Carbs are the JUNK that's in your TRUNK

This guys is one of the biggest principles people need to understand, this is understanding carbohydrates (carbs).

This will be extremely watered down and there are countless exceptions but this is the basics behind carbs.  Carbs are the main reason there may be some extra junk in your trunk.  One of the biggest misconceptions about diet is that fat is what makes us fat, not carbs.  The problem here is that fat can be broken down into two big categories (although can be greatly more separated this is just general), trans fats and good fats.  Trans fats because of their man made molecular shape are tough for the body to use and store themselves easily.  Good fats are required and need to be consumed to transport and absorb many essential vitamins.  So here is the thing, if fats are primarily good for you what makes us fat?   It is carbs and primarily the simplest sweetest tasting ones.

When carbs enter the blood stream they cause a spike in something called insulin.  Insulin's activity solely depicts what happens with the food in our blood stream, think of it as Insulin is the gate keeper.   When simple sugars are ingested, insulin spikes and your gates become open and there is an influx of calories going towards being stored as fat. These would be the gates that go towards the junk in your trunk or the love handles on your hips.  However when you eat fat, these gates do not open. This is why simple carbs like white breads and sugars make us fat.

Are Carbs or Simple Sugars ever GOOD for us?
In some cases the answer to this question is YES.
This is what you can do with this insulin response.  The awesome thing about these gateways to fat storages is that they are also gateways to muscles and organs.  By using simple sugars (this could be a bag of fuzzy peaches) with your protein, you increase the amount of protein that goes to the muscle and increases your protein uptake!  This is a really good concept to use immediately following a workout, as your muscles are in need of protein and by eating simple sugars with protein it will increase the overall amount of protein going to your hard worked muscles.

Carbs can also be really good for you once a week!  If you carb cut(simple carb cut) 6 days a week you can have an entire day where you eat whatever you want and it is healthy for you and your metabolism.  I literally had 5 chocolate bars, a bag of chips, 3 double cheeseburgers and 2 apple pies from Mcdonalds on my last cheat day and I'm around 8.5% BF all year round.  You don't have to eat leaves to be healthy! Just eat smart by manipulating your carbs!

Ryan Trueman
Ryan.Trueman@dal.ca