A balanced and well built weight loss diet plan has to have the needed amounts of carbohydrate, protein, vitamin and nutrients. Diet having these components in the right proportion will not only help you lose weight, but also gives your body the overall health and energy it needs for a healthy lifestyle. There are tens of low fat diets, low carbohydrate diets, high protein diets all explaining why that specific diet is the best one, but for you the most important is to understand the role of these diets’ components before you can choose the best one for your needs. No matter how much negative facts and advice you hear about carbohydrates, and their damage for weight loss you need to include them into your diet, because carbohydrates are your diet’s fuel.
Near fat and protein, carbohydrates are the main components in your weight loss diet. Carbohydrates can be good and bad carbohydrates and are consumed in different ways. Without carbohydrates you cannot build up a balanced diet, because they are the fuel of your brain and muscles. Carbohydrates, because they are fast-acting fuels and readily available are used by our vital organs and working muscles; they are broken down into glucose, which is needed for our brain to work properly, having no other type of fuel.
Our body prefers carbohydrates as primary fuel sources, because they break down into glucose easier and faster than other sources of energy like protein and fats. There are simple and complex carbohydrates; while simple carbohydrates take less time to break down and give less fuel, complex carbohydrates break down harder but are that primary energy source our body needs. Complex carbohydrates are simple sugars bound in a chain broken down by digestive enzymes and absorbed through the intestines. Because of their simple state, they are faster acting sources of energy. The best sources of carbohydrates needed to be included into our everyday diet are bread, shredded wheat, pasta, yams and corn.
Simple sugars from complex carbs are consumed as fructose, glucose and galactose by the body. As a primary fuel source for our brain, muscles and vital organs so near fats and protein, vitamins and minerals, sources of carbohydrates are essential to be included into our balanced diet for a healthy and energy full lifestyle.