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Carbs: How Much To Have?
Posted by: Ron
Ever wondered how much carbs you should have per day?
Base your carb intake on your level of activity and listen to your body?
Today I got a really great question about how much carbs to eat daily when definition is secondary. I ended up putting my planned blog post on hold and answering this question as I'm guessing you'll also find it beneficial.
I would feel dissatisfied with giving an arbitrary number. I can give a general starting point while going in a little deeper. The answer really depends on your goals and your daily activity level. A good rule of thumb is roughly 150 grams from quality sources per day. I will get into the quality sources later.
Keep in mind your body can store around 300 - 400 grams of glycogen (usable carbs) in your muscles. When your immediate energy stores are full yet you eat more carbs, your body automatically puts it into long term energy storage (read: FAT.)
Some scenarios to consider:
1) Moderate physical activity: You're relatively lean, healthy and have a mix of physical activities a day, consisting of walking 30 - 60 minutes and taking the stairs instead of the elevator. You're happy in your skin.
Your average daily carbohydrate intake should be around 150 grams. This will give you the energy you need for your daily activities, provided you choose quality sources and you spread them throughout the day.
2) High physical activity: You have a physically demanding job, you work on your feet, with your hands and you're constantly on the go, either walking or cycling. On top of this you love hitting the gym and working up a good sweat. Your carbohydrate requirements will be considerably more than someone in scenario 1. On extremely active days, you can likely and easily get away with 300 or even 400+ grams of carbs. If you deprived yourself, you'd burn out quickly, lose steam and definitely stress your system. Make sure to have even more carbs on the days you work out.
3) Low physical activity: You have a desk job and you work out 2 - 3 times a week. Your extracurricular activity consists of walking to your car when you're going to work or when you're going home. If staying in relatively good shape without smoothing out too much is important to you, you'd best stay around the 100 grams of carbs per day mark. Increase your carb intake slightly on workout days but keep it to consuming more of your extra carbs shortly after your workout.
Source of carbs
The source of your carbs also plays a big role. You want to stay away from refined carbs and grains. Focus on getting your carbs from root vegetables like potatoes, sweet potatoes, yams, carrots, beets or fresh fruit (preferably ripe, local, in season fruits) and berries. Refined carbs tend to spike insulin levels which is the surest way to put the excess carbs into fat, for long term safe keeping. I've written enough about aiming to get locally and organically grown veggies so I'll spare you here.
In any of the above scenarios the overriding factors are signals from your body. Pay attention, listen and heed its signals. If you feel bloated or your clothes suddenly feel tighter, cut back on the carbs. If you feel light headed, tired and lethargic, instead of chugging back a coffee, reach for a piece of fresh fruit first.
Seldom should you have carbs on their own. Eating them with protein and fats ensures a steady release of sugar into the blood stream and constant energy.
Which scenario do you fall into best and how do you deal with fluctuations? Let us know, I'm sure other readers will find benefit out of your experiences.
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