Don’t cut the carbs!
How many times have you been told to avoid carbohydrates or to cut your carbs in order to lose weight? It seems like every week, I come across another article demonising sugar and telling women to drop their carb intake. How many times have you seen people recommending Keto diets or intermittent fasting for women?
The irony of this is that carbohydrates are actually essential for women and, when consumed in the right way, are quite literally your best friend when it comes to having a fit and healthy body. (obviously, assuming you aren’t eating too many calories in general).
Carbohydrates pretty much fuel everything we do; when you are at work or school, they are integral to your cognitive function. Taking in enough carbohydrates also helps us maintain a healthy immune and stress response to exercise and may help you avoid becoming iron deficient and developing anaemia.
When we don’t take in enough carbohydrates, we have a marked reduction in the production of kisspeptin, a neuropeptide that’s responsible for sex hormones and endocrine and reproductive function. Kisspeptin also plays a significant role in maintaining healthy glucose levels, appetite regulation, and body composition. A reduction in kisspeptin stimulation can increase your appetite and reduce your sensitivity to insulin, a recipe for poor energy levels and future weight gain.
Our hormones are especially sensitive to carbohydrate levels since our menstrual cycle starts in our brain. Confused? Well, the hypothalamus and pituitary glands in your brain send signals to your ovaries to start the release of oestrogen and progesterone across the cycle. This signalling can become disrupted when we don’t have enough energy coming in from carbohydrates. If levels drop too low, this whole system can stop, resulting in what is called hypothalamic amenorrhea. This is also sometimes referred to as LEA or low energy availability. Long-term consequences of this are impaired muscle growth, loss of bone mineral density, depression, brain fog, anaemia and GI issues.
When we don’t have enough carbohydrates, especially around training, we can actually lose muscle rather than building it. The exact opposite of what you are trying to achieve from your exercise.
So, where to start? I think the most important thing to start working on is your carb intake around training. Making sure you have some carbohydrates before your workout can help improve performance, reduce the risk of catabolism and help keep your blood sugar levels stable throughout the day. (This means no fasted training… men can get away with this; we are not so fortunate, so make sure to get some carbs in pre-workout). This doesn’t need to be a full meal; a piece of fruit or half a bagel with jam will suffice.
The next most important part is to make sure to get some carbohydrates in within 30-45 minutes of finishing your workout. Again, this doesn’t need to be a lot; some fruit, a cereal bar or the other half of the bagel would be enough. I usually recommend my clients to make a protein shake with some berries and bananas in it, giving you not only the protein needed to help repair the muscles but also the carbohydrates and vitamins from the fruit to help support your body.
If you are concerned about weight gain, then firstly, you need to make sure you are taking in the right calorie levels for your goals. Total calories are what governs weight gain or weight loss. If you are pre-diabetic, have PCOS or are peri or post-menopausal, then you may need to be smarter with your carbohydrate intake and how you structure your meals. This is why we have created PCOS and menopause-specific plans for our curve clients.
If you are interested in learning more about your nutritional needs and wondering which programme is right for you - talk to one of our Female Health Coaches by booking in a FREE 15 minute Discovery Call today!