A balanced diet needs to include foods from all different groups, fruit, vegetables, grains, carbohydrates, protein and dairy. When you need fuel however, both protein and carbs are the main sources of your energy, but they work in different ways. Protein gives your muscles strength and helps people run faster, but without carbs to burn for energy, your body can only burn fat and protein which won’t be enough to fuel you for the day. It’s important to know the right types of protein and carbs, and when and how to eat them, so here are some basic guidelines.
Protein
It’s advisable to spread this out over the course of the day. Don’t eat all your protein in one go. Try to ration it out evenly over all your meals and to vary the types of protein that you eat.
There are two main types of protein; complete and incomplete. Complete means that they include all nine of the essential amino acids that your body needs. Incomplete proteins are not necessarily a bad choice, this just means that you need to combine a couple of different types of them to make sure you get enough amino acids. Animal products including meat, red and white, and dairy products such as eggs, milk and yoghurt all are complete proteins. There are vegetarian options as well such as soy and edamame beans. Incomplete proteins include your rice and grains, beans and pulses. Make sure you get a combination.
Carbs
Simple carbs are broken down into sugars more quickly and are then rapidly digested. This gives you an immediate but short-lived energy boost. The sugar will give you a hit of energy but soon afterwards you will feel hungry as your body needs another snack.
Foods that contain simple carbs are bananas, white bread, pasta, dried fruit and chocomilk.. A good, light breakfast idea is white toast with jam or honey for example. These are ideal if you wake up early to exercise before work and need a light energy boost. Noodles or pasta on the other hand are a better option for dinner as it can take longer to digest. Be sure to combine with protein and vegetables to make a balanced meal. Try something like an udon soup recipe, which combines many food groups. Snack on dried fruit. You can also wash it down with chocolate milk, but be careful that this doesn’t contain too much sugar and artificial ingredients.
Complex carbohydrates are slowly released into your system and take longer to be processed. Some examples include grains such as rice and quinoa which are yummy lunch options. You can add them to salads and remember to mix them with at least one type of protein. Some surprising ones are sweet potatoes, beetroot and yoghurt. Sweet potatoes are full of nutrients and a tasty addition to any meal. Yoghurts are a great snack. Beetroot contains a lot of vitamin C and magnesium as well as being complex carbohydrates so it has other health benefits as well.
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