6 reasons why carbohydrates should not be missing from your diet
Many health magazines often suggest avoiding certain foods and eating a diet as low in carbohydrates as possible. But carbohydrates play an essential role not only for athletic performance, but also for general health and mental well-being. In selected quantity and quality, they should not be missing in any balanced diet.
Today we present 6 reasons why you should integrate carbohydrates into your diet.
If you have little time: A summary to go is already waiting for you at the bottom! :)
1. Carbohydrates protect the bones
Bones form the skeleton of our body. They protect our vital organs, regulate calcium and phosphorus balance and are the site of blood formation. Carbohydrates as well as fats and proteins counteract the breakdown of collagen fibres, which are part of the bone, and are essential for maintaining bone mass. A long-term calorie deficit along with a lack of nutrients such as calcium, vitamin D, proteins and carbohydrates is a significant risk factor for bone loss and should be avoided. The underlying mechanism discussed is that low blood glucose (glucose concentrations of 2.5 mMol/l for 105 min) directly affects bone cells and leads to short-term increased bone loss. A stable carbohydrate intake during intense exercise is therefore not only essential for optimal performance and functionality, but most likely also for strong bones. In particular, indigestible carbohydrates (dietary fibres) such as inulin and oligofructose from fruits seem to increase the availability of minerals (especially calcium and phosphate) from the diet and thus be beneficial for bone mass.
2. The right carbohydrates promote healthy gut bacteria
The nutritional importance of complex carbohydrates, especially dietary fibre, has been studied for decades. The positive effects of dietary fibre on the intestine are not only based on increasing stool weight or improving the intestinal environment. Dietary fibres are valuable “food” for good intestinal bacteria, which can even have a lasting effect on our weight. The correlation between obesity and the individual composition of the intestinal flora is proven by a growing number of scientific studies. Particular attention is paid to the — in the most favourable case balanced — ratio of so-called Firmicutes to Bacteroidetes. These two superordinate groups of bacteria dominate in the human intestine with over 90%, and it is true that the higher the proportion of Firmicutes, the higher the body weight. These bacteria provide humans with additional carbohydrates and thus additional calories by breaking down food components that are actually largely indigestible (dietary fibre). Studies have shown that a higher proportion of Firmicutes absorbs about 10% more energy from food, which corresponds to 200–250 calories per day and a possible weight gain of up to 10 kg per year. In contrast, normal-weight individuals show an increased proportion of Bacteroidetes: bacteria of this group are able to actively excrete sugar that is not needed from the intestine. This can be clearly demonstrated by comparing the residual energy value of the stools of normal-weight and overweight people: The calorie content of the stool of slim people is significantly higher than that of overweight people.
3. Carbohydrates protect the muscles
Our muscles need the following macronutrients in particular: proteins and carbohydrates. Proteins are the building blocks of muscles, carbohydrates provide the necessary energy for growth and are the ‘fuel’ for athletes. Only when muscles have enough proteins and carbohydrates at their disposal do they increase in strength and volume. To build up one kilogram of muscle mass, an intake of between 4,000 and 6,000 kilocalories is necessary under experimental conditions. If you want to build muscle, you should eat about 300 kilocalories more per day than your body needs. In this way, the muscles are sufficiently supplied without the extra calories being stored in the fat depots. Especially in the first half hour after training, the muscles should be supplied with carbohydrates and proteins to promote growth. Carbohydrates stimulate the release of insulin. Insulin, in turn, has an anabolic effect, i.e. it builds up and thus supports the utilisation of the ingested proteins. The carbohydrates thus help the body to incorporate the proteins into the muscle. After training, about 30 to 40 grams of carbohydrates and 15 to 20 grams of proteins should be consumed. If the body lacks the necessary carbohydrates, muscle growth will not occur. In this state, the body engages in cannibalism and draws energy from the fat stores or the muscle itself. A carbohydrate intake of 50 to 100 g/day can prevent this “protein cannibalism”.
4. Carbohydrates for hormonal balance
Numerous measuring stations in the body constantly measure the blood sugar level and adjust the amount of the body’s own sugar production to the demand. This ensures that the supply of vital organs — especially the brain and blood cells — is maintained. In periods of hunger, the functionality of important body processes can thus be maintained even without food supply — at least for a certain time. However, the principle of energy redistribution only runs smoothly as long as there are sufficient muscle and fat reserves. A permanent lack of carbohydrates, a calorie deficit and decreasing fat and protein reserves put the body into a state of stress that shuts down all processes in the body that are not necessary for survival. In other words, it runs on the back burner. Starting with the brain, reproductive capacity, bone formation and various energy-consuming metabolic processes are cut back. In women, this manifests itself in oestrogen deficiencies, missed periods, bone loss and vascular damage. A carbohydrate deficiency is therefore at least as harmful as a carbohydrate surplus. The key is to find an individual balanced amount of carbohydrate for yourself.
5. Carbohydrates reduce stress
What we eat affects our mood. Complex carbohydrates seem to help us cope better with stress. People who also eat plenty of fish are probably less likely to suffer from depression. Since the late 1990s, Dutch psychologist Rob Markus of Maastricht University has been investigating whether a certain diet or food choice can help us cope better with stress, i.e. make us more stress-tolerant. On the one hand, carbohydrate-rich food is largely converted into glucose in the body, which in turn stimulates the pancreas to produce insulin. Insulin increases the tryptophan level in the brain, i.e. the level of the substance from which the happiness hormone serotonin is formed. Since serotonin is also responsible for transmitting information from nerve cell to nerve cell in the brain, cognitive performance increases overall. The increased performance and the lifted mood apparently cause stress-sensitive people to cope better with the stress situation after the high-carbohydrate and low-protein diet. This is ultimately reflected in the lower cortisol content in the saliva.
6. No athletic performance without carbohydrates
In studies with recreational and high-performance athletes, nutritionist Prof. Dr. Anja Carlsohn from the University of Education Schwäbisch Gmünd observed that a restricted carbohydrate intake — permanently or in phases — is associated with reduced performance, especially in endurance athletes. However, it is not only a matter of quantity, but also of quality of the carbohydrate quantity — also in sports. Sweets, for example, are known to be of little value for sport or health. Fruits and vegetables, on the other hand, are enormously important for the supply of energy, vitamins and minerals. They also contain many health-promoting phytochemicals and dietary fibre. Foods rich in complex carbohydrates, such as muesli, bread, rice, pasta or potatoes, should play a major role in the basic diet of athletes. They are broken down more slowly and do not make you hungry again as quickly. “Fast” carbohydrates in the form of drinks, on the other hand, can be consumed at any time during prolonged exercise and provide quick energy before the power runs out.
Carbohydrates thus play a central role and have important functions in our bodily processes. They should be consumed consciously in terms of quality and quantity, but a total and permanent renunciation is not beneficial to health.
Facts to go:
1. Sufficient carbohydrate intake protects against bone loss.
2. Complex carbohydrates and dietary fibre promote the growth of healthy intestinal bacteria and increase calorie excretion through the intestines.
3. Carbohydrates are a prerequisite for building muscle and protect against muscle breakdown.
4. A sufficient, but not excessive, intake of carbohydrates ensures hormonal balance, especially in women.
5. Carbohydrates reduce the release of the stress hormone cortisol.
6. Carbohydrates increase athletic performance — even in amateur athletes.
Text sources:
(1) Topolska K, Radzki RP, Filipiak-Florkiewicz A, Bieńko M, Florkiewicz A, Cieślik E. Could fructan sources in strawberry matrix be more effective as a tool for improvement of bone structure than these compounds added to diet alone? — Study on osteopenic rat model. Ann Agric Environ Med. 2020;27(1):19- doi:10.26444/aaem/108656
(2) Silveira, Raul & Kopinski, Stephan & Mayer, Frank & Carlsohn, Anja. (2015). Influence of Pre-exercise Carbohydrate Ingestion on Substrate Oxidation Patterns During Running Bouts with Standardized Intensity.
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