| CARBS
 CARBOHYDRATES
As an athlete, carbohydrates are the major nutrients that give you energy. Everything you do in life requires a certain amount of carbohydrates, sleeping, studying, breathing, and training. Athletes who truly desire to become the top dog will stop at nothing to get the most out of the foods they consume and thus make wise choices as to what type of carbohydrates they eat.
All carbohydrates are not created equal. Carbohydrate is merely the scientific name for sugar. Sugar is not just the crystalline white stuff you put in your tea or coffee in the morning. A piece of fruit, an apple, is sugar, too. The sugar you buy at the grocery store, table sugar, is a simple form of sugar, and an apple is a complex form of sugar. White crystalline table sugar is a small chain made up of two molecules (a simple carbohydrate). Because it has only two chemical links to break, table sugar is broken down and absorbed rapidly. The apple, however, is a bit more complicated - it's composed of more chemical links - and therefore your body takes longer to break it down. Sugars with more links in their chain are called complex carbohydrates.
Always pass on simple carbohydrates in favor of complex carbs; in fact, nutritionists recommend you get five times more complex carbs in your diet than simple carbs, even though most Americans consume nearly equal amounts.
Eat a candy bar and you'll experience a "sugar rush", only to feel sluggish 30-45 minutes later. Eat an apple or a sweet potato and you'll feel evenly energized for hours. The difference in these snacks is the candy bar contains refined processed simple sugars and the apple and sweet potato contain natural unprocessed carbohydrates. When simple sugars enter your blood stream they enter rapidly and in great numbers, they are already similar to glucose - the form of carbohydrate used for energy. Your pancreas releases insulin and quickly absorbs the sugar into storage; so quickly that there is less carbohydrates available than before you ate the candy bar. This is called a sugar crash or insulin reaction. Complex carbohydrates are slowly converted to glucose and are therefore absorbed slowly, allowing a more constant supply of energy to be used.
However, carbohydrates aren't "free foods", as many believe. It's true that carbohydrates contain fewer calories than fat, but they can easily be stored as fat if they're over consumed.
THE GLYCEMIC INDEX
A scale has been developed to measure how quickly your body converts carbohydrates into glucose. The scale is called the Glycemic Index. Its range is from zero to one hundred. Simple sugars that are absorbed quickly are at the top of the scale while complex carbohydrates that are absorbed slowly are near the bottom. Obviously, foods with a low Glycemic Index are the best choice.
TIPS ON CONSUMING CARBOHYDRATES
- Low Glycemic Index foods should make up most of your pre-workout, pre-practice or pre-game meal. By having energy readily available during and after these times, recovery from energy deficit will occur faster (you'll be ready to go sooner!)
- As a general rule, foods under a Glycemic Index of 50 are considered low Glycemic Index.
- While Low Glycemic Index foods are better, a mix of carbohydrates is optimal. Try making your carbohydrate consumption 75% low Glycemic Index foods, the other 25% from mid-range and higher Glycemic Index foods.
- Choose unrefined, whole, nutrient-dense foods. These foods are often high in dietary fiber as well, which helps to control cholesterol and slow the absorption of fats. Follow the Six Rules of Nutrition.
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