What are they
Carbohydrates, or carbon hydrates, are chemical molecules mostly made from carbon (c), hydrogen (h), and oxygen (o) and their base formula (CH2O)n, explains the motive for their name: every atom of carbon is connected to a molecule of water and is, therefore, hydrated. This explains the reason why, in low-carb diets, there’s rapid weight loss: what you lose by eliminating carbohydrates is, first of all, water.
Carbohydrates have very important functions in our body: they are the primary source of energy for many organs and the only for essential systems like the brain, they can also represent a stored energy source (like muscular glycogen) and can have structural functions or act as cellular recognition signals.
Carbohydrates are divided into simple and complex ones, that, based on their nature can be found in different sources and they act differently and have different effects.
Complex carbohydrates
Also said “polymers” are made up of multiple, assembled monomer units. For example, starch is one of the main reserve sugars in the plant world and is made of molecules of a simple sugar – glucose. Humans, who feed on starch through plant sources, the reserve, complex sugars are instead represented by glycogen, which is also made up of single units of glucose and is stored mainly in the liver and the muscles, where it acts as an energy reserve.
The principle sources of complex carbohydrates are represented by the plant world: all cereals (orzo, rice, millet, grain, oats, emmer, etc.) and the legumes (soy, lentils, peas, beans, etc.) are sources of complex carbohydrates while fruit and vegetables pertain to the other category.
The guidelines state that carbohydrates should represent 55-65% of our daily calories and that at least 40% should be complex carbohydrates.
In the guidelines in 2020 for healthy nutrition, it’s recommended to provide for the daily carbohydrate quote by favoring whole grains and legumes while not abolishing refined cereals (white flours for example) paying attention to limiting products that are highly processed. Whole sources, in fact, in addition to providing carbohydrates and therefore, energy, also provide fiber that helps increase the sense of fullness, intestinal mobility and combats bad cholesterol and slows the speed with which sugars enter the blood, contributing to reducing the risk of diabetes, of cardiovascular diseases and weight gain.
Simple carbohydrates and sugars
Simple carbohydrates are mostly glucose, fructose and galactose that, when combined, generate carbohydrates that are moderately complex like sucrose (the most common table sugar, formed by two units of glucose) and lactose (the sugar of dairy products, formed by a molecule of glucose and one of galactose) or molecules that are very complex like starch and glycogen, previously treated.
Another distinction to be made are sugars that are naturally present in foods, like those found in fruits and yogurt, or in added sugars such as those like in cookies and other prepared products. In the first case, these are foods that in addition to providing sugars, also have many micronutrients like vitamins, minerals, bio active molecules and, especially in the case of fruit and vegetables, fiber, therefore, they are fundamental to integrate into your diet, just think that the guidelines talk about minimum portions (at least 400g/day) for fruit. The second category instead represents food, like sweets and desserts, sugary drinks and other more complex preparations that have sugar (sucrose) as the additive ingredient. This type of product doesn’t have to be eliminated, but it should be limited since it represents a food source that has little nutritional value, and, furthermore, a diet that’s abundant in simple added sugars increases the risks for many diseases like diabetes, obesity and cardiovascular disease.
Preferring fruits and vegetables, therefore, helps brings sugars and a mix of fundamental nutrients to the body. Also, these foods can be utilized to sweetened culinary preparations bringing softness and sweetness and reducing the use of other ingredients like butter and sugar: for example, in an apple cake you can get softness by adding more fruit or yogurt to the batter, limiting the addition of unhealthy ingredients.
Carbohydrates and sports
As previously mentioned, carbohydrates, both simple and complex, represent the body’s main energy currency and are therefore fundamental for anyone, but especially for those who practice sports, in fact, very often, especially for those who perform endurance sports like runners and cyclists, the caloric gap that is created from training, is usually lessened with an increase in the carbohydrate quote rather than the protein or lipid one.
Consuming an ideal amount of carbohydrates allows you to maintain high levels of energy and to ensure a full reserve of energy: the muscular glycogen. Having “full” reserves of muscular glycogen allows you to fatigue your muscles even less and preserve muscular catabolism.
In some conditions, limiting the muscular glycogen reserves, following precise dietary protocols such as the ketogenic diet, allows you to attack fat mass faster, facilitating the loss of adipose deposits. Nonetheless, if not properly followed, a do-it-yourself low-carb diet could have the opposite effect: burn muscle mass, lose liquids and create damaging metabolic imbalances.
With exception in some cases, the integration of carbohydrates in a daily diet, especially for those who practice sports, can be a recommended way to maintain health and reach desired athletic performances.
Carbohydrates and training
The attention towards the best choices of carbohydrates should concern any individual, but above all those who practice sports. In fact, the quality of carbohydrates that are consumed, their frequency and ingestion time play a fundamental role in sports performance and results, as well as recovery and concentration during training.
Regarding the quality of carbohydrates, scientific studies agree on the evidence that a diet based on mainly complex carbohydrates and with a medium/low glycemic index (and here fibers and combinations with protein and carbohydrate sources play an important role) keeping low glycaemia and insulin secretion, favors the maintaining of constant energy levels, helps burn the energy of food for energy purposes and avoids the “hunger crisis”, typical sensations provoked from simple carbohydrates.
Regarding the timing of when to consume them, the pre and post workout meals are crucial: a mixture of simple and complex carbohydrates favors the maximum assimilation because they are assimilated by the body with different mechanisms. The carbohydrates pre-workout help “refill” the muscular glycogen and those post workout help recovery, providing energy for the construction of muscle and instead is done by proteins. Winning snack post workout? Greek yogurt, that ensures rapidly absorbed protein, a banana, rich with carbohydrates and potassium.
You don’t have to only focus on these two moments, however: consuming carbohydrates at every meal or snack and variating the source ensures the maintaining of muscle repair and muscular catabolism, while energy levels remain constant and the predisposition for training favors results and recovery.
Sources
- Burke, LM, Hawley, JA, Wong, SH e Jeukendrup, AE (2011). Carboidrati per allenamento e competizione. Rivista di scienze dello sport , 29 (sup1), S17-S27.
- Christopher K. Mathews. K.E VanHolde, Dean R.Appling, Spencere J. Anthony-Chaill, BIOCHIMICA, Piccin, 2014, quarta edizione
- Kerksick, C. M., Wilborn, C. D., Roberts, M. D., Smith-Ryan, A., Kleiner, S. M., Jäger, R., … & Kreider, R. B. (2018). ISSN exercise & sports nutrition review update: research & recommendations. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, 15(1), 1-57.
- LINEE GUIDA PER UNA SANA ALIMENTAZIONE – CREA 2018
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