Stop Fearing Carbs

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Welcome And Sponsor Thanks

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome to there is a method to the magnets. My name is Rob Maxwell, and I'm an exercise physiologist and personal training. I am the owner of Maxwell's Fitness Programs, and I've been in business since 1994. The purpose of this podcast is to get to the real deal of what really worked and most importantly why things work. Hence the name there is a method to the magnet. Before I get started today, let me thank Jonathan and Lynn Gildan of the Gilden Group ELT Pros. They are committed to providing the highest level of customer service in home sales. Why don't you give them a shout and figure out what your home is worth? 386-451-2412.

Why Nutrition Stays Misunderstood

SPEAKER_00 0:47

You know, it's really, really funny. The other day I was talking to Ellen and uh we were talking about the podcast I recently did about protein and uh how many people downloaded it. And every time I talk about different food sources, just how successful those podcasts are. Not that I uh, you know, I don't make my content based on what I think is going to be really popular. But when I look at it, I can see what topics are really popular. And every time I do food topics of sorts, whether it be weight loss or macronutrients, micronutrients, I mean, it's just it's crazy the amount of interest that's in it. And what I said earlier about what's funny is I said, you know, it's a lot of people say to me, and I know you don't like talking about this. And uh, you know, I have to laugh because it's just something to me that I do know so much about. I mean, I, you know, I have the credentials with nutrition. I'm an exercise physiologist. I've been studying nutrition. I'm a licensed sports nutritionist. I have their credentials, and to me, it's maddening just how clueless people are about food. So it's not that I don't like talking about food. I guess I just get exasperated with the lack of understanding. I don't know that there's a more misunderstood topic than nutrition in health and fitness. I really don't. I think years ago, the uh the like the myths about strength training was pretty big, and that was one we had to talk about all the time. Um, I don't, you know, there's other topics that come up where I look at people and I think, you know, who taught you that? But food and nutrition is still so wildly misunderstood. And part of it is because it's really big business. So the long and short of it is I need to talk more about it because I really do understand it. Like I know pretty much all there is that I need to know regarding nutrition and what we need to be eating, what's good for us, what's not, why we gain weight. I mean, it's not like I go, oh, that's new or that's interesting, or that's a different take I need to consider. I mean, that's just not true. I mean, the things I hear and read, I'm shaking my head at. Like, what are you freaking talking about? So, long story short, I'm going to talk about nutrition again because you know what? It seems like people need to hear

Carbs Fuel Brain And Workouts

SPEAKER_00 3:35

it. And today I'm going to talk about the the maddening, maddening, maddening topic of carbohydrates and how poorly understood they are. You don't know how many people I hear in a week's time say something like, Well, I know I need to cut out the bread, or I know I need to cut this out, or cut that out. I'm thinking, what? Like, we are still thinking carbs are the enemy, and they're not. So let's talk about that. The first thing I want to say is your body didn't evolve to fear carbohydrates, it evolved to use them. We need carbohydrates. The very first point I want to make here is the carbohydrates are the primary preferred fuel for your body and brain. The primary preferred fuel. Okay. That doesn't mean like, oh, we can use it. No, your body wants and needs to use carbohydrates for fuel. It is your gas. Just think about taking a road trip on an empty tank in your car. You're not going to get very far. If you're gasophobic, right? If you're fuelophobic, oh, I can't put gas in the car. I mean, it's kind of the same thing. All right. Your brain actually uses 120 grams of glucose per day under typical conditions. I know people that consume less carbohydrates than that per day, let alone glucose. All right. What are they fueling on then? Why are they in a brain fog? Why can't they think? Why are they like dozing off? Why are they, you know, kind of confused? I mean, why are they not performing well in their workouts? Because their brain doesn't have enough fuel. Secondly, high-intensity exercise relies exclusively on stored carbohydrate, which is what we call muscle glycogen. Exclusively on that. In other words, your muscles cannot use fat for fuel in anaerobic activities. Strength training is an anaerobic activity. It cannot use fat. Fat is used the primary fuel source for low intensity activity. Most exercise does not qualify as that. All right. So if you are on a low-carb diet and you are going to the gym and your goal is to gain strength, your goal is to gain muscle, you are wasting your time. It simply cannot happen. All right. So I will repeat, high-intensity exercise relies primarily on muscle glycogen. All right. So people who are eating low-carb diets still can't make enough glucose through what we call gluconeogenesis to combat their exercise stress because your body needs it. All right. So there are some people out there, you know, the keto people that are like, well, gluconeogenesis, your body will make carbohydrates out of muscle tissue, which, by the way, is not good. I mean, think about what you just heard. And, you know, it will use it for exercise. Absolutely not true at all. All right. So your body needs the carbs, your brain needs the carbs, you're going to the gym, you're trying to gain muscle, you're trying to get stronger, and you're restricting carbohydrates. Now, did I say eat too many carbohydrates? No. And I'll I'll conclude with that. But you can't eat too much of anything. So carbs aren't the problem. It's eating too much that makes us gain weight. All right. Next point I want to make.

Whole Carbs Versus Processed

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Not all carbohydrates are created equal. I had that conversation with a client last night who's an endurance athlete, who's definitely not carb phobic. She eats a very good, well-balanced diet. And I said to her, I said, Well, you always eat well, you know? And it and I asked her, or I stated to her, so doesn't it drive you nuts that like people are kind of like comparing carbohydrates? All carbs are the same. Well, don't eat carbs, don't eat carbs. And a lot of them are talking about like donuts and candy and soda. Are those carbohydrates? Yes. But they're sugar, they're processed foods. I mean, if we want to create an enemy, and I don't believe in creating enemies, by the way. I'm not one of those never eat this or that type of people. But if we want to limit something, it would be processed foods. Not all carbohydrates, I just said it like I'm from Long Island and I'm not. Not all carbohydrates are created equal. All right. Processed carbohydrates, for example, some I just noted, plus soda, candy, donuts, cake, sugary cereals, white pastries, cookies. Those are different types of carbohydrates. Those are processed carbohydrates. They have very little fiber, they're highly refined, they digest really quickly, they're less filling. So because of these qualities, they're very easy to overeat. Are those carbohydrates? Yes. But so are these healthy, good, whole food carbohydrates, such as oatmeal, potatoes, sweet potatoes, beans, lentils, fruit, brown rice, quinoa, vegetables, sourdough breads. What are their characteristics? They're high in fiber. They're rich in vitamins and minerals. They're more satiating. They better control your blood sugar. They support good gastrohealth. All right. So those are both carbohydrates, right? So whole food carbohydrates are carbohydrates, and highly processed carbohydrates or carbohydrates. They are carbohydrates. Ultimately, they both provide fuel to the brain and fuel to the body. But if you look at the processed carbohydrates, they have less fiber, highly refined, they just digest very easy, and they're easy to eat. So we simply eat more of them, spiking our blood sugar. We need carbohydrates. If we want to completely limit, although, like I said, well, limit, I agree with. Completely get rid of, I'm not so sure I believe in that. But if we really want to create a villain, again, even though it's not necessary, but if it works for you to keep you eating right, then simply make it the processed carbohydrates. All right.

Fiber Changes Everything

SPEAKER_00 11:02

Third big point we need to make into this podcast. It's the fiber I want you to watch. Fiber changes everything. Now, notice in those whole food carbohydrates, the very first characteristic mentioned was high in fiber. The very first characteristic lacking in the process was low in fiber. Fiber is the key to create a healthy carbohydrate. Let me repeat, fiber is the key to what makes a healthy carbohydrate. All right. Most Americans only consume 15 grams of fiber per day. I can't even imagine that. Like, what are you eating to only get 15 grams of fiber per day? I mean, that is so freaking unhealthy. The recommendation is, and this is still, in my opinion, too low. But the recommendation is 25 grams of fiber per day for women and 38 for men. And that fiber recommendation has been out there a long time since I was teaching nutrition 10 years ago. But to me, that is still too low. Like I don't go through a day where I'm not eating 50 grams of fiber a day. I track it. I mean, track all the foods. It's not like I sit there and track fiber. It comes up in my My FitnessPal. But I'm eating at least 50 grams a day. I mean, how are you not? And then the answer is because you're eating a really bad diet. We need fiber. All right. Fiber is one of the foods you absolutely need to target. You know, everybody's like high protein, high protein. And we've already talked about protein, but I will repeat, we only need enough protein. We actually would be better off if we got a little more obsessed about fiber. I think that would create a health revolution. All right. What does fiber do? It improves your level of feeling full. You feel more satiated when you eat more fiber. It lowers your LDL cholesterol, LDL lousy. Think LDL lousy, bad cholesterol. It lowers it, improves bowel health, which is so important. It feeds your beneficial gut bacteria. It reduces blood sugar spikes, like I've already told you. I mean, the bottom line is fiber is your friend, and that's what's in the healthy whole food carbohydrates. When people say carbs are unhealthy, they're really talking about the types of carbs with the fiber stripped away. So part of the processing is the fiber is eliminated. Okay?

Carbs Do Not Cause Fat Gain

SPEAKER_00 13:58

So the next point we need to talk about carbohydrates don't make you fat. Okay. Let me repeat, carbohydrates by themselves don't make you fat. Fat gain comes from calories consumed exceeding calories expended. Calories are energy. All right. If you eat too much energy more than you expend, you are going to gain weight. If you gain enough weight, you will start getting fat. If you continue to gain weight, you will get obese. All right. It's not the carbohydrates, it is too much energy. I think we all know that. I'm trying to get everybody to understand that. All right. Let's just say, for example, probably it's not impossible, but it would be very hard. Let's say you took in, you only ate 1400 calories per day of pure carbohydrate. Again, how do you totally ignore fat and protein? I don't know. But let's say that you did. You ate nothing but grapes all day long, all right? And you ate 1,400 calories worth of grapes, and that is it. And your resting metabolic rate is 1900 per day, and you exercised a little bit. You are not going to get fat from eating all of those grapes slash glucose slash carbohydrates. You're actually going to lose a lot of weight because you only took in 1400 calories a day. All right. You get my point. It has nothing to do with its makeup. Am I saying you'd be healthy if you did that? No, because you'd be lacking a lot of the other essential nutrients that you need. But it's not the macronutrients that make you fat. The macronutrients are protein, fat, and carbohydrates and water. And the protein, fat, and carbohydrates are your energy macronutrients. So consumed in great quantities of calories, you will gain weight individually. It does not matter. All right. It all comes back to calories. All right. Large studies consistently show that weight loss will occur on a high carb diet, low carb diet, high protein diet, low protein diet, as long as the caloric needs are met. If you are less than you need, regardless if you're on a high protein, low protein, high carb, low carb, high fat, low fat, you will lose weight. As I said in the last podcast, it is very, very important to eat a balanced diet. So I don't believe in the low and the high and all that nonsense. Anyway, we should eat a balanced diet, eating plenty of carbohydrates, enough fat, and enough protein. All right.

Athletes Need Glycogen To Perform

SPEAKER_00 16:56

Athletes out there, what are you doing? What are you doing on a low carb diet? Please answer me. What are you doing, athletes, on a low carb diet? I mean, in season, regardless of your sport, is not the time to be trying to lose weight anyway. But low carb diet strength athletes, you're not going to get stronger. Endurance athletes, you're not going to have the energy to complete your workouts or hit PRs. It's not going to happen. All right. So, my athletes out there, you need to understand that carbohydrates replenish your glycogen. Your glycogen is your stored amount of carbohydrates. We can store up to 2,000 calories a day for a normal body weight of carbohydrates in your body. When the glycogen runs out, and that is possible, you bonk, meaning you hit the wall. Back in the old days when endurance athletes, when we first started looking at marathons and in the 60s and 70s and people really started paying attention to them, there was always this myth of the 20-mile wall. It's like the athlete hit the wall at 20 miles, and a marathon is 26.2 miles. The athlete hit the wall. Why? Oh, they didn't do enough miles in their long day. It must be because, you know, that famous 20-mile mark, they just ran out of juice. They need to learn to run past the 20 miles and blah, blah, blah. And everybody blame the miles or blame the training. Then they realize these ladies and dudes were not eating anything. They're doing this race on water. And if they ran out of glycogen, which is going to happen with most athletes, if they're running the pace that they're going to run, it's going to be about the two-hour mark, which is where a lot of them were hitting that 20-mile mark. So it wasn't the miles, it was the time, and it wasn't the time. It was running out of stored glycogen. Now they know to go to do what is called glycogen sparing. Glycogen sparing means that you bring in two to three hundred calories or so per hour of endurance exercise to spare your glycogen, because you still need the glycogen to burn the immediate energy you're consuming. So it's called glycogen sparing. Now they know that. So when people run out of juice, hit the wall, bonk, whatever you want to call it, has nothing to do with their training, everything to do with their eating. And thank goodness I would say that most people, most athletes, most coaches, most trainers do know that now. All right. So carbohydrates replenish your glycogen. They've already proven it absolutely improves performance. When people glycogen load or carbohydrate load prior to big events, they don't do what they used to do, by the way, but they used to like do this real extensive carb depletion, carb loading phase. A lot of different athletes did that where they would kind of deplete the carbs like three days out and then extra load, go a little bit above and beyond what they ate. Now they know they just eat a little bit more carbohydrates than normal, and they're already on a high carbohydrates diet a few days before their events. They have found that that actually improves performance. So let's say an athlete, an endurance athlete, takes in 300 grams of carbohydrates per day on normal. And that's not that abnormal, by the way. I do that, at least that. So maybe a few days before the event, they might be up to 350. So, like 50 grams more. They've proven even if they feel full and all that, that's all the you know, the thing the brain does to you makes you feel like you're heavier or whatever. You're really not, but you might feel that way. You still run faster. When you're fully loaded with carbohydrates, it actually delays fatigue. All right, they know that. So an endurance athlete that takes in more carbohydrates, you're going to delay fatigue. That gets back to the glycogen-sparing thing that I talked about just a few moments ago. So when athletes, even during a shorter event, pop a little bit of glucose, whether it be they have like a fig newton, whether it be they have a little handful of um candy of sorts, whether they have a glucose gel, a goo, some Gatorade, whatever, it actually delays fatigue at the finish, meaning they finish with a little more zip. Carbohydrates enhance recovery. One of the most important times for any athlete to eat their carbohydrates, it's all day, by the way, but one of the most important times is immediately after training, especially intense training. Studies have shown that athletes that consume 50 to 100 grams of carbohydrates right after training recover better. All right. To give you some specifics, if you want to do the math at home, endurance. Athletes will consume five to ten grams of carbohydrates a day, while those doing very high training loads might even require more. Okay. Five to ten grams per kilogram per day. You can do the math and figure out how many that you would need. All right. Another little line for you to think about no elite marathoner is fueled by bacon and butter and a bacon cheeseburger. All right. Last I checked, I have never seen that. Have you? I mean, think about that. It kind of sounds silly, but you know, they're running by a food stop, you know, where they're grabbing their Gatorade, they're getting a banana, they're getting some figs, they're getting all those things handed out. Sometimes they give out little pretzels. I've been in marathons and traffons where you get a handful of pretzels. By the way, it tastes better than you think, especially the salt. You know, you never see a dude hanging out, handing out a bacon cheeseburger, right? All

Fruit Potatoes And Glycemic Myths

SPEAKER_00 22:53

right. Now let's talk a little bit about fruit. Fruit, by some people, is considered the enemy because they're like, it's high in sugar, it's high in carbohydrates. Yes, it is high in both. And most fruit is considered to be a low glycemic index carbohydrate, which means it burns slowly. All right. I hear people say, oh, you know, that banana is no different than a Snickers. Okay, not true at all. You know why? I already told you why. That banana is actually adequately filled up with fiber. The Snickers, most likely, unless it's injected in there, has zero. All right. So once again, it's gonna come down to fiber. Your best fruit is going to have more fiber. All right. Don't fear fruit. Fruit is high in fiber, it's high in water. In the summer, I mean, there's very few things better than fruit on a hot day when you're out training, filled with water, filled with potassium, filled with vitamin C. All right. It has natural sugars, which most of them are low in glycemic index. All right. I'm not talking about your processed raisins and things like that that are highly processed. Again, I'm not making villains out to be any, but you have to learn to differentiate between processed foods and natural foods. All right. Another one always gets a bad rap. Potatoes make me fat. No, potatoes don't make you fat. Maybe stopping at Burger King or McDonald's and getting a large batch of French fries that's made with trans fats, and the little packet, which is tiny, has 500 calories in it, maybe isn't helping you in your desire to not be fat. Potatoes are a very healthy food, a healthy carbohydrate. Okay. They give you energy, they are loaded with potassium, they are loaded with vitamin C. They are high in fiber, especially if you eat the skin, and they are a complex carbohydrate, meaning they burn slowly. All right. Now, we need to think a little bit about the glycemic index. People talk a lot about the glycemic index. All right. It doesn't tell the whole story because there is such a thing as a glycemic load. Just like anything. If you eat too much of anything, you are going to gain weight. And what is too much? Too much is more than you need. All right. That's what too much is. So again, if you have a baseline of 1700 calories and you're eating 2600 calories a day, you are taking in 900 calories more than you need, you will gain weight. Once that number exceeds 3,500 calories over, you will gain one pound. It is simple math. You continue to do that, you continue to gain a pound. All right. So some people, again, there's people that turn foods in the glory foods, and there's people that turn foods in the evil foods. It's neither. So low glycemic index foods absolutely are healthier. And what that really means is that they convert the glucose to blood sugar slower. So it basically absorbs and digests slower. It gets into the bloodstream slower. Most likely you eat less of them. But that doesn't mean you can eat all you want. There's really no food that you can eat as much as you want to and not gain weight. I mean, most people do have limits, and I do understand that food issues are difficult for some people. I very much get it. I mean, gosh, there are times I could absolutely overeat. There are times I've absolutely overeaten. So I 100% get it. I'm not casting any judgment whatsoever. I want you to understand that there's no food that you can eat as much as you want to and not pay some sort of consequence. The way you need to look at the glycemic index is if the food has more fiber, if the carbohydrate has more fiber, it's lower, most likely healthier. If there's protein involved, the glycemic index is going to burn a little bit slower, and that's a good thing. So, in other words, a high index carbohydrate food, let's say um cornflakes, all right, not a great carbohydrate choice. They're very high in glycemic index. Matter of fact, they have a hundred percent digestibility rate, meaning they they convert to glucose very, very fast. If you have that with a little bit of protein, say nonfat Greek yogurt or whatever, it's going to slow down the glycemic index. All right. So if you are going to have food like that, you'd be better off to have it with a little bit of protein, a little bit of fat, or a little bit of fiber. And naturally, everything comes down to portion sizes. So again, you just can't eat all the low glycemic index carbohydrates that you want. We still have to consider portions. The other thing is too, don't fall for things when people tell you that certain fruits and foods are low or high glycemic index. It really depends on the rightness. So we have to consider that too. I don't want to confuse people with this glycemic index thing. I just know that it's talked about all the time. And I want you to understand basically don't think too much about it. Keep it simple, stupid, and go back to whole foods versus processed foods, whole carbs versus processed carbs versus high and low glycemic index because they don't always tell the whole story. All right.

Healthy Cultures Eat More Carbs

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So if you want to talk about some of the healthiest people on earth, and I'll end it with that. Like the studies have shown there are certain society societies out there that are the healthiest around. All right. And guess what? Their diets are primarily complex carbohydrates. Now, the Mediterranean diet, so really the Mediterranean, I don't want to call this the Mediterranean diet because a lot of physicians do recommend the Mediterranean diet. And you know what? I don't have a problem with that. As a, it's not really a fad diet, but it is a commercial diet. It's sold as a diet. It's actually pretty darn good. But the reason why it's good is because it's copied after the Mediterranean people. They're some of the healthiest people on earth when studied. Their primary part of their diet is beans, whole grains, and fruits. All right. Costa Rican diets. Costa Ricans are very, very healthy when you look at health outcomes. They eat primarily beans and corn. Japanese, I think we know that. Japanese culture, per se, very, very healthy. Primarily rice and vegetables and some fish. All right. So the AMDR for carbohydrates is roughly 45 to 65% of your diet. You know, I know people get real paranoid about like government regulations and I get all that. And then they get kind of paranoid about the FDA and everybody telling you what to do and the USDA. But you know what? It's a good recommendation. So your diet should be primarily carbohydrates. Yes, I said that. All right. So can you please stop on the low carb thing? Just remember the take-home message I want you to remember is that not all carbohydrates are created equal. Please quit saying carbs. Just say, I'm really going to cut back on my processed foods in general, whether it be processed carbohydrates or processed meats, you know, processed proteins. I'm going to eat a lot more whole food carbohydrates. That's going to be the primary bulk of my diet. And they're going to be high in fiber, high in vitamins, high in potassium, high in all the good stuff. All right. So there you go, people. The last two podcasts have been all about food because I really do understand that we have to get the right message out there. So if you

Questions CTA And Final Sponsor

SPEAKER_00 31:44

have any questions for me, if you want to talk more about this, hit me up on social media, send me an email, send me a text. I'm more than happy to try to help you. I really look at this as my job and my passion. Thank you for listening to today's show. I ask you to please hit automatic download and also follow the show. It will cost you nothing. Now I would like to thank our second great sponsor, Procharge Liquid Protein. What I love most about it is it is extremely portable. I have a tendency to make a mess when I'm making my protein smoothies after I exercise because I spill the powders and all that other stuff. But instead, with Procharge, all I have to do is open up the cap and pour it in my mouth. There are two servings per container. Each serving has 20 grams of protein. My personal favorite flavor is lemon lime. Check them out on my website at fitto themax.net.