9781422269916

Carbs are broken down and provide energy in the form of blood sugar, particularly when we need it in quick bursts. Snacks and supplements marketed to athletes are usually sugary, because of the easily accessible energy they provide. Through social construct and advertising, we’ve have come to look to highly carb-laden foods, like cereal or oatmeal, as “breakfast.” We eat a lot of bready sandwiches, fries, and chips for lunch, and we tend to lump on the mashed potatoes and pasta for dinner. Most people eating a standard American diet are being fueled by carbs, and a lot of them. While there’s nothing inherently wrong with carbohydrates, moderation is key, which we will cover in more detail later. Overeating carbohydrates can be a problem, because it triggers an insulin response, and over time it can lead to insulin resistance and then to diabetes. In the short term, eating too many carbohydrates at a time can make you sleepy, irritable, and mentally cloudy. It is quite easy to overeat carbohydrates, particularly when paired with fat, such as in cookies or other snack foods. Sugar and fat both trigger dopamine release in the brain. Dopamine is a reward chemical. It is a remnant from when humans were more primitive, and calorie-dense foods were scarce, so that people would fill up on them. Now that it’s easy to get energy-dense foods, it can be a problematic trigger that causes us to want to keep eating unhealthy foods. Micronutrients—Tiny but Mighty You’ve probably heard the phrase “vitamins and minerals” used in food advertising, but what are they, really? Our bodies need certain trace amounts of metals like iron, zinc, and copper, as well as a variety of vitamins for various natural processes. Vitamin A is necessary for proper vision, while vitamin D helps the immune system, and vitamin C is essential to synthesize collagen.

Chapter 1: Food, Energy, and Your Body

13