There is so much conflicting data out there about carbs. I’ve read so many books and absorbed so much information about paleo diets, nutrient timing, general nutrition, and my conclusion is that you really need to gauge your own body’s reaction to carbs.
Of course, that is the answer for everything: How does your body react?
Studies about human nutrition are based on generalities. Often they are not perfectly scientific, because it is just impossible to achieve a perfect environment where only one factor is changed when you are dealing with human nutrition.
Imagine trying to figure out if olive oil is good for humans or not. How can you do that?
So many of the studies are so general in nature, and so subjective, that we are fed a lot of misinformation.
The French drink five times as much wine as Americans and their levels of heart disease are five times lower than Americans’, so the wine must be the answer! This may be true, but there is no way to know if it’s the wine or not. Maybe the fact that they eat 50% more cheese than Americans is the answer.
The studies about carbs are about the same. Even if there were a way to show that carbs generally are great for the population at large, better than fat as an energy source, how would you know if it’s good specifically for you?
TRY IT!
I will use myself as an example.
I’ve gone without carbs for days, just to see what that did to me. I ended up with pretty good energy, but I felt like hell. My eyes burned, my mood was terrible.
On the other hand, I also know that when I eat a lot of simple carbs — say, around 75 to 100 grams at a sitting — I end up feeling sluggish and unable to keep my eyes open about 20 minutes later.
So I know pretty much my body’s reaction to carbs, and I consume them appropriately, based on what I know about my body, not based on what some expert or study has told me.
How about you? How do you feel when you consume carbs? Do you know?