Carbohydrates are organic molecules made out of carbon, oxygen and hydrogen, and they serve as the main source of energy in our bodies. In practice these are macronutrients which are often balanced with during the mass and definition phases or preparations for certain physical activities. On the other side, they carry with them an assumption that they are “fattening” and a lot of modern diets are based on a low contribution of carbohydrates.
Carbohydrates are primary source of energy in the body and in any phase of spending energy, either by exercising or starving, carbohydrates are first to go. With their intake, we secure energy for muscle growth, but also the energy that brain and other organs need to work properly. Considering their composition, they are often called sugars.
Types of carbohydrates
Carbohydrates can be divided into simple and complex. The composition directly affects the digestion of some carbohydrates. So we can divide them to the ones with high GI and low GI.
GI or glycemic indeks is a measurement that marks the speed and the intensity of hightening the level of glucose in blood after consuming certain food. As a reference value 100 table sugar (saccharose) or garlic is used.
Simple carbohydrates are composed of just one (monosaccharides) or two (disaccharides) molecules. They are digested quickly, about 15 minutes after the intake. Simple sugars have high GI and they include glucose (grape or blood sugar), fructose (fruit sugar), saccharose (table sugar), lactose (milk sugar) and similar.
Complex sugars (polysaccharides) are built of more monosaccharides and as a rule they have lower GI values. Complex sugars include starch (amylose and amylopectin) and glycogen. Starch serves as an energy stock in plants, while this part in animals and humans has glycogen.
How much carbohydrates do I actually need?
Human body is a very adaptable organism, so it can function even with extremely low carbohydrate intake. However, if we don’t speak of a strict diet, for optimal brain function and the function of the whole organism, it is recommended to take larger amounts.
Even though the recommendations are spinning around 55 – 65 % of daily calories need (1 g of carbohydrate gives 4 kcal), this amount is not necessarily needed. So with carbohydrates are easy to
manipulate with depending on the goals, way of life and training. Intensive mind work, hard physical work, increase of strength and endurance sports seek a bigger intake of carbohydrates.
Carbohydrates in the body are stored in glycogen form in the liver and in muscles. Carbohydrates in the liver are used as energy for inner organs, brain and regulation of glucose level in blood, while the ones in muscles are primarily consumed with muscle workout. If we look at the order of spent energy in the body, the first one to go is ATP (adenosine triphosphate – a molecule that with it’s degradation gives large amounts of energy – energy coin of the organism). The body will use glucose in blood after that to produce ATP, and after that the one from muscles for muscle contractions and doing the muscle work. And when all the glycogen from the organism is spent, the body will start to degrade fat cells to get energy.
The opposite side of consumption is of course storing carbohydrates in the organism. By importing food into the organism, level of glucose in blood increases and glycogen synthesis in liver and muscles is stimulated.
The amount of glycogen in the liver is limited to 8-9 % of liver weight which is about 100 – 120 grams. The amount of glycogen in muscles depends on muscle contribution in the body and it is about 1 – 2 % of non-fat body weight. A person with more muscles will store a lot more glycogen than a person with a small amount of muscles in the body. All the remaining excess of carbohydrates, but also of other food that is not used any more for muscle or enzyme synthesis, or something similar, will be stored as fat. Fat cells can enlarge their size almost indefinitely, which means that they can receive “unlimited” amount of fat, or energy.
Timing
Carbohydrates are usually recommended in the morning for breakfast. After 8 hours of sleep and the last meal the body has pretty much used glycogen supplies and it needs energy. It is a good combination of fast (like fruits) and slow carbohydrates (eg. oat flakes). Furthermore, 2 hours before training it is good to charge body with energy, especially if activities like basketball, soccer, handball and similar are following, where a lot of energy is needed to endure the game or training.
If it is training with weights, depending on the phase (mass or definition) carbohydrates will concentrate around the training. As a fast recovery after training a combination of digestive proteins is recommended (eg. whey proteins) and glucose. And about one hour after that one quality meal that contains both, eg. chicken breast and rice or potato. If you are attending definition, limit carbohydrates to a meal after training (for maximal stimulation of muscle growth) and first fast meal after training (PWM), and maybe breakfast. For mass you can consummate carbohydrates in every meal. Just be careful that the intake is adjusted to daily intake of calories.
Sources
Sources of simple carbohydrates are fruits (fructose), simple sugars like table sugar and lactose which can be found in milk. Complex carbohydrates can be found in cereals (oat, barley, buckwheat, rice), legumes (beans, peas) and root vegetables (potato, sweet potato).
Complex carbohydrates like oat flakes, whole grains and legumes can cause digestive problems for people, like for example flatulence. That is a consequence of weaker digestibility and inability of organism to degrade certain food. Those kinds of problems can be reduced or even fixed with sousing the food before preparing it or with thermal treatment, and sometimes with mechanical comminution. Also, intake can be reduced and adjusted to the requests of each organism. So, try to mildly cook the oat flakes, if they still make you bloated, reduce the amount. For someone 100 g of oat flakes won’t make a problem, for others even 50 g will be problematic.
Finally, if you can’t get rid of the problem, exclude them from your diet and concentrate on some other sources of carbohydrates. Even though brown rice has more fibers for involucres that it contains, you can use white rice if it causes less digestive problems for you. Vegetables are very poor source of carbohydrates, especially leafy vegetables. It is very rich with fibers and it should be consumed in at least three portions a day, with meals. Good sources of fibers are also lettuce, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, zucchini, tomatoes, peppers and such. Vegetables are food that shouldn’t be limited in diet. On the contrary, it slows down the food passage through the stomach so it gets degraded and used better. Besides that they swell in the stomach (for the fiber contribution) and it gives the feeling of satiety. I don’t need to say that it is rich with needed nutrients that are needed for optimal organism functioning.
Carbohydrates are, so, primary cause of energy in the body. The body can store a limited amount of carbohydrates in the form of glycogen in liver and muscles, all excess will be stored in the form of fat. Choosing carbohydrates should be done depending on the wishes (quick energy source or something that will saturate us for longer period of time) but also on individual needs (avoiding that which causes problems with digestion), and the amount should be adjusted to the goals and activities that we engage in. The advantage when choosing carbohydrates should certainly be given to the vegetables, fruits and sweet potatoes, and then to other sources.