Tag: carbs

6 Horrible Carbs You Should Avoid

So moving on from the 6 ideal sources of carbs for you to enjoy is the 6 sources of carbs you should avoid if you want to get 6 pack abs.

Sugar

spoon-sugar

It is a naturally occurring substance that has been used as a preservative for centuries. So it should be good right? Except that centuries ago, sugar was not as abundant as today and most people must engage in calorie burning manual labor to earn a living. Nowadays, you just need to look at the label of your instant coffee, sneakers or coke to find sugar as the main ingredient. Combined this with our sedentary lifestyle and you got yourself a recipe for health disaster. The key is moderation and if you need to satisfy your sweet tooth, to have it before a gym session where it will be used for fuel.

Artificial Sweeteners

PepsiLight2009

Aspartame, acesulfame potassium ( or simply written as acesulfame K), sucralose, saccharin…. you see them on the ingredient list of many products labeled as “healthy” on the market, including most protein supplements. Although these products are not chemically classified as carbs, but they are widely used as sugar (carb) substitute, hence earned their spot here.  For sure they contain no calories hence on the surface it seems to help those that wants to loose weight. But multiple independent studies have linked it to anything from obesity, type 2 diabetes, to kidney damage. Hence if you really crave for sweets, stick to the natural ones and do it as part of your pre-workout.

White Wheat Flour

All-Purpose_Flour_(4107895947)

You see them everywhere. From biscuits, bread to noodles. Other than sugar, you can say that its the building block of modern society as we know it. And just like sugar, things would have been fine several centuries ago when white wheat flour was a luxury and most bread were made with whole wheat flour (i.e. contains more fiber and minerals). The modern version we consume these days are simply too refined and will lead to spike in blood sugar upon consumption. Hence this is one type of carb consumption you should reduce. Not only that, some people have varying level of intolerance towards gluten that is abundant in wheat. Hence if you feel bloated after eating cakes and noodles, it might be best to avoid this type of carb.

Beer

beer

Sad to say, my favorite beverage is not something you should be drinking if you are aiming for a 6-pack abs. Hence I only indulge myself whenever I travel. Problem no. 1 with beer is that it is very high in carbohydrates (and lets face it, “light” beers don’t taste as good as full bodied beers). Another problem is that the alcohol in the beer suppresses lipid oxidation, hence the typical beer belly you see among regular alcohol consumers.

Flavored Instant Oats

instant oat

Yes, oats are high in fiber so it should be good for you. The problem is the convenient flavored single servings you typically see in supermarket aisle is jam packed with sugar. Thick rolled oats are filled with complex carbs that are slow to digest. Instant oats however, already had those carbs cut down to make it absorb water at much faster rate, they ended up getting digested much quicker by the body too. So if you want to get all the health benefits of oats, stick with the thick rolled ones.

Fructose

fruit juice

Oh dear, so classic coke is bad for you. Diet coke and coke zero is bad for you. Better to just stick with the good ole fruit juice right? Wrong. Fruits are high in fructose, and if you enjoy it the natural way, you would be consuming plenty of fiber along the way. These fibers slows down your metabolism, making sure that there would not be a sudden spike of fructose in your blood. When you just drink the juice, you skip all the fibers, significantly increasing the fructose absorption in your body, and over time, this has been proven to cause insulin resistance. So the good old fruit juice is not innocent either.

Bottom line: The modern consumer must be extra careful with what is being consumed. The supermarket aisle is filled with promises of healthy and convenient food. But most of those products contain more lies than anything else. Hence you must educate yourself and make sure you know what you buy.

6 Best Source of Carbs for a 6-pack abs

Happy New Year Everyone! I’m sure some of you made a new year resolution that involves loosing some spare tires. And part of getting a 6 pack abs does lie in the kitchen. So here’s the article I hope will help you get into a better shape. One thing I must emphasize is that if you are into paleo diet, a lot of cultures started eating carbs even during the hunter gatherer phase (the one that is considered as the model life style for the paleo crowd), they just happen to eat tubers (yam, potatoes and sweet potatoes) instead of grain. Some Papua tribes technically still living in hunter gatherer phase and they consume lots of sago pith which is 99% carbs (wheat and barley contains more protein, fat and fiber).

So without futher ado, here’s my top 6:

Brown Rice

brown-rice

Asians simply eat lots of rice. Brown rice is simply rice that still has its edible hull and endosperm while white rice already had the edible hull and endosperm removed. Compared to white rice, brown rice has more than 3 times as much magnesium in it (important nutrient) and almost 5 times as much fiber. And because of the high fiber content, your digestion system will ingest it at much slower rate, preventing sudden spike in blood sugar. Of course some people cannot tolerate the texture of cooked brown rice, hence I highly recommend mixing 3 parts of brown rice with 7 parts of white rice on your first trial.

Potatoes!

potato

Anybody that has watched the martian probably knows that potatoes almost has all the nutritional content the body needs. Its almost a perfect food. Even Adam Smith (The Adam Smith that wrote “Wealth of Nation” and pretty much started the theory of economics) praise it for its nourishing qualities. You can boil it, bake it, steam it, or turn it into mashed potatoes to suit your taste buds and it will still be healthy. Just make sure you use the right type of potatoes for your type of cooking and don’t fry it because fried potatoes are simply bad for your health.

Quinoa

red_quinoa

Food of the American Indians! This pseudo-cereal (its technically not a cereal) is probably the closest thing we have to a perfect food. One cup of serving contains 5 grams of fiber, more than double the fiber content of brown rice and 8 grams of protein. its has one of the lowest glycemic index among the cereals, perfect for both people with diabetes, and those that wants to loose weight. Unlike most plant based proteins, the protein composition of quinoa has all the essential amino acids, hence comparable to animal protein. And even boiled egg only contains 6 grams of protein. Last but not least, its also very easy to cook, just throw it to the rice cooker.

Barley

barley

Another one of my favorite grain. Barley is highly nutritious and widely used as drink in multiple culture, and if you are on a diet, I would recommend adding it to your rice mix. A serving size of 200 grams will get you a whooping 31 grams of fiber and 20 grams of proteins! It is also a good source of Manganese and Selenium. The added protein and fiber will help keep you fuller for longer.

Rye

rye-bread

Yes, I know a lot of people go gluten free because its trendy although they are not really gluten intolerant. But there are also plenty of people that eat lots of noodles or bread and got bloated afterwards. Should that be the case, then rather than consuming food that has been chemically processed to separate the gluten, I would highly recommend them to replace the wheat with rye instead. Rye has been used instead of wheat in bread for centuries in Scandinavian countries and Russia. And unlike wheat, rye very low in gluten, hence more suitable for those with gluten intolerant. 1 cup of rye (128 gr) contains 29g of dietary fiber and 18g of protein, manganese, phosphorous, and magnesium.

Yam

purpleyamphoto

Probably one of the most affordable food widespread in Asia, Africa, Latin America, and Oceania. Although yam is quite low on protein, it still has a low glycemic index, i.e. takes a while to digest, hence suitable for people on a diet. And since its cheap, it won’t break the bank.

In the end, I personally think diet is not something a person must do to an extreme in order to get an extreme result in short amount of time. This sort of method will only lead people crashing out in the long term. Diet should be a gradual change you can maintain over the long run. Hence if a particular diet is too emotionally taxing for you, don’t do it. If its too expensive for you to maintain in the long run, don’t do it. If it leads you feel lethargic, don’t do it. Best of all in 2017!