Helping Humans

What are Carbohydrates and Proteins?

The best way I can  remember is; anything that grows from the ground is a carbohydrate, which does include anything you pick from a bush, tree or vine.

Proteins are anything that moves: things that swim, walk, crawl… seafood, fowl, cow, goat… and any of their by products like cheese, cream, milk…

All carbohydrates are basically sugars. Complex carbohydrates are the best carbohydrates for your body. These strings of sugar are very difficult to break down and trap other nutrients like vitamins and minerals in the sugar strings. As they slowly break down, the other nutrients are also released into your body, and you can be provided with fuel for a number of hours. Complex carbohydrates: Fresh, not processed Fruits & Veggies, Whole Grains, *Beans and *Nuts. Fruits and Veggies are generally low in calories so you can get away with eating a lot of it. Some fruits need to be limited and eaten at specific times of the day if you are Diabetic.

Simple carbohydrates, on the other hand, are not the best sugars (diabetics should avoid and try to eat only the better choices). Because their structure is not complex, it is easy to break down and holds little nutrients for your body other than the sugars from which it is made. Your body breaks down these carbohydrates rather quickly and what it cannot use is converted to fat and stored in the body. Limiting or trying other varieties (better choices) of simple carbohydrates is the better way to go, since they have little nutritional value when compared to complex carbohydrates. A sweet potato is a better choice because it has more nutrients and breaks down slower than a white potato. Wild rice or brown rice is a better choice than white rice for the same reason. The “white” carbs increase (spike) your sugar levels and the energy burns out quicker, leaving you feeling tired and “draggy”. Their calories are higher and have fewer nutrients.

Proteins: we need to eat foods rich in protein every day because, unlike some other nutrients, it cannot be stored in the body. That means that if you eat more protein than necessary, your body will simply cause it to pass through your system. Because protein cannot be stored in the body if you don’t get enough protein on any given day, your body has no back-up plan for producing protein on its own or using reserved protein from previous days. Therefore, protein is very important to consider when you are planning your meals. Essentially, protein is used to continually rebuild your hair, nails, skin, tissue (even brain tissue) and muscle.

Protein also helps a person’s body in other ways, mainly with the maintenance of hormones. Hormones in the body do a number of things, such as regulate organ function, account for stimulation, create metabolism, and affect mood. Proteins are used in the making of some of these different hormones, so if you go more than a day or two without eating foods rich in proteins, your entire body will suffer. How can you make sure that you’re getting enough proteins? Rule of “hand” your serving size is approximately the same size as your palm. Read the serving sizes for things other than meats i.e. cheese, nuts etc.

Don’t forget if your not a big meat eater; beans and nuts are considered perfect foods because they are half carbs and half proteins so add them in to salads, pastas… and don’t forget cheeses (cottage, hard, soft), creams, yoghurts are proteins (limit, high fat/calories) and oh yeah EGGS.

So I hope this makes it a little easier to understand we need both Carbohydrates and Proteins they are essentials to our being well.

Tip: go to my site I have recipes for 111 was to make eggs. http://helpinghumans.webs.com/409EggRecipes.pdf