Nowadays, thanks to our intellectual evolution, we have managed to create an artificial environment that we call our world and life. Our daily life is abundant with commodities, which take away the need to adapt to environmental changes, that accompany seasonal variations; we do not need to go through the seasonal abundance of foods during the warmer months, followed by food scarcity during winter. Today we have everything, all year round.
The paradox is that these commodities harm us more than they help. Or at least in the way we use them. We have an abundance of material possessions, which are supposed to create comfort, but in the same time we do not manage to enjoy them, because of all the physical disabilities, illnesses and the mood changes that follow.
It turns out that the commodities of the modern life, will lead us to a bankruptcy of mind and physiology, before they wipe us away from the face of Earth.
If in the past seasonality used to determine what type of foods are available and what we can eat in order to fuel our body, today there are no seasons in supermarkets – there you have everything all year round – strawberries in February, citrus fruits in August, coconuts in countries where it could never flourish if it is left to grow by itself, mangoes in countries where people rarely see the sun for longer than a couple hours a day.
What does food mean to you?
Probably it is just calories or proteins, fats and carbs; or probably it is something that saves you from boredom and makes the moments of happiness even better; as well as the moments of loneliness easier to handle.
Have you ever thought that the most important thing about food is that it is information. Food is information through which the body interprets what is the environment, what we need in order to survive and what is available? Probably you haven’t thought much about it, but that is the root of health; they way to be fitter, healthier and to love they way our body looks and functions.
Probably you are thinking that all of this is bullshit, but I will ask you to invest 10 minutes of your day and finish reading the post. I am sure that you will at least think over my words and probably you will find the logic behind it.
Carbs Are The Enemy! Or Are They?
Lately, I am keen on carbs and how we can use them so they won’t interfere with our goals for a fitter and healthier body, but how they can actually help us. I am with you if you are afraid of eating carbs. For a long time I had such a fear, but we are afraid of something or somebody when we do not know it/him. Get to know your enemy in order to fall in love with him.
That is exactly what I did with carbs.
Everybody wonders when, how much and what type of carbs should we eat. We all read different methods and recommendations about the ratio between different macros and we fanatically try to follow them, without really knowing the science behind the recommendation.
I love saying that life obeys to a rhythm. Nature’s seasons are the seasons of life. Every season is different – different climate, different food availability, different length of daylight and a difference in the light/dark cycles. The body obeys to this cyclic nature. Everything in nature functions in smaller (24 hour) and longer cycles – days, months, seasons, years and so forth.
The Paradox About Carbs
Have you thought about the paradox that some nations eat more carbs and they are healthy and they do not have obesity problems, and other tribes eat mainly fats and they are still healthy and in shape. Why does it happen like that?
Everything has a geographical specificity – the nations that live in the Northern parts of Earth feed on more fats; those in the Southern parts eat more carbs and the rest have a more balanced macro intake. What is the logic behind it?
The places where it is colder, the time of daylight is shorter. In this post (HERE), I told you that the two main factors, that synchronize every living thing are light and temperature (the third are Electromagnetic Fields). When it is colder and the day is shorter, there are less carbs, because foods rich in carbs, require longer daylight in order to grow. That is why in these regions, people eat more fats. Have you heard about Eskimos and their high fat diet? What follows – colder weather, shorter daylight, more foods rich in fats and protein = high fat diet, accompanied by a perfect health and a fitter body.
What happens in places where the day is longer and the temperatures are higher? There, you observe the opposite – there are more foods rich in carbs and less foods rich in fats. Thus – higher temperatures, longer daylight, more foods rich in carbs= a diet with more carbs, accompanied by a perfect health and a fitter body.
What should we do (the question is towards my nation, here in Bulgaria)? We have neither an eternity of summer, nor an eternity of winter – this means that we should follow the rhythm of nature and the cyclic nature of seasons – during warmer months we should increase our carb intake and during colder months we should eat more fat.
Doesn’t this make you think more about traditions – the winter traditional meals, yogurts, fatty meats – foods rich in proteins, fats and fermented foods during the winter, compared to foods rich in carbs during the summer?
When your body speaks – LISTEN!
Now forget about this and listen to your body! What does it tell you? What do you prefer eating in the summer? You do not like eating “heavy” foods and you prefer something lighter, right? On the contrary what happens during the winter? Suddenly, you have a strong appetite for fermented foods, pork steaks and more fats, don’t you? Gluttony? I doubt it! I’d call it evolution.
These are just a couple examples that will make you think deeper about how your diet shouldn’t be static and how the amount of macronutrients doesn’t depend on what your guru tells you to do, but on the type of the environment you live in and what is the information it sends to your body.
When Is Carb Metabolism Better?
There is a really interesting fact. During the summer, when it is hotter outside, the body tolerates a higher consumption of carbs. Why? One of the main reasons is the connection between vitamin D and insulin sensitivity and the levels of insulin. If you have diabetes or just insulin resistance, you’ve probably heard that it is crucial to take vitamin D. Actually both – diabetes and insulin resistance – are accompanied by low vitamin D levels. Why? Vitamin D has a direct influence on glucose homeostasis and insulin sensistivity (1).
The better is the function of insulin, the better will blood sugar levels be controlled. The better functioning of insulin, aids in the uptake of nutrients from the bloodstream into cells, which improves physical and mind energy and decreases hunger.
The levels of vitamin D are directly linked to the metabolism of carbs. Normal vitamin D levels, aid in the improved metabolism of carbs, while decreased vitamin D levels are linked to a worsened state of carb metabolism. Vitamin D receptors and the enzymes that turn vitamin D into its active form are placed in the beta cells of the pancreas. (2)
Beta cells, actually produce insulin. I won’t dig into the conection between beta cells, the disturbance of their functioning and insulin resistance and diabetes, but you can probably make the connection between beta cells that don’t function, followed by lower levels of vitamin D and the worsened function of insulin, followed by a disturbed carb metabolism. It started getting complicated, so I will go back to something more logical. What is the main source of vitamin D? … the sun! When we have more sun? When it is warmer outside (or vice versa). What does this mean – more sun and higher temperatures are linked to higher vitamin D levels, more foods rich in carbs and a better carb metabolism. That is why the body tolerates more carbs when it is warmer outside.
These are some logical factors, which could help you understand when you should eat more carbs and when you should decrease them – I am sure that your body is giving you the same advice. Sure, this doesn’t mean to eat just carbs and exclude other macronutrients – the body needs all macros, but in my next article you will find my suggestions about the amount of carbs you should eat.
(1 )http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20011094
(2) http://diabetes.diabetesjournals.org/content/60/11/2748.full
http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/early/2013/10/14/ajcn.113.072785
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25706239
http://www.endocrine-abstracts.org/ea/0029/ea0029p205.htm
And -YES! I eat carbs at night and I am still ripped 😉
