie diet for a month, and i dont really want to eat anything i dont really need
Belinda O'Neill
Great info and im going on a full veggie diet for a month, and i dont really want to eat anything i dont really need
Lucy Brennen
I eat around 370-500 grams of carbs per day (unrefined mostly) and it is from 80-60 percent of my overall calories.
Hayden Wallace
I say that if your exercising you should eat carbs especially if your doing intense resistance training.
Heidi Newman
I really like the way that you simplify and get to the point. Thanks!
Ophelia Strand
Carbs from vegetables and fruits are great. Carbs from sweets, breads, cakes etc… are not good.
Margaret Evans
That is a simple and obvious fact and most people must know this, if they knew how seriously important it was they would stick to real food, its that simple..
Joanna Brynne
Is it okay to eat white rice but in moderation? Because a lot of Asian countries eat rice three times a day and their diabetic rate and obesity seems low compared to U.S
Melanie Standford
So the carbs doesn’t matter, just avoid the obviously sweet things like cake and candy and you will lose weight so long as you eat in moderation.
Kimberly Braun
What’s a good diet to lose weight? Because I’m battling to lose the stomach fat.