Performance Nutrition 301. The 4-Day Rotation Diet: Carbohydrates

The Truth about Carbohydrates – a Brief History

The desire to seek out sweetness as an indicator of what to eat is an ingrained habit from Paleolithic times when humans were largely dependent on hunting and gathering. Typically, if they found something that was sweet, it was safe to eat. To my knowledge, there is not a single natural plant or food product from animals in the entire world that is sweet and poisonous, so it was a pretty good indicator back then. As the saying goes, that was then; this is now.

With the development of farming and its subsequent commercialization, we were introduced to a number of new food products that were no longer whole, but had been refined. Baked goods are probably the best example of this type of food. Other examples include pasta, chips, pre-made or pre-packaged sauces, dips, and entrees.

As time went on, refinement became an increasingly popular process to develop different tastes, textures, colors – essentially different classes – of food products. Today, we have a greater number of options to choose from to consume than ever before, but we also have a greater amount of refining than ever before. The primary goal in the refining process is to drive commerce through the production of a new option, not to satisfy our nutritional requirements. Carbohydrates by themselves are not an enemy of the people; their empty-calorie, myriad forms, are.

Carbohydrates are the most controversial macronutrient today. The truth is that approximately 65% of the population does not process carbohydrates well. This number may be skewed by the preponderance of refined carbohydrates in most American’s diets today, but when fat loss is the goal, you need to be very selective of your sources.

The remaining 35% of the population tolerates carbohydrates to a limited degree, with only 10%-15% of that population being able to eat them all the time and stay relatively trim. If you want to improve your physique and get lean, you have to get used to the injustice. You can, however, eat carbohydrates to a limited degree, if you pay attention to the glycemic index and the glycemic load of what you are eating.

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