by PRS

Created on: January 21, 2010

Carbohydrates are necessary and important for a healthy body and a normal lifestyle.  While carbohydrates have lately gotten a bad name because of some popular fad diets, they are not the cause of obesity, nor will the elimination of them from your diet cause you to be healthier.  In fact, a diet low in carbohydrates will result in more health problems than the temporary weight you may lose by not eating them.  Carbohydrates are consumed as fiber, starch or sugar.  Fiber is not absorbed by the body, but passes through the digestive tract unabsorbed.  Starches are absorbed by the small intestines, but turned into simple sugars by the body.

Carbohydrates will also help with weight loss.   Fiber in particular can be a great tool for weight loss because it is not digested by the body at all.  This is helpful in two ways.  The first way is that a diet high in fiber will make you feel ´full´ longer.  Fiber remains in the stomach and small intestine for a long time while the body tries to digest it, this ´food´ tricks your brain into thinking you are full.  Fiber also aids in weight loss by removing excess fecal matter from your intestines.  As a solid material passing through your intestinal tract, fiber does a great job of pushing other things out of the body.  Not only is this great for weight loss, it also greatly reduces your chances of developing colon cancer.

Carbohydrates are the best way the body has to provide energy for normal physical activity.  They are also necessary to provide fuel for other normal body functions such as breathing, brain activity, digestion and mounting an immune response.  While the body can derive energy from protein and fat, carbohydrates are the most efficient for the body.  Metabolism of fats and proteins outside normal limits both can result in serious health problems.  Simply put, the human body was designed in such a way that the majority of our energy and calories should come from carbohydrates.  Altering your diet to prevent this will cause both short term and long term problems.

There are many problems associated with a low carbohydrate diet.  The most common are weakness, lack of energy, poor immune response and mental problem such as a decrease in memory skills.  Over the long term,  most major systems of the body will suffer problems, notably the brain and kidneys.   There are also several problems that will occur because of the increase in protein metabolism which are mostly associated with cardiovascular disease and kidney problems.

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