2 Ways to Simplify Carbs

Summary

• Carbohydrates are sugars. There are different types of sugars that can be found in things like fruits and vegetables. We usually associate carbohydrates with baked goods.
• When choosing carbohydrates, look at the amount of processing. The more a food is processed, the more it’s broken down and easier for the body to absorb. Take wheat for example. If you eat it straight from the field, it will take a little longer to absorb than if it was pounded and ground into a fine powder (flour).
• Glycemic index is another way to determine which carbohydrate you want. The glycemic index is a ranking of foods that will affect your blood sugar levels. You want to consume low glycemic food. However, it's not always bad to have a high glycemic food. Depending on your goal, timing, or activity, you may want to consume a high glycemic food. If you are about to do a tough workout you may want something like a glass of orange juice.
• Have your athlete experiment with carbohydrates and how they affect their energy level. Keep track of what gives them energy and drops their energy. This information will be vital when timing food for practices, games, and tournaments.

Full Transcript

Hey, David Sabi here with Kid to Athlete. We're going over carbohydrates and specifically, on how to feed your athlete. And so, let's get into it.

What are carbohydrates? Well, they're macronutrients. If you don't know what a macronutrient is, you probably already do. There are carbohydrates, proteins, and fats. We're focused on carbohydrates, and carbohydrates are sugars. There are different types of sugars, and we're not going over the different types in this video. But, just keep in mind that they are basically sugars. Now, when we think of carbohydrates in terms of food, well, you can look at it as vegetables or fruits. You know you need vegetables. We definitely need carbohydrates. But you probably think of, when you think of carbohydrates, the bread, the pasta, the cookies, the cakes, and things like that. When you're trying to give your athlete quality carbohydrates, what I like to think of first, is how much processing has that carbohydrate had, right?

If you look at a carrot, a carrot you can consider it as a carbohydrate. You pull it out of the ground, you eat it, no processing involved, versus a piece of bread. When you look at bread, obviously the wheat has been taken, grounded into, basically, a powder, and then mixed with other ingredients to produce your final result, the bread.

Now, if you're looking at that range as how much processing is been done, remember that the processing is going to affect how your body reacts to it. Taking that grain of wheat or that wheat, and then pounding it into a powder means that that food, that carbohydrate, that sugar can go straight to the bloodstream, and that could be a bad thing if your kid is constantly being flooded with sugar, right, right into the bloodstream, because high blood glucose levels are problematic, they can cause a lot of problems. But, if you're looking at the carrot, the carrot's not going to affect you as much, partly because it's not been as processed.

Now, you can also look at an orange and orange juice. That process is basically just squeezing the orange until you get the juice and separating it. If you have the orange by itself, that's going to be a little different than if you have the orange juice. Again, it's a simple, just one-step process, but it's going to affect you differently. What you've done is you've taken some of that fiber out, which helps regulate that sugar, and you've just got, basically, sugar water. And so that's going to affect you. That doesn't mean that it's a bad thing. What I like to do is if I'm going to work out, I can have a glass of orange juice right before I work out, and I have a good workout. However, if I have that glass of orange juice and then I wait 20 minutes and then try to work out, my workout is just shot. I would have crashed by then. So, from all that sugar into a crash, not the best time to workout.

Again, you can look at it as a range. You don't have to be afraid of processed, the processing that went into making bread, or whatnot, but just keep that in mind. When you're looking at your athletes, whether they're doing workouts or even just schoolwork, if you want your kid to be able to focus and have the energy throughout the day, try to go with the least processed foods that you can.

Number two on my list to look at is the glycemic index. The glycemic index is, basically, just a ranking of foods and it has a number corresponding to, well, is it going to affect your blood sugar levels, or not? So like I said, a piece of broccoli. A piece of broccoli is not going to affect your blood sugar levels like a slice of wheat bread. That slice of wheat bread will affect your blood sugar levels a lot more.

Again, it's a range. The glycemic index just kind of gives you an idea of what foods will affect your blood sugar levels. When you're looking at helping your athlete or your kid, whether it's, again, in sports or school, and you want them to have that energy throughout the day, go with the lower glycemic foods, or those carbs that will go into the bloodstream a lot slower. What that will do is it allow them to keep their blood sugar levels balanced, and they're more likely to have energy throughout the day. And just keep that in mind, again, the high-glycemic foods aren't necessarily bad. Don't think that you have to eliminate all high-glycemic foods. Depending on your athlete's goal and depending on the timing of the games, practices, whatever they're doing, they can use those higher glycemic foods, like mangoes, right?

Mangoes are fruits, but it is a high sugary food and again, you can use that if you're going to use that energy right before practice if that can help your athlete. So, those two ranges, make sure you give your athlete the lower processed foods and lower glycemic foods, so that they can maintain that energy level throughout the day. But don't be afraid to use those higher processed or higher glycemic foods depending on the goal of timing, right, if they're going to be performing or playing a game. And remember, you can use it for yourself, as well. Don't just limit it to your kid. Take advantage of it as well.

But, thank you for watching. And if you haven't already, hit that subscribe button, and I will see you on the next one.