Earlier in the year, I was definitely one of those people who believed carbs were the devil. Every time I had a bowl of pasta, even whole grain, I felt what I called "carb guilt." I felt so incredibly guilty every time I ate carbs, that I started avoiding them like the plague.
But then, things changed. Without carbs in my life, I became hangry (OH MY GOD THE NAME OF THE BLOG). I would get SO crabby and irritable when I didn't have carbs. I even felt more hungry by the end of the day. I realized that carbs make me happy, and that's okay. I am Italian after all and pasta is sorta our THANG.
But like everything in this world, I've learned carbs work best in moderation. While too little carbs make my grumpy, too many carbs make me feel and look puffy!
I became interested in the benefits of carbs and want to share what I've learned with you.
Carbs are our bodies' primary sources of energy. But you need to choose the good carbs over the bad carbs! Which is which? We want to eat carbs that are absorbed into our systems slowly due to high fiber content. This helps us avoid a spike in blood sugar. You can find these carbs in whole grains, vegetables, beans, and fruits. These "good carbs" are FULL of fiber! "Bad carbs" are anything that is processed and takes away the fiber we need, such as white bread, white rice... things like that! Remember FIBER, FIBER, FIBER! Fiber helps promote good digestive health and studies have shown that it can protect us against type 2 diabetes and obesity.
It has also been proven that taking in carbohydrates from whole grains, fruits and vegetables helps you feel fuller longer. Those who eat the good carbs feel fuller on fewer calories and don't over eat! Can you say flat tummy?
The key is balance. Eat your fruits, your vegetables, your whole grains, and your legumes, along with those proteins! You need a little bit of everything to maintain a good diet and feel good. Just avoid those processed foods! Please!
Also, it was not in my head that carbs made me moody! Lack of carbs = lack of energy. Hellooooo Mr. Grumpy Gills. Apparently serotonin is released when you eat carbs, and serotonin makes you HAPPY!
Carbs give you serotonin. Serotonin makes you happy. Happy people just don't shoot their husbands. They just don't.
