Many of us think that completely cutting out carbohydrates from our diet is effective for a weight loss journey, on the contrary, cutting carbohydrates has both physical and mental effects on our bodies and if we’re not careful, we might end up creating health problems for ourselves.
To achieve balanced diet, all food groups in different quantities must be included in our meal plan. However to strike a balance for good nutrition, more of our calories should be gotten from complex carbohydrates(starches) while less should be from fats. When we do not consume adequate meals/ balanced diet, we tend to open doors to various illnesses and diseases.
When trying to lose weight, ‘crash dieting’ is not the best option because nutritional imbalance can occur and you might not achieve desired goal. Peradventure that you do, it will not last for long which brings you back to square one(short term weight loss). Useful body fluids, muscles and nutrients could also be lost along the way.
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Carbohydrates serve as body and brain builders and when excluded from diet, we suffer for it. Here are the reasons why we should not leave out carbohydrates from our diet;
- To avoid unnecessary snacking and overeating
Complex carbs and fibre digest slowly when consumed thereby keeping you fuller and satisfied for a long time after consumption which checks frequent unhealthy snacking and eating too much. Put in mind that reducing appetite is very essential and effective for weight loss.
- It can tamper with your strength and mental faculty
Carbohydrates supply the muscles with glycogen. In its absence, the body feels weak and there will be less vigor or energy to engage in activities. Cutting out carbs actively impairs brain function and cuts down your ability to have proper focus and concentration.
- You are opening doors to sickness and diseases
When the body is low on glucose, it turns to break down stored fat and converts it useful energy because requires it to function. This can result into a build-up/ accumulation of ketones in the blood, leading to a case of ketosis. It causes headaches, dehydration sometimes, weakness, irritability and dizziness.
- It affects proper body growth and development
For our bodies to be able to grow well and systems function properly, our diet needs to contain all the known food groups. In the absence of one or more of the groups, it leads to cases of malnutrition resulting in effects like stunted growth, obesity, diseases from lack of certain nutrients e.t.c. We should therefor include carbohydrates in our diet.