Carbs… Wait, They're Not Bad?

The diet world looooves to hate on carbs. But in reality, we need carbs every day. Lots of them. In fact, 45-65% of your daily calories should come from... dun dun dun. Yes, CARBS.

Carbohydrates are your body's main source of fuel. They're your body's PREFERRED source of fuel.

Our bodies break down carbs into glucose, which is sugar. The body will either use the sugar for energy now, or save it in the liver for later. We need carbs several times a day for our bodies to use for energy.

Our bodies use carbs to give energy to the brain, to help you think clearly, process things, and remember things. Carbs give our bodies energy too. When you're on a long run and you're getting tired, a granola bar or a workout gel will give your body quick energy because they have lots of carbs.

When you restrict your carbs, guess where your body goes to for energy? Carbs. Nope, it doesn't go straight to burning fat. Here's why:

Fat has 9 calories per gram while carbs and protein each have 4 calories per gram. What does that mean? It means that your body has to burn 9 calories to utilize 1 gram of fat, but only has to burn 4 calories to utilize 1 gram of carbs or protein. SO, if your body has the choice between burning 4 calories for energy or 9 calories, it's definitely going to go for the easier one. Our bodies are efficient. That means it's going to pull protein from your muscles to use as energy, making your muscles weak and making it so that protein isn't able to perform it's actual function in the body.

Carbs are really important because they keep protein doing what it's meant to do in the body and they provide our bodies with energy. We need them often and most of our diet should be from carbs. Not the other way around!

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