Some will say that our love / hate relationship with carbs got a little out of hand and that it was much more complicated than it should have been. It is easy to see where our confusion originated. After all, carbohydrates give us the primary energy source of our body after being broken down into glucose or blood sugar. On the other hand, carbohydrates drive up insulin, which causes our bodies to hold on to fat. The best way to solve this carbohydrate mystery is to recognize and avoid the worst carbohydrates for your body (the highly processed, sugary, refined carbohydrates) and to find out the best and worst times to get carbohydrates for to eat your health. lifestyle.
We asked nutritionists and other experts for help. Here’s how they identified the worst times to eat carbs, and for even more healthy tips, check out our list of 15 underrated weight loss tips that actually work.
The worst times to eat carbs will vary from person to person, so you need to evaluate your body and your lifestyle, says certified nutritionist Reda Elmardi, CEO of StrongChap.com. If you do not exercise and also have a sedentary job, do not eat high carbohydrate meals for breakfast, lunch and dinner; cut carbs out of one or two of those meals, he says.
“If you are very active throughout the day, it’s always good to have carbs – just do not overdo the calories,” says Elmardi.
The physiotherapist and bodybuilder recommends people who are mostly sedentary but have a set time of the workout to plan to consume most of the carbohydrates of the day in the workout.
“But it’s not necessary,” he says. ‘The body can store glycogen for use at a later time; as long as you use the energy at a certain time, you will be fine. ‘
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Do not bash carbohydrates; we need them to work through our work day, school day and workout, says Natasha Funderburk, RN, BSN, certified trainer and nutrition consultant at the National Academy of Sports Medicine.
“When we can learn to consider carbohydrates as our most important energy source, it becomes easier to understand the timing when it is best to eat or avoid them,” says Funderburk.
The worst time to eat carbs is when you no longer need energy. For most of us, it’s at night when you sit on the couch. “When we put carbs in front of the TV, our metabolism is already slowing down, and our body is eventually going to store those carbs as fat, as it has no use burning them as fuel.”
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Make it a habit to limit carbs two to three hours before bedtime, advise Morgyn Clair, RD, a registered nutritionist at SprintKitchen.com. “Keep a night snack up to 15 grams of carbs or less,” she says.
“[Because] ‘Carbohydrate’s most important role in the body is energy and the body will not use energy during rest, but the carbohydrates are usually stored as fat,’ says Clair.
Certified nutritionist Dr. Josh Ax, DC, founder of Ancient Nutrition, extends the advice to include eating food 2 to 3 hours before bed to promote digestion, metabolic health and improved sleep.
“If you avoid eating carbohydrates too close to bedtime, it gives your body a chance to digest and you also fast overnight, which can benefit your blood sugar and insulin sensitivity,” he says. “If possible, aim to go 12 hours overnight (between dinner and breakfast the next morning) without eating anything, including carbohydrates.”
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You may have heard of a counter-intuitive form of carbohydrate timing called ‘carbohydrate recharge’ for weight loss. The idea behind this trendy diet is to significantly reduce carbohydrates you eat early in the day, during breakfast and lunch, and to consume most carbohydrates later in the day (for dinner), explains nutritionist Lisa Richards, author of The Candida Diet.
“It is thought to optimize the body’s natural insulin sensitivity to make weight loss more effective,” she says.
And by recharging carbs a few hours after exercising later in the day, these carbs will be better absorbed by your muscles.
If you load up on carbs in the evening and avoid carbs during the morning meal after a night of fasting while sleeping, you are theoretically forcing your body to turn to stored fat for fuel during the day activity. This is a similar concept to intermittent fasting and the keto diet.
No matter what type of carbohydrate you follow, the key is to ‘focus on complex carbohydrates’, says Richards. “Reducing or eliminating refined carbohydrates from your diet is a wise decision for your overall health, not just weight loss or performance. Refined carbohydrates are inflammatory and can lead to, among other things, poor intestinal health and candida overgrowth.”
“If you’re prediabetic or diabetic, you’ll probably need to be more careful with your carbohydrate intake,” says Ax. You may need to limit the amount of grains and fruits you consume, and you may want to avoid processed carbohydrates and added sugar, plus sugar drinks. “Another way to cut down on carbohydrates is if you want to lose weight. You may prefer to try a low-carb diet, such as the keto diet (a high-carbohydrate high-fat diet) that can promote fat loss,” he says.
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For many of us, our bodies never have the chance to burn the energy we have already stored because we never let our fuel tanks run out and we eat carbohydrates all day and constantly cause insulin points.
“A person picked it up again with their mid-morning snack, then lunch and afternoon snack; essentially, a person lives a life in which every waking moment is spent in a state of elevated insulin,” says researcher of metabolism by Brigham. Young University Benjamin Bikman, Ph.D., author of Why we get sick.
If you are inactive, your body is in a low state of physical fitness or you have high body fat levels, this is not a good time to consume carbohydrates.
“The body can handle carbohydrates better during and after physical activity, as well as the levels of fitness are high and body fat levels are lower, that is 15% or less for men and 20% or less for women,” says Ryan Andrews, RD, CSCS, a leading nutritionist for Precision Nutrition.
In addition to the three-hour window after exercising, you should usually eat protein and fat and less carbohydrate-dense foods. “If you plan a higher carbohydrate intake when your body is better equipped to handle it, insulin will be under your control, and the body will function better,” says Andrews.
Instead of worrying about when you should have carbohydrates or not, you should focus on choosing the right types of carbohydrates, stress nutritionists. It can always be the worst time to eat carbs if it is the sugary, highly processed kind. “Strive to eat unprocessed carbohydrates with lots of fiber, no matter what time you eat carbohydrates,” says Dr. Ax. Examples of healthy carbohydrates include vegetables, whole pieces of fruit (rather than juice), whole grains such as oats or quinoa, sweet potatoes and other potatoes, plus beans and legumes. (Related: The Surprising Side Effects of Eating Oatmeal, According to Science.) Dairy, nuts and seeds also give you carbohydrates (choose unsweetened dairy to avoid too much sugar).