By When it comes to carbs and body composition, the most suitable type are complex carbohydrates. They provide many antioxidants and nutrients that are necessary for reducing inflammation and removing free radicals.
From the items you have named above, I would without a doubt say that sweet potato is your best form of carbohydrate. Not only for weight loss, but also, it’s assistant in a balanced diet.
Why Sweet potatoes?
Sweet potato contains fibre, that’s essential for healthy digestion, as well as lowering your risk of cancer, diabetes and heart disease.
Carbs are great to include in your dinner, as they lower the stress hormone cortisol, enabling a more restful sleep.
When it comes to performance, namely your efforts in the gym, complex carbs help increase athletic performance, as they improve replenishment of muscle glycogen stores. And we all know that consuming carbs makes us feel good, improves our mood and gives us that boost we need for performance (in and out of the gym)
Extending your life span with sweet potatoes
This is all backed up by research too. The people of Okinawa Japan happen to be one of the longest living population on the planet. Why you may ask? Researches put it down to their unique diet. At least 70% of calories are from sweet potato and yams. That’s because sweet potato is packed with vitamin C, antioxidants, fibre, making them a powerhouse food.
What other carbs are beneficial when it comes to weight loss.
Variety is key when dieting and having only sweet potato can get somewhat boring. Therefore, I’ve compiled a list of good carb sources in which you can swap with regularly with meals. Remember to only eat what is manageable for your digestion, as some people may not tolerate beans and legumes very well. Those of us may just have to stick with the basics.
6 of the best carbs to add into your diet.
- Sweet potato is the best option – use this most of the time during your meals
- Quinoa – great post workout, but do opt to pressure cook it so that it loses the lectin properties with it (this is great for those with digestive issues)
- Lentils and legumes – High in fibre and phytonutrients, these are great if you prefer to eat more vegan protein alternatives. Again, I would pressure cook these for the same reason as Quinoa. The best form of food are options which are easily digested.
- Squash – Try spaghetti squash and zucchini. They are both filled with nutrients, fibre and being low carb in themselves. Lots of people love to make zoodles, as an alternative to pasta, bake or sautéed them with garlic, salt and olive oil. They make a great option when carb cycling for maximum fat loss benefits.
- Fruits and bananas – Bananas have the ability to raise sleep hormone melatonin as well as improve blood antioxidant levels. One thing many people aren’t aware of is that bananas contain (the green ones) pre-biotics, these are compounds which containing beneficial bacteria that your gut thrive on. You can also buy green banana flour to add into your baked goods.
- Oats – these are highly nutritious, containing fibre, beta glucan (which lowers blood sugar and cholesterol). Oats contain a unique form of starch making them great for replenishing energy stores and managing blood sugar. I have oats almost every day and use them in my baked goods as snacks during the day.
There you have some of the best carb sources you can find, to add into your diet, keep full for longer and replenish those glycogen stores after exercising. My most favourite carb sources are sweet potato, oats and green banana’s. These are key to my gut health and part of a gut healing program I’m on at the moment. Do try these varieties and see which provide the most benefits in your life.
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