Back in 1992 the food pyramid was introduced and then in 2005 it was updated. This became the bench mark that was to be followed and advised for nutritional health. Maybe the intentions were good but both pyramids are greatly flawed and misconceptions were formed. The 1992 pyramid encouraged low fat and high carbohydrates. To greatly summarize, what happened is that saturated fat was linked to the risk of heart disease and other ailments, the pyramid therefore instructed us to reduce the fat in our diet. With that preface it could not then promote a high protein diet as red meat contains a lot of saturated fat. It had just told us that Fat was bad and protein, especially red met, has fat in it so it too must be "Bad" .... What was left ? Fat was bad and by default Protein was therefore bad, that left us with only carbohydrates, so by elimination alone carbohydrates became "Good" The 1992 pyramid failed to distinguish between good fats and bad fats and it did not consider the different sources of protein. We know red meat can contain a lot of saturated fat, we also know that poultry does not and fish is indeed a rich source of the good fats.
So for many years we did the low fat, high carb diet. The food industry kicked in with all their "low Fat" foods which were actually low in fat but loaded with sugars and sweeteners. Years went by and everyone just got larger and larger. In one of the most expensive studies ever (Womens Health Initiative) two groups of women were studied over an 8 year period. One group ate a low fat diet the other group ate a regular diet, the results showed absolutely no difference in health. Another study looked at low fat diets and found that weight was lost initially but after only one month the weight had been regained and that over the course of one year there was no weight loss benefit at all to following a low fat diet So the low fat way was not working and then we hear that the high carb diets that we have been following actually are linked to increased blood triglycerides and LDL (bad cholesterol) and lowered HDL (good cholesterol) Carbohydrates were looked at even more closely and we found the insulin relationship and that high carb diets along with low activity levels had huge consequences, obesity was sky rocketing and those people who cut the carbs were thrilled by the immediate weight loss they experienced..
The results we experienced did not last but the fear of carbs is still very real and justifiably so. My point here is that just as the food pyramid of 1992 was skewed by telling only one side of the story when it promoted low fat and so promoted high carb, then what is happening here is that we are expected to sit on one side of the fence or the other - carbs are bad or carbs are good, but this too is very skewed. How then do we incorporate quality carbs without increasing out calorie load? This can be done if we change the way we formulate our diet plan. Many diets of recent years work in term of percentages. 40/40/20 was very popular and actually for mainstream it is still a very good approach. 40/40/20 told us that on a given number of calories we would consume 40% of them from protein, 40% of them from Carbohydrates and 20% from fat.. There are many other combinations, like the Mediterranean diet that can be up to 40% fat, but the fats are all good fats mainly coming from olive oil. I do like this approach as it considers the source of the food and not just the macronutrient group that food falls into.
The problem here lies in that this can all be very misleading. Consider the 70kg (150lb) muscular athlete who trains heavy and has very high energy requirements. Say he eats 4000 calories per day and 50% of them are from carbs (as is recommended by most professional health organizations in the US) then he is eating 2000 calories from carbs which amounts to 500 grms of carbs (1grm of carbohydrates = 4 calories) which in turn translates to 7-8 grms for a 70kg athlete (154 lb athlete). This range is ideal and allows the athlete to maintain the glycogen stores necessary for his activity.
Now consider a 55 kg athlete (121 lb) who eats less than 2000 calories per day. Even if they eat 50% of their calories from carbs that only equates to 1000 calories, or 250 grms of carbohydrates which equals 4.5 grms per kilogram of bodyweight and may not be sufficient to allow for optimal performance in their sport.
For the high intensity athlete we must first consider as a priority the carbohydrate requirements for their training. As I mentioned it does not mean that the carb load has to be maintained every day, but it should be available for the days that performance is necessary. It may mean to those that seek to lose and/or maintain their weight that their ratios of protein, fat and carbs may be different on different training days, but if performance is the priority then this extra consideration is necessary.
The food you consume should be spaced out throughout the day and should be from natural sources with little to no processed foods. For the inactive person who seeks to reduce their extra weight I would have to tell them that diet alone is really not enough. To simply reduce calories does not address the metabolic benefits of exercise and they are missing out on the endorphin, mood altering, feel good by products of exercise. I would like to believe that everybody likes something that is "exercise" it may not be weight training or running, it may be dancing or hiking or just walking the dog, but I really do like to think that there is something for everybody you just may have to try a few things to find the one that best suits you. For those who are just too tired or unmotivated to workout I would have to guess that this too is a result of their poor diet. The highs and lows of a high sugar diet leaves a person with little energy, the weight they gain just compounds the problem as any exercise becomes just plain difficult and tiring to do. The starting point here would be to clean up the diet, get rid of the sugar and processed foods and start with exercise baby steps. Energy levels will be regained, exercise will become less of a burden and it may even become fun! I see it over and over again, confirmed coach potatoes become exercise junkies, the high they get is something that have not felt before and they become hooked. These people are not the exception to the rule, one thing they all have in common is that they clean up their diets, not many exercise junkies eat junk.
If for some reason a person is forced to be sedentary then I would advise a relatively low carbohydrate diet with small meals eaten throughout the day. In actuality research has shown us that small frequent meals compared to few large meals make no difference when we looked at weight loss. The overall calories seemed to be the key. That being said I would still advise small frequent meals as the larger less frequent meal plan can create a greater insulin reaction and this would cause a drop in blood sugar which might then start a bout of cravings. The smaller meals will not cause such a spike and the cravings can for the most part be avoided.
For those of us who train in some form or another and at a substantial intensity level I would say that quality carbs are your friend. I would however say that carbohydrates are your fuel and should be timed in a way as to aid performance. When at rest muscle only accounts for 20% of the carbohydrate uptake, the CNS (central nervous system) is the main user at times that your body is at rest. So if we are not replenishing muscular glycogen stores then the carb intake of a meal can be reduced and the source of the quality carbs should come from more fibrous sources such as vegetables. On days when you are not training you can bring your carbohydrates down but when you are looking at a day of intense training and/or competition then fuel the body for performance using fruits and whole grains. Include them in your meals up until your training and replenish the reduced glycogen stores after training, but for the meals after that cut the carbs back because at rest it is not your muscles soaking up that good stuff up.
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Joanne Lee Los Angeles Conditioning Coach. Online Interactive Nutrition & Exercise program Corporate speaker Wellness Programs Nutrition Weight Loss and Diet Presentations
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