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FROM WHITE TO BROWN
It's important to eat carbohydrates, because they provide the cleanest, most efficient form of energy for your body. BUT it's also important to remember that not all carbs are created equal!
Your Body's Reaction to Carbs
If you're loading up on white rice, white pasta, potatoes, bagels, white bread, crackers, muffins, and cookies you're making your blood sugar climb.
Your body reacts to this elevation in blood sugar like it's an emergency, and responds by asking your pancreas to send out the hormone insulin.
Insulin's job is to bring your blood sugar levels back to normal. The problem is because we're used to eating so many processed foods (the kind that sit on the grocery shelf for months or years at a time) - our pancreas is forced to react to these kind of blood sugar "emergencies" on a daily basis.
So, the pancreas gets overworked and ends up doing its job too well! Meaning, it sends out too much insulin, which makes our blood sugar to drop below normal.
The Energy Crash
What happens next? That energy "crash" that you experience - usually at 3:00 in the afternoon, 10:30 in the morning, or 8:00 at night.
How can you prevent this crash from happening to you? Well, you can make whole grains your carb of choice. How are whole grains different from their "white" counterparts listed above?
Well, white foods (white rice, white pasta, white bread, etc.) also known as simple carbohydrates - have been processed so much that most of the good nutrients have been taken out, leaving only the starch behind. Your body processes these foods very quickly (which is why you're usually hungry again soon after eating), but it receives little nutrients or vitamins in return for its hard work.
How Are Whole Grains Different?
In contrast, whole grains - also known as complex carbohydrates (or "brown foods") - have the entire edible part of the grain still intact. When you eat them, you're consuming the original vitamins, minerals, good fats, and fiber. Because whole grains are so much more complex than white foods, it takes your body a longer time to digest them, so they provide much steadier, longer-lasting energy for you.
Benefits of Eating Whole Grains?
What are some other benefits of eating whole grains? They contain soluble and insoluble fiber, which keep your digestion working smoothly. Whole grains help you maintain a sense of peace and calm. They help you feel satisfied after eating, and are easy to prepare and mix with other foods.
Examples of whole grains include: brown rice, millet, quinoa, barley, cous cous, oats, wild rice.
Easy Ways to Substitute Whole Grains for White Foods:
1. Instead of white rice, buy brown rice, basmati rice, wild rice, or black/red rice.
2. Instead of instant oatmeal, buy rolled oats or steelcut oats.
3. Instead of white bread, buy whole grain bread or frozen sprouted bread.
4. Instead of regular pasta, buy kamut, soba noodles, buckwheat noodles, rice pasta, whole wheat pasta, quinoa pasta, or spelt pasta
5. Instead of sugary cereal, buy a whole grain version from Kashi or Nature's Path.
